Editing Abbasid Caliphate (section)

===Architecture===
{{Main|Abbasid architecture}}
[[File:قصر العاشق مدينه سامراء.jpg|thumb|[[Qasr al-'Ashiq]] palace in [[Samarra]], built between 877 and 882 CE{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|p=82|loc=Architecture; IV. c. 750–c. 900}}]]
As power shifted from the Umayyads to the Abbasids, the architectural styles changed also, from Greco-Roman tradition (which features elements of Hellenistic and Roman representative style) to Eastern tradition which retained their independent architectural traditions from [[Architecture of Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] and Persia.<ref name="Hoag_p7_9">{{Cite book |last=Hoag |first=John D. |title=Islamic Architecture |date=2004 |publisher=Electa Architecture |isbn=1-904313-29-9 |location=Milan |pages=7–9}}</ref> The [[Abbasid architecture]] was particularly influenced by [[Sasanian architecture]], which in turn featured elements present since ancient Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=1}}<ref name=":2442">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture (IV. c. 750–c. 900)''}}</ref> The Christian styles evolved into a style based more on the [[Sasanian Empire]], utilizing mud bricks and baked bricks with carved stucco.<ref name="wil">{{harvnb|Wilber|1969|p=5}}</ref> Other architectural innovations and styles were few, such as the [[four-centred arch|four-centered arch]], and a dome erected on [[squinch]]es. Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of the stucco and luster tiles.<ref name="wil2" />

[[File:Baghdad-Zumurrud-Khaton.jpg|thumb|[[Zumurrud Khatun Mosque|Zumurrud Khatun Tomb]] (circa 1152),<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ettinghausen |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1uWZAzN_VcC&pg=PA216 |title=Islamic Art and Architecture: 650–1250 |last2=Grabar |first2=Oleg |last3=Jenkins-Madina |first3=Marilyn |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780300088670 |edition=2nd |pages=216 |language=en}}</ref> in a cemetery at [[Baghdad]]]]
Another major development was the creation or vast enlargement of cities as they were turned into the capital of the empire, beginning with the creation of Baghdad in 762, which was planned as a walled city with four gates, and a mosque and palace in the center. Al-Mansur, who was responsible for the creation of Baghdad, also planned the city of [[Raqqa]], along the [[Euphrates]]. Finally, in 836, al-Mu'tasim moved the capital to a new site that he created along the Tigris, called Samarra. This city saw 60 years of work, with race-courses and game preserves to add to the atmosphere.<ref name=wil/> Due to the dry remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built in this era were isolated havens. [[Al-Ukhaidir Fortress]] is a fine example of this type of building, which has stables, living quarters, and a mosque, all surrounding inner courtyards.<ref name=wil/> Mesopotamia only has one surviving mausoleum from this era, in Samarra:<ref name=wil2>{{harvnb|Wilber|1969|p=6}}</ref> an octagonal domed structure known as the ''Qubbat al-Sulaibiyya'', which is the first known monumental tomb in [[Islamic architecture]] and may be the final resting place of [[al-Muntasir]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brend |first=Barbara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ba3LyiGfPU8C&dq=dome+al-muntasir+mausoleum&pg=PA32 |title=Islamic Art |date=1991 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-46866-5 |language=en |trans-title=32}}</ref>

Baghdad, the epicenter of the empire, was originally [[Round city of Baghdad|organized in a circular fashion]] next to the Tigris River, with massive brick walls being constructed in successive rings around the core by a workforce of 100,000 with four huge gates (named Kufa, Basra, Khurasan and Syria). The central enclosure of the city contained Mansur's palace of {{convert|360000|sqft|m2}} in area and the great mosque of Baghdad, encompassing {{convert|90000|sqft|m2}}. Travel across the Tigris and the network of waterways allowing the drainage of the Euphrates into the Tigris was facilitated by bridges and canals servicing the population.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Marozzi|first=Justin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/story-cities-day-3-baghdad-iraq-world-civilisation|title=Story of cities #3: the birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilisation|date=2016-03-16|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Outside the Abbasid heartlands, architecture was still influenced by the capital. In present-day Tunisia, the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] was founded under the Umayyad dynasty but completely rebuilt in the 9th century under the [[Aghlabid architecture|patronage of the Aghlabids]], vassals of the Abbasids.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ |title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780300218701 |location= |pages=28–32 |language=en}}</ref> The styles utilized were mainly Abbasid.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilber|1969|pp=5–6}}</ref> In Egypt, Ahmad Ibn Tulun commissioned the [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun|Ibn Tulun Mosque]], completed in 879, that is based on the style of Samarra and is now one of the best-preserved Abbasid-style mosques from this period.<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-9004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref>