All language subtitles for Unearthed.2016.S09E09.Lost.World.of.Desert.Kings.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-HiNGS_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Abandoned
In the iraqi desert,

Lie the ruins
Of a long-forgotten city...

Samarra.

This was once the capital
Of one of the greatest empires
The world has ever seen.

Today this war-torn area,
Long closed to the
Outside world...

Conceals a series
Of extraordinary palaces,

And a spectacular
Spiral tower

Whose shape and strength
Confound even
21st century engineers.

This is dangerous.

It may collapse at any minute.

[narrator] Why is samarra
Built in the middle
Of the desert?

And why is the city abandoned

After just 56 years?

Now investigators venture
To the last surviving relics
Of this remote site.

They use pioneering
Aerial imaging technology

To map medieval structures
For the first time.

To help explain samarra's
Rapid rise to power.

And shed light on it's
Extraordinary fate.

To help solve these mysteries,

We digitally reconstruct
The city's strange
Spiraling mega structure.

We unearth the secrets
Of the biggest mosque
Of its time.

An rebuild
A ruler's lost palace

To reveal the hidden world
Of the desert kings.

Samarra, iraq.

80 miles north
Of today's capital, baghdad.

Samarra is one of the
Richest archeological sites
In the world,

And yet, it's little known
Outside the middle east.

The modern day city of samarra
Is one of the most
Dangerous places on earth.

The area around the city
Is frequently attacked

By islamist terror group isis.

Samarra has been off-limits
To westerners for decades.

Now, our cameras
Have been granted
Special permission

To explore the stunning
Unique site

Of medieval samarra
For the very first time.

In the ninth century,

While europe is emerging
From the dark ages,

This city is a shining beacon
Of middle eastern glory.

In its heart,
An opulent palace

With walled gardens and pools
That reflect the desert sun.

It's a vast complex
Of buildings that stretches
Across 300 acres.

Colored glass glitters
On huge domes that rise
Above stunning courtyards.

Beyond the palace,

A city of 150,000 people
Stretches 25 miles
Along the river tigris.

And a unique spiral tower
Soars 170 feet above it.

Why is the magnificent
City of samarra built?

Estabraq muyad has been
Examining the secrets
Of her hometown for years.

At the heart of this city,
The remains of
A huge building,

Now little more
Than an empty shell.

And standing over
This structure,

The enormous conical
Spiraling tower,

The most spectacular
Relic of all in samarra.

Enclosed inside the four walls
Of the building is a
Huge courtyard.

Estabraq thinks identifying
The structure may reveal
Samarra's original purpose.

To look for clues,

She examines
The surviving walls.

She finds a large niche
On an inner wall
Of the courtyard.

Estabraq suspects
This distinctive archway
Could be a religious feature.

To be sure, she checks
The direction the niche faces.

The niche is a meerab.
It points to mecca.

The direction
Muslims must face
When they pray.

This is clearly a holy site.

In the ninth century,
This is the largest mosque
In the world.

Behind a wall 35 feet high...

Hundreds of octagonal columns
Form 17 aisles,

That lead towards
A vast courtyard.

There is space
For an astonishing
80,000 people.

Alongside, sitting on
A 100-foot-wide base,

An enormous spiraling
Sandstone tower.

It's a gigantic minaret

From which the faithful
Are called to prayer.

Can this enormous mosque
Help explain why
Samarra is built?

To find out,

Estabraq ventures up
To the minaret summit.

The minaret has stood here
For 1200 years.

The summit was damaged
During fighting in 2005,

But has been fully repaired.

From the top,

A vast arid plain unfolds
For mile after mile.

Estabraq believes
It's important the mosque
Is clearly visible.

Yet, a tower half its height
Would have been ample.

She thinks identifying
Its builder may reveal
Why the minaret is so huge

And why the mosque
And samarra are built
In this arid wilderness.

Samarra is built in 836 ad,

To be the capital
Of the mighty
Abbasid caliphate.

Its territories stretched
From modern-day tunisia
In the west

To central asia in the east.

It is one of the largest
Empires in history.

Its ruler, the caliph,
Builds the great mosque
As the centerpiece

Of his new capital to proclaim
The glories of islam
And the power of the abbasids.

The caliph al-mutawakkil
Is the tenth ruler
Of the abbasid dynasty.

He comes to power in 847 ad
When the empire
Is at its peak.

He oversees a huge expansion
Of samarra.

He doubles the size
Of the city

And orders over
20 new palaces.

He decorates each palace
With elaborately carved

Stucco panels
Of repeating floral motifs,

A new style that defines
Islamic art for centuries.

At the city's heart,
He builds the great mosque,

A wonder of its era
Where 80,000 people gather
Five times a day to pray.

But why does he chose
Such a unique style
For samarra's huge minaret?

Ezzeldin yazeed works
On engineering projects across
The middle east.

Ezz thinks clues
To explain why the minaret
Has this unique spiral shape

Lie in the landscape
Around samarra.

[ezzeldin] We have one
Of the most dangerous
Earthquake fault

In the world which passes
Through iran and iraq.

[narrator] At least eight
Significant earthquakes strike

This region
In the ninth century.

In 872 ad, one rocks samarra.

It's now estimated at seven
On the richter scale.

Ezz investigates
If the conical-shaped minaret

Is built to cope
With an earthquake
Of this magnitude.

He sets up an experiment
That uses a piece
Of engineering equipment

Called a shake table.

The shaking table will vibrate
With a frequency
Which is close

To the frequency
Of the earthquakes that affect
The minaret in that zone.

[narrator] He begins
The experiment
By using a model

Of a traditionally shaped
Cylindrical minaret.

[ezzeldin] Omar,
Let's start, please.
Let's shake it.

[narrator] The shake table
Stimulates an earthquake

Of six and a half
On the richter scale.

So, now we start
Shaking the minaret.

And we can see
The amount of vibration.

This is dangerous [chuckles] .

It may collapse at any minute.

[narrator] If such forces
Were acting on the minaret
In the real world

It would almost certainly
Crumble to the ground.

We can see the minaret
Is almost splitting
From the foundation.

[narrator] Now,
Ezz repeats the experiment

With the second conical-shaped
Minaret, just like the one
In samarra.

[ezzeldin] And we are going
To shake the table now.
So, omar, please start.

We are doubling the amplitude
Of the shaking table.

[narrator] Ezz increases
The magnitude to seven
On the richter scale,

The same as the ninth
Century earthquakes.

[ezzeldin] Yet we still
Have no vibration whatsoever
From the minaret.

[narrator] The minaret
Has a large base that
Narrows as it rises

Which increases
The structure's stability.

The engineers knew
That if they increase
The foundation

And build that shape,
They will have
Better performance

When the minaret
Is subjected to earthquake.

But a mystery
Remains unsolved.

When samarra is built

The abbasid empire
Already has a capital city.

It is called madinat al-salam
Or city of peace.

We know it
By its modern name, baghdad.

Why do the abbasid caliphs
Build a second
Imperial capital?

Can row upon row of identical
Houses discovered under
The desert sands reveal clues?

Samarra, the spectacular
Capital city of the abbasid
Empire in its golden age.

Now, investigators
Are on a mission to find out
Why the abbasid rulers

Leave their established
Capital in baghdad

And build a new one
In samarra.

Clues lie four miles north
Of central samarra

Hidden under strange mounds
Protruding from the desert.

Buried in the sand
Are the remains
Of decayed walls.

1200 years ago,
These are simple
Mud brick houses

All of them identical,
Built from the same blueprint.

Row upon row of over
Three and a half thousand
Dwellings

Form a bustling neighborhood
To rival samarra itself.

Can these strange ruins
Explain why the caliphs

Build their new capital
In samarra?

[narrator] Ali al samarra'I
Has been fascinated

By this city since
He was a child.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] He investigates
This hill near the center
Of samarra.

The hill is close to where
Some of the 3,500

Houses once stood.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The first
Archaeologists

To explore here arrived
Shortly before world war I.

Their excavations reveal

That the hill has
An unusual purpose.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] A small complex
Of buildings on the summit

Ensures the caliph can watch
The racing in style.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The excavations
Also reveal something
Surprising.

Houses have been built

Over large sections
Of the race course.

Huge numbers of soldiers
Move into samarra

And they need accommodation.

A contemporary account
Reveals why.

The soldiers aren't
From the local population.

They are ethnic turks
From central asia.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The founder
Of samarra, caliph al-mutasim

Forms a slave army

From foreign, predominantly
Turkik soldiers

Who are captured in battle.

They become his personal
Bodyguard

Protecting him day and night
In the capital, baghdad.

But these foreign troops
Frequently clash

With the local population.

Leading to riots
In the great city.

So the caliph establishes
A new capital at samarra,

80 miles away.

It is designed
As a garrison town
For the ruler's slave army.

But why does the caliph build
His city in this exact spot?

To investigate,
Ali uses a high-resolution
Drone to survey

The landscape from above.

The area is a danger zone

Threatened by
Terrorist attacks,

But ali has special permission
From the iraqi authorities

To fly at
This historical site.

The drone soars
High above samarra,

Bringing into view
The vast scale of the city.

Ali immediately notices
That something is missing
From the ruins below.

[ali speaking]

Ali believes that the caliph

Doesn't need
To protect samarra
With strong fortifications.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The caliph
Chooses to build his capital

In an area that affords him
Perfect natural protection.

And a stunning find
At the caliph's seat of power

Show how samarra develops
From a garrison town

To a city
Of unimagined luxury

And how can a slave girl
Become a queen.

[narrator] Samarra...

1200 years ago the capital
Of the mighty abbasid empire.

A stunning lost city unearthed

In the center
Of modern-day iraq.

Near the great mosque
Is a large circular courtyard.

Investigator estabraq muayad
Believes it's part of one of

The most important
Buildings in samarra.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] In the 9th century

The palace is
A sight to behold,

A marvel of middle eastern
Architecture.

A monumental
Three-arched gate,

The bab al-amma,
Marks the entrance.

Beyond it, set
Into soaring domes,

Colored glass creates
Dazzling displays of light.

And beneath the palace,

Pools of water provide relief
From the desert heat.

It is a feat of engineering
Fit for a king.

Hugh kennedy is a specialist

On the history
Of the abbasid empire.

He thinks one of
The very few surviving

Wall decorations from samarra
May offer vital clues

To what life is like
In the caliph's palace.

We are looking at
The pictures of three girls

On small fragments
Of painted plaster

Which once decorated
The reception rooms

Of the palace of the caliphs.

[narrator] Hugh believes
Clues on the images can reveal

The identities of these
Three young women.

[hugh] The girls themselves
Are unveiled
And elegantly dressed.

We must assume
Because they're unveiled,

That they were slave girls
And members of the harem.

[narrator] An important
Function of the women

Of the harem is to provide
Entertainment for the caliph.

[hugh] This would particularly
Happen late at night

When the business
Of the day was over.

The slave girls would come
In and sing and perform.

And people remember
The old poems,

The old stories,
The old hunting stories,

The old love stories.

[narrator] These young women
Enjoy a unique position
At court.

[hugh] At one level
These people are slaves

And they are owned,
But calling her a slave girl

Doesn't really convey
The status.

Because these slave girls
Were highly trained in music

Trained in poetry,
Trained in dancing.

[narrator] Estabraq
Investigates the heights

To which some
Lowly women can rise.

She heads to a palace
About ten miles

From the center of the city.

It stands on a cliff
Overlooking samarra.

This is the best preserved
Of all the abbasid palaces,

And the first time a western
Crew has been allowed
Permission to film here.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] The palace is
Two stories high

And surrounded by
Large walls and a moat.

One of the two floors
Is made up of

Vaults and catacombs.

Builders take five years
To complete it.

Estabraq wants to know
Who built this palace
And for whom.

A clue may lie in its name.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] But are the
Caliph's favorite slave girls

And lovers merely kept women?

[hugh] We have lots of
Records of love affairs

Between caliphs
And their slave girls,

Where the slave girls
Play a very active part.

And if the slave girl
Is angry with the caliph

She says so, the caliph goes
Away unhappy, has to
Find a gift,

Has to write a poem,
Or something.

Get himself back into favor.

[narrator] Some women
May enjoy real
Political power too.

[hugh] Some of the senior
Slave girls became
Wives of caliphs

And they would be
Advisors and so on.

In many cases,
They had their own households

With their own
Financial resources,

Their own treasuries.

[narrator] By piecing
Together surviving clues
From the palaces,

Experts are gradually
Building an image of life
In samarra 1200 years ago.

It is a city where
A girl can start as a slave

And become a queen
And trusted confidante

Of the caliph and have
Their own palace.

What is everyday life
Like in samarra?

And how can a stunning
Discovery here reveal

An intellectual
And scientific revolution

That shapes the world
Even today?

[narrator] Samarra, 1200 years
Ago a city of 150,000 people,

Of spectacular palaces,
Stunning buildings,

And unimagined luxury.

What is life like for
The ordinary people
Of samarra?

Estabraq muayad explores
The ruins of the city.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] Each building
Is decorated with
Elaborate carvings

That rise from the floor
To halfway up the wall.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] The interiors
Appear to mimic

The lavish decorations
Of the caliph's palaces.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] All of the cities
Of the vast abbasid empire

And the relics of their
Culture have been destroyed
Or built over.

Samarra is the last
Surviving window into

This world-changing
Civilization.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] Evidence reveals
That people here

Lived in a golden age
Of science and technology.

In the ruins
Of samarra's palaces

Archaeologists unearth
Thousands of shards
Of ceramics,

Fragments of tiles,

The remains of
Broken water jugs,

And plates adorned
With intricate patterns

That, in their prime,
Are coated with
A highly iridescent glaze.

It's so shiny it makes
The pottery look like
Silver or gold.

Medieval potters
Regard it as alchemy.

It's a technique
Called lusterware

That requires knowledge
Of complex chemistry.

So how do the artisans
At samarra master it?

Andrew hazelden is an expert
In medieval ceramics.

He investigates the secrets
Of this ancient craft.

The intention behind luster
Is to create what looks
Like gold

From metal sulfides.

[narrator] To find out how
The alchemists of samarra
Do it,

Andrew experiments with a mix
Of copper carbonate,

Silver chloride, tin oxide
And red ochre.

This is a complicated recipe.

[narrator] Andrew paints
The paste onto the surface

Of an earthenware bowl.

He heats a kiln to almost
1300 degrees fahrenheit.

And fires the bowl
For five hours.

Finally he adds
Damp wood to the kiln.

It's an ingenious way
To make smoke and reduce
The amount of oxygen.

Andrew believes
This could be the secret
Of making lusterware.

These were people who had
Really expert knowledge
Of how this chemistry worked.

This is when
You really find out
Whether we've created luster.

[narrator] Only now
Will andrew know

If the experiment
Is a success.

In the bright light
Of samarra

This would be glowing like...
Well, like the sun, really.
Silver and gold.

[narrator] Andrew has
Recreated the lusterware.

The same technique is used
To decorate the tiles
Of the caliph's palaces,

Making the city
A fabulous spectacle.

As the sun came
Round in the day, it would
Catch the tiles.

It would be like
A palace that is alive.

Not just like a flat color.

But the luster itself is like
A three dimensional color.

So, the palaces themselves
Would've been dazzling.

[narrator] The invention
Of luster wear is one example

Of vast technological changes
Sweeping the empire.

Abbasid scholars rediscover
And revive the idea

Of intellectual inquiry
From ancient greece
And the near east

Lost in the dark ages.

Investigators call
This period of history

"The golden age of islam".

The abbasids make unrivalled
Advances in science.

They build
The first observatory
In the muslim world,

And discover new galaxies.

Mathematicians begin working
With negative numbers,

And invent algebra,

The foundation
Of modern mathematics.

Physicians make
Pioneering discoveries

About the working
Of the heart,

And begin to unlock
The secrets of the
Nervous system.

Baghdad becomes
The intellectual powerhouse
Of the world,

Home to a library called
"The house of wisdom"

That attracts the
Finest scholars
From across the world.

It is one of the
Greatest periods
Of intellectual inquiry

In human history.

From samarra and baghdad,

Abbasid science, culture
And its stunning architecture

Will influence
The whole middle east.

[narrator] The caliphs
Gather knowledge
From far-flung lands.

And then they give it
Back to the world.

But how can the abbasids
Control their vast empire?

And how is the extraordinary
Fate of samarra

Revealed by
Its mudbrick remains?

Samarra, in modern day iraq,

A dangerous war-torn area

Long closed
To the outside world.

It is the capital
Of the abbasid empire

In the most glorious period
Of its history,

"The golden age of islam."

But this era is not to last.

Most of the thousands
Of buildings in the city

Are made from mudbrick
And plaster.

Without regular maintenance,

The plaster crumbles.

[rumbling]

Rain causes
The bricks to swell

And then fracture,
As they dry.

Over the course
Of hundreds of years,

The bricks lose their
Structure and collapse...

...Leaving only the footprints
Of this mudbrick city,

Once home to 150,000 people.

Why is samarra abandoned?

Ali al-samarra'I believes

A prominent feature
Near the great mosque

Could offer clues
To the city's rise and fall.

Ali investigates what is
Once a vast boulevard

That runs through samarra.

[narrator]
Today, little remains.

Much is covered by modern
Agriculture and development.

Ali paces out what's left.

He discovers
It's over 100 yards wide.

[ali speaking]

[whirring]

[narrator] To find out more,
He takes to the air.

From up high, it's possible
To appreciate

The sheer scale of the road.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] Today, it's buried
Beneath the debris of the
Passing centuries.

But in its prime,
This enormous road is crucial

To the caliph's ability
To control the empire
From samarra.

It's one of many huge roads

That link the
Caliph's territories.

Citizens, merchants
And messages

Speed along these
Super-fast highways.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] But ali believes
This 4,000-mile road
Network alone

Cannot give the caliph control
Over the huge empire.

[ali speaking]

[narrator]
The caliphs are forced
To delegate their power.

Hugh kennedy thinks
Evidence for this
Can be found in egypt.

In the ninth century,

Egypt is an important part
Of the abbasid empire.

It is run by ibn tulun,

The son of a turkic
Slave soldier from samarra.

[hugh] Ibn-tulun became
The governor of egypt,

Which was the second biggest,

And then the most prosperous
Area of the muslim world.

[narrator] Ibn-tulun
Turns on his masters
In faraway samarra.

Ibn-tulun started to
Assert his independence

As ruler of egypt, but also
Of syria and some parts
Of north africa.

[narrator] The turkic threat
To the caliphs is growing

Both in the empire
And at home in samarra.

Ali investigates another
Huge palace in samarra.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The caliph
Gives the palace

To a leading
Turkic general as a gift.

Its enormous walls enclose
A vast courtyard

Over one square-mile in size.

Ali examines a transcription
Of a medieval text.

It reveals the ambitious
General quickly changes
The palace's function.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] Turning the palace
Into a mosque means

Soldiers of the slave army
Can gather in their thousands.

Once the caliph's bodyguard,
They are now a threat.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The loyalty
Of the turkic soldiers
Is to their own generals.

The leaders of the
Turkic slave army in samarra
Become so rich and powerful

That they begin to threaten
The power of the caliph.

To keep control,

Caliph al-mutawakkil
Orders the arrest
Of a turkic general.

He strips him
Of his possessions,

And leaves him in jail
To die of thirst.

But the turkic generals
Strike back.

They send assassins
To murder the caliph

While he dines in the palace.

[indistinct screaming]

Now, the turkic slave army
Commanders rule samarra,

No matter who the caliph is.

It leads to anarchy
In samarra.

[hugh] The central government
In samarra collapsed.

A whole series of coups
And counter-coups

And murders and so on
Went on there.

[narrator] Ibn-tulun
Uses the chaos

To set up his own dynasty
In egypt and syria.

At home, the caliph
Feels isolated in his
Desert capital.

With thousands of disloyal
Soldiers his only company.

In 892 ad,

Just 56 years
After samarra is founded,

He makes
A remarkable decision.

[ali speaking]

[narrator]
Baghdad, once again, becomes
The capital of the empire.

Samarra's brief moment
In history is over.

[ali speaking]

[narrator] The great palaces,
Mosques and minarets

Are left as lonely outposts
In the desert.

How does samarra
Avoid destruction

By one of the most
Ferocious armies in history?

And what happens
To the abbasid empire
After the fall of samarra?

Samarra, the glorious capital
Of the abbasid empire.

But in 892 ad,
The caliph flees samarra,

And the great city
Is abandoned.

The caliphs strip the city's
Grand palaces and great mosque
Of their treasures.

All that's left
Are empty buildings.

[narrator] What happens
To most of these buildings?

Abbasid architecture was
Made of brick and plaster,

Wood, hung with textiles,

All these things don't survive
Very well.

Estabraq muayad
Looks for clues at
Samarra's great mosque.

[narrator] Today,
The minaret still stands guard
Over the ancient city.

But the great mosque
Of samarra

Is little more than a shell.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] Over the centuries,
Most of the city disappears
Beneath the desert sands.

But samarra faces
An even greater threat

Than wind, rain
And desert storms.

[estabraq speaking]

[horses galloping]

[narrator] Three hundred years
After samarra is abandoned,

A ferocious mongol hoard
Emerges from asia.

It strikes terror
In populations across
Europe and the middle east.

[narrator] The remains
Of the great mosque

And its stunning minaret
Are an easy target.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] They also
Destroy all the glass on the
Front wall of the mosque.

And then turn their attack on
The greatest city of the age.

[narrator] In 1258,
A colossal horde
Of 150,000 warriors

Lay siege to baghdad.

The largest mongol army
Ever assembled.

They seize the caliph.

Wrap him in a rug.

And ride their horses
Over him,

Trampling him to death.

[horses galloping]

The raiders destroy
Baghdad's great library,
The house of wisdom,

Burning it to the ground.

It's said that the
River tigris runs red

With the blood of scientists
And philosophers

Slaughtered by the mongols.

[estabraq speaking]

[narrator] Medieval baghdad
Is utterly destroyed.

Samarra, already abandoned
And in ruins, survives.

[hugh] Samarra
Is a unique site,

In that we can
Get an idea about

What the cities of
The middle east looked like

In the time of the great days
Of the arab empire.

It was never destroyed
Or burnt down

Or anything like that.

[narrator] Samarra serves
As the capital of the
Incredible abbasid empire

For a mere 56 years.

Yet, the scale
And ambition of the city,

Are breathtaking.

Samarra,
A golden city in the desert,

In the golden age of islam,

A remarkable testament
To an extraordinary culture.

And standing over it all,

Samarra's magnificent
Spiral minaret,

Beneath which
Up to 80,000 worshippers
Once gathered to pray.

A last surviving remnant
Of the abbasid empire's
Desert kings.