Samarra, on the east bank of the Tigris, northwest of Baghdad, was famous as the capital of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mo’tassim who planned and built it in A.D. 836. Although extensively developed by Al-Mo’tassim’s successors, the city was finally abandoned in A.D. 892 by the caliph Al-Mo’tamid, the eighth and the last to rule there.
The most important remains from the time of the Caliphs include the Palace (Beit Al-Khalifa) and the spiral-shaped 173 ft. high Malwiyah Minaret built by Al-Mutawakil (A.D. 847-861). Its design is based on the ziggurat, a staged tower in which each storey is smaller than the one below it. The tottering walls in the back ground once enclosed the rectangular courtyard of what is believed to have been the largest mosque in the world.

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(AV) The tomb of Prophet Hizkael who is known Thi AL Kifil is situated in AL Kifil city which is in the way between Hilla and Kufa. There is a dispute with reference to the exact date of the construction of the coned dome, which was established at the top of the tomb. Some historians assume that it was established at 716 A.H, others think that the outer dome was constructed at the 6th century A.H, whereas the inner dome was constructed at the 8th century A.H. However, there is a third opinion that the rounded inner dome and the coned outer dome were constructed at the 8th century A.H, and they based on a square base, which consists of ten classes. From the outside, the body of the minaret seems to be parted into various types and decorated with architectural, planted and written ornaments. These ornaments are of various forms; they have the form of a diamond with square fillers, which are hidden, prominent or have the form of flowers with several papers.