One of the remains of the era of the Abbasids dating from 786 A.D. is a beacon tower, which is situated 40 kilometres from the centre of Karbala.
The tower is located in the Desert of al-Gharbbiya, on crossroads between Karbala and Ayn al-Tamur. It is 14kilometres distance from the famous al-Tar caves.
The tower was built to house a beacon fire to direct pilgrims going to Mecca in that era. The pilgrimage route to Mecca passed through the desert of al-Ghariba that lies between Iraq and the Arabian peninsular; local residents gave it the name the Fire Tower.