Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been ...
located in present-day eastern
Nineveh Governorate in northern
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
. The city lies northwest of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
and southwest of
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
.
Hatra was a strongly fortified
caravan city and capital of the small
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Kingdom of Hatra
The Kingdom of Hatra was a 2nd-century Arab kingdom located between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire, mostly under Parthian suzerainty, located in modern-day northern Iraq.
Name
The name of "Hatra" appears various times in the Aramaic ...
, located between the Roman and Parthian/Persian empires. Hatra flourished in the 2nd century, and was destroyed and deserted in the 3rd century. Its impressive ruins were discovered in the 19th century.
Name
Hatra is known as () in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
. It is recorded as ''ḥṭrʾ'' (''Ḥaṭrā'') in
Hatran Aramaic
Aramaic of Hatra, Hatran Aramaic or Ashurian ( ') designates a Middle Aramaic dialect, that was used in the region of Hatra and Assur in northeastern parts of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), approximately from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd cent ...
inscriptions, probably meaning "enclosure, hedge, fence". In
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
, it is usually recorded in the plural form ''Ḥaṭrē''. In Roman works, it is recorded as Greek ''Átra'' and Latin ' and '.
The city was officially called ''Beit ʾElāhāʾ'' "House of God", in Hatran Aramaic inscriptions and once recorded as "Enclosure of
Shamash" (''ḥtrʾ d-šmš'' ) on a coin.
History
There is no archeological information on the city before the Parthian period but settlement in the area likely dates back to at least the
Seleucid
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
period.
Hatra flourished under the
Parthians, during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, as a religious and trading center.
Later on, the city became the capital of possibly the first
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Kingdom in the chain of Arab cities running from Hatra, in the northeast, via
Palmyra
Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...
,
Baalbek and
Petra, in the southwest. The region controlled from Hatra was the
Kingdom of Hatra
The Kingdom of Hatra was a 2nd-century Arab kingdom located between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire, mostly under Parthian suzerainty, located in modern-day northern Iraq.
Name
The name of "Hatra" appears various times in the Aramaic ...
, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire, governed by Arabian princes.
Hatra became an important fortified frontier city and played an important role in the
Second Parthian War, withstanding repeated attacks by the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
. During the 2nd century CE the city repulsed sieges by both
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
(116/117) and
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
(198/199).
[Advisory Body Evaluation on Hatra](_blank)
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). 1985. pages 1–2. Hatra's forces defeated the ascendant
Sassanid Persians in 238 at the battle of
Shahrazoor, but fell shortly after in 241 to the army of Sassanid king
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
and was destroyed.
The traditional stories of the
fall of Hatra
The fall of Hatra, capital of the Kingdom of Hatra under Sanatruq II, took place in the 3rd century after a lengthy siege by the Sasanian king Shapur I. Hatra was plundered and abandoned, and its kingdom dissolved.
Background
During the Roman- ...
tell of
al-Nadirah, daughter of the King of Araba, who betrayed the city into the hands of Shapur as she fell in love with him. The story tells of how Shapur killed the king and married al-Nadirah, but later had her killed also after realizing her ingratitude towards her father.
Hatra was the best preserved and most informative example of a
Parthian city. Its plan was circular, and was encircled by inner and outer walls nearly in diameter and supported by more than 160 towers. A
temenos
A ''temenos'' ( Greek: ; plural: , ''temenē''). is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, such as a sanctuary, holy gr ...
(τέμενος) surrounded the principal sacred buildings in the city's centre. The temples covered some 1.2 hectares and were dominated by the Great Temple, an enormous structure with
vaults and
columns that once rose to 30 metres. The city was famed for its fusion of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Mesopotamian,
Canaanite, Aramean and Arabian
pantheons, known in
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
as ' ("House of God"). The city had temples to
Nergal (
Assyrian-
Babylonian and
Akkadian),
Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...
(
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
),
Atargatis
Atargatis (; grc, Ἀτάργατις, translit=Atárgatis or arc, , translit=ʿtrʿth; syc, ܬܪܥܬܐ, translit=Tarʿaṯā) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Ctesias also used the name Derketo ( grc-koi, Δε ...
(
Syro-Aramaean),
Allat
Al-Lat ( ar, اللات, translit=Al-Lāt, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongs ...
,
Shamiyyah (
Arabian), and
Shamash (the
Mesopotamian sun god).
Other deities mentioned in the Hatran Aramaic inscriptions were the Aramaean
Ba'al Shamayn, and the female deity known as
Ashurbel, which was perhaps the assimilation of the two deities the Assyrian god
Ashur and the Babylonian
Bel—despite their being individually masculine.
List of rulers
In inscriptions found at Hatra, several rulers are mentioned. Other rulers are sporadically mentioned by classical authors. The earlier rulers are titled ''mrjʾ'' (''māryā'', "lord") and the later ones ''mlkʾ d-ʿrb'' ("king of the Arabs"; ''malkā'', "king").
Art of Hatra
According to
John M. Rosenfield, the statuary of Hatra belong to the
Parthian cultural sphere, with numerous similarities in terms of clothing, decorative elements or posture, which tend to be massive and frontal, with feet often splayed.
The architecture of Hatra itself is generally seen as an example of Parthian architecture.
Similarities can be seen with the
Art of the Kushans as well, due either to direct cultural exchanges between the area of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
and the
Kushan Empire at that time, or from a common Parthian artistic background leading to similar types of representation.
File:Headless statue of an unidentified nobleman from Hatra, Iraq. 2nd-3rd century CE. Iraq Museum.jpg, Headless statue of a nobleman features intricate detail.
File:Military commander from the city of Hatra. National Museum of Iraq (closeup).jpg, Military commander from the city of Hatra. Iraq Museum
The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...
, Baghdad.
File:Hatra_military_man.jpg, Limestone statue of a military commander in his uniform holding a statue of a deity.
Ancient Parthian relief carving of the god Nergal from Hatra.jpg, Relief of the god Nergal from Hatra.
File:Hatra relief devotee.jpg, Hatra relief devotee.
Modern Hatra
Hatra was used as the setting for the opening scene in the 1973 film ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...
'',
and since 1985 has been a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
The site was first surveyed by Walter Andrae of the German excavation team working in Assur from 1906 to 1911. But systematic excavations have been undertaken only from 1951 by Iraqi archeologists. From the 1980s, the Italian Archaeological Expedition, directed by R. Ricciardi Venco (
University of Turin), made major discoveries at Hatra. The excavations were focused on an important house ("Building A"), located close to the Temenos, and on deep soundings in the Temenos central area. Now the Expedition is active in different projects regarding the preservation and development of the archaeological site. In 1990, a Polish expedition of the
recorded and studied the city's defense walls. The team was directed by Michał Gawlikowski (PCMA UW).
In 2004, ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' stated "Hatra's finely preserved columns and statues make it one of the most impressive of Iraq's archaeological sites"
Restoration by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
saw the site's Mesopotamian history as reflecting glory on himself, and sought to restore the site, and others in
Ninevah,
Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
,
Ashur and
Babylon, as a symbol of Arab achievement, spending more than US$80 million in the first phase of restoration of Babylon. Saddam Hussein demanded that new bricks in the restoration use his name (in imitation of
Nebuchadnezzar) and parts of one restored Hatra temple have Saddam's name.
Destruction by ISIL
Actions by the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
, which occupied the area in mid-2014, have been a major threat to Hatra. In early 2015 they announced their
intention to destroy many artifacts, claiming that such "graven images" were un-Islamic, encouraged
shirk (or polytheism), and could not be permitted to exist, despite the preservation of the site for 1,400 years by various Islamic regimes. ISIL militants pledged to destroy the remaining artifacts. Shortly thereafter, they released a video showing the destruction of some artifacts from Hatra. After the bulldozing of Nimrud on March 5, 2015, "Hatra of course will be next" said
Abdulamir Hamdani, an Iraqi archaeologist from
Stony Brook University.
On March 7, Kurdish and Iraqi official sources reported ISIS had begun the demolishing the ruins of Hatra.
A video released by ISIL during the next month showed the destruction of the monuments.
UNESCO and
ISESCO issued a joint statement saying "With this latest act of barbarism against Hatra, (the IS group) shows the contempt in which it holds the history and heritage of Arab people."
The pro-Iraqi government
Popular Mobilization Forces
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) ( ar, الحشد الشعبي ''al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī''), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization ...
captured the city on 26 April 2017. A spokeswoman for the militias stated that ISIL had destroyed the sculptures and engraved images of the site, but its walls and towers were still standing though contained holes and scratches received from ISIL bullets. PMF units also stated that the group had mined the site's eastern gates, thus temporarily preventing any assessment of damage by archaeologists. It was reported on 1 May that the site had suffered less damage than feared earlier. A journalist of
EFE
Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major multimedia news agency in Spanish language and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was created in 1939 ...
had earlier reported finding many destroyed statues, burnt buildings as well as signs of looting.
Layla Salih
Layla Salih (born 1975) is an Iraqis, Iraqi archaeologist. As Head of the Nineveh Antiquities section in the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, she has been responsible for the monitoring, rescue, and documentation of Ancient Near Easte ...
, head of antiquities for Nineveh Governorate, stated that most of the buildings were intact and the destruction didn't compare with that of other archaeological sites of Iraq. A PMF commander also stated that the damage was relatively minor.
Gallery
File:Hatra-1453.jpg, Remains of several temples and ancient walls (2004)
File:Hatra-71339.jpg, Elevated view of the site in 2007
File:Hatra-Ruins-2006-5.jpg, Temple facade (May 2006)
File:Hatra-Ruins-2006-6.jpg, Southern exposure of the temple (May 2006)
File:Hatra Ruins - 2008-07-20.jpg, July 2008
File:Hatra-Ruins-2008-8.jpg, Marn Temple (November 2008)
File:Hatra-Ruins-2008-9.jpg, November 2008
File:Crazy Troop Visit Ancient Ruins of Hatra 2.jpg, American soldiers at the site, September 2010
File:Crazy Troop Visit Ancient Ruins of Hatra 6.jpg, American soldiers at the site, September 2010
File:Hatra city.jpeg, Elevated view of the temple (September 2014)
File:Hatra-1454.jpg, Detail of a temple, showing Hellenistic, Mesopotamian and Iranian architecture
File:Hatra-109732.jpg, Decorated arch with faces
File:Hatra-109726.jpg, View of iwans
File:Hatra-109730.jpg, Closeup of an iwan
File:Hatra-109728.jpg, Facade of Temple
File:Hatra-109736.jpg, Arch of the temple
File:Hatra-109734.jpg, Protruded head on a wall
File:Hatra-Ruins-2006-7.jpg, Statue of the Goddess Shahiro
File:From left to right, an unidentified ruler, Hermes, a female deity, and Sanatruq I.From Hatra. Erbil Civilization Museum.jpg, From left to right, an unidentified ruler, Hermes, a female deity, and Sanatruq I.From Hatra. Erbil Civilization Museum
File:Door lintel from Hatra. 2nd-3rd century AD. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan.jpg, Door lintel from Hatra. 2nd-3rd century AD. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan
Climate
Hatra has a
hot semi-arid climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''BSh''). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Hatra is . About of precipitation falls annually.
See also
*
Aramaic of Hatra
*
Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
Deliberate destruction and theft of cultural heritage has been conducted by the Islamic State since 2014 in Iraq, Syria, and to a lesser extent in Libya. The destruction targets various places of worship under ISIL control and ancient historical ...
*
Taq-i Kisra
Tāq Kasrā ( ar, طاق كسرى, translit=ṭāq kisrā), also transcribed as ''Taq-i Kisra'' or ''Taq-e Kesra'' ( fa, طاق کسری, romanized: ''tâğe kasrâ'') or Ayvān-e Kesrā ( fa, ایوان خسرو, translit=Eivâne Xosrow, links=, ...
, sharing architectural features with structures at Hatra
References
Further reading
*
External links
Between Rome and Parthia: The Desert City of Hatra* http://lexicorient.com/e.o/hathra.htm
* http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9039509
* http://shezaf.net/english/Video/Video/Hatra.html
* http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/chronicle/8612.shtml BBC ''
Chronicle'' "Lost Kings of the Desert"
* https://hatrasite.com/ Italian Archaeological Expedition at Hatra
Iraqi forces seize ancient UNESCO site of Hatra from Islamic State as jihadis execute Mosul civilians
{{Authority control
Nineveh Governorate
Archaeological sites in Iraq
World Heritage Sites in Iraq
Parthian cities
Sasanian cities
Destroyed cities
Former populated places in Iraq
District capitals of Iraq
Buildings and structures destroyed by ISIL
Articles containing video clips
Arbayistan