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The fall of Hatra, capital of 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 ...
under
Sanatruq II , temple name = , house = , house-type = , father = Abdsamiya , mother = , religion = , occupation = , signature_type = , signature = , module = Sanatruq II (Hatran Aramaic: 𐣮𐣭𐣨𐣣 ...
, took place in the 3rd century after a lengthy siege by the
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
king Shapur I. Hatra was plundered and abandoned, and its kingdom dissolved.


Background

During the Roman-Persian Wars, 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 ...
was a
buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between ...
between the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
and the Parthian Empire, and the dynasty was mostly under influence of the latter. Its capital city
Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortifi ...
was strongly fortified, and managed to repulse sieges by
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
emperors Trajan (in 117 AD) and Septimius Severus (in 193 and 197 AD). During the reign of
Sanatruq II , temple name = , house = , house-type = , father = Abdsamiya , mother = , religion = , occupation = , signature_type = , signature = , module = Sanatruq II (Hatran Aramaic: 𐣮𐣭𐣨𐣣 ...
, the kingdom expanded, and as the Parthian Empire was succeeded by the Sasanian Empire, Hatra shifted its loyalty and became a
vassal kingdom A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to t ...
of the Romans. The Sasanian king
Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...
unsuccessfully besieged the city in 220s. Latin dedications from the year 235 in Hatra's ruins suggest there was presence of Roman army in the city in that period.


Siege and aftermath

Modern sources put the date of Hatra's fall in 240–241 AD (or April 241 AD) per the newly discovered document Cologne Mani Codex (18.2-8), which is the year that
Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...
crowned his son Shapur I as the co-regent. Either of these may have conquered Hatra. The siege took one year, or two years, according to
al-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...
. After the city's conquest, it was plundered, its fortifications were destroyed, the city was deserted and never resettled, and the Kingdom of Hatra was disestablished. In 363,
Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...
passed by Hatra together with the Roman army and has described it as an "old city situated in an uninhabited area and deserted for a long time past". The fall of Hatra is described in medieval
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; Walte ...
and
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
traditions via stories that mix facts and fiction. The legend tells of the Hatrene princess
al-Nadirah The medieval story of al-Nadirah is about the fall of Hatra and its princess, who fell in love with the young king Shapur I while he was besieging the city. This partially fictional narrative is recorded in Persian and Arabic sources of the earl ...
who betrayed the city to Shapur I after falling in love with him. The Sasanian capture of Hatra is thought to be the cause of the Persian war of Gordian III.


References


Further reading

* {{cite journal , last1=Marcato , first1=Enrico , title=An Aramaic Incantation Bowl and the Fall of Hatra , journal=Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History , date=2020 , volume=7 , issue=2 , pages=133-157 , doi=10.1515/janeh-2020-0004 Roman–Sasanian Wars Hatra Iraq in the Roman era
Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortifi ...
240 241
Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortifi ...
240s in the Roman Empire Sasanian Empire Shapur I
Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortifi ...
Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortifi ...
Sieges of Hatra
Hatra Hatra ( ar, الحضر; syr, ‎ܚܛܪܐ) was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul. Hatra was a strongly fortifi ...
3rd century in Iran