An-Nu'mānīyah () is a city on the
Tigris
The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...
river in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, located roughly southeast of
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
in the
Wasit Province. It is the site of one of four national training centers for the
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...
.
It is also the site of a base that was built by the Hussein regime and constructed by
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
n contractors
Mostogradnja. Following the beginning of the Iraq War, it changed its purpose September 1, 2004 to operate as a training base for new recruits and serve as the home station for three battalions of the
Iraqi Intervention Force – the Iraqi army's counterinsurgency wing.
History
An-Nu'maniyah is named after
al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir
Al-Nuʿmān III ibn al-Mundhir (), also transcribed Naʿaman, Nuʿaman and Noman and often known by the patronymic Abu Qabus (), was the last Lakhmid king of al-Hirah (582 – ) and a Nestorian Christian Arab. He is considered one of the mos ...
who ruled the region. The city hosts the tomb of
Al-Mutanabbi.
Nu'maniyah was an important town during the Middle Ages. It lay on the western bank of the Tigris, across from the town of
Jabbul, and was the capital of the Upper Zab district. It had a
Friday mosque in its marketplace.
Ibn Rustah commented that Nu'maniyah was renowned for its
carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...
s, which resembled those made at
al-Hirah
Al-Hira ( Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq.
The Sasanian Empire, Sasanian government established the Lakhmid state (Al-Hirah) on the edge of the ...
. In the 1300s,
Hamdallah Mustawfi described Nu'maniyah as a prosperous town surrounded by
date palm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...
groves. Near the town, there was a monastery called Dayr Hizqil, where the monks looked after the mentally ill.
An-Numaniyah Airfield
Located in An Numaniyah was the
An Numaniyah Air Base and Training Center, which garrisoned 3 battalions of the
Iraq Intervention Force. The base closed in 2006 after suffering corruption.
An Numaniyah Airfield
- Globalsecurity.org
References
Sources
*
Populated places in Wasit Governorate
District capitals of Iraq
{{iraq-geo-stub