Hdatta or Haditha ( ', '), was a historical city on the East bank of 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 ...

just below its confluence with the

Upper Zab The Great Zab or Upper Zab (; or ; ; ) is an approximately long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. During its course, the river collects water from many tributari ...

. The city flourished during the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

and early Islamic periods. The town was apparently established by the Sasanians, hence its

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

name Newkart (literally "Newly Founded"), which corresponds with its Syriac and later Arabic names. According to

al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...

, the town gained its name when the inhabitants of Firuz Shabur (Pirisabora; Anbar) of central Mesopotamia migrated to this location and transferred the name of their newly founded city with them. The city became renowned as a bishopric centre of the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

within the ecclesiastical province of

Adiabene Adiabene ( Greek: Αδιαβηνή, ) was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it ...

. There existed also a substantial number of Jews, many of whom were converted to Christianity at the hand of its bishop Titus of Hdatta in the 6th century. The city prospered and expanded during the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

period, and the fourth Caliph

Al-Hadi Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī (; 26 April 764 CE 14 September 786 CE) better known by his laqab al-Hādī () was the fourth Arab Abbasid caliph who succeeded his father al-Mahdi and ruled from 169 AH (785 CE) until his death in 1 ...

made it his capital before his death. The Abbasid general Musa ibn Bugha had his headquarters in Haditha during the

Anarchy at Samarra The Anarchy at Samarra () was a period of extreme internal instability from 861 to 870 in the history of the Abbasid Caliphate, marked by the violent succession of four caliphs, who became Puppet ruler, puppets in the hands of powerful rival milit ...

. The population of the city remained Christian mostly belonging to the

. Some of Hdatta's bishops, such as Abraham of Marga, rose to the rank of the

Catholicos of the East Catholicos of the East may refer to: * Patriarch of the Church of the East * Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan * Catholicos of India * Maphrian See also * List of patriarchs of the Church of the East {{OrientalOrthodoxy-st ...

, others such as

Yeshudad of Merv Mar (title), Mar Ishodad of Merv (; fl. AD 850) was a bishop of Hdatta during the Abbasid Caliphate (near current-day Mosul, Iraq) and prominent theologian of the Church of the East, best known for his ''Commentaries'' on the Syriac Bible. Life ...

authored important theological books. The father of Ibn Batish (died 1257) was a native of Hdatta., p. 53. The city's importance declined and it was eventually ruined and deserted after the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

in the 13th century.

References

{{coord, 35.983, N, 43.353, E, region:IQ-NI_type:landmark, display=title Capitals of caliphates History of Nineveh Governorate Upper Mesopotamia under the Abbasid Caliphate Sasanian cities Former populated places in Iraq