Hatra

Hatra is known as al-Ḥaḍr (الحضر) in Arabic. It is recorded as 𐣧𐣨𐣣𐣠 (ḥṭrʾ, vocalized as: Ḥaṭrāʾ) in Hatran Aramaic inscriptions, probably meaning "enclosure, hedge, fence". In Syriac, it is usually recorded in the plural form Ḥaṭrē. In Roman works, it is recorded as Greek Átra and Latin Hatra and Hatris.[2]

The city was officially called Beit ʾElāhāʾ 𐣡𐣩𐣵 𐣠𐣫𐣤𐣠‎ "House of God", in Hatran Aramaic inscriptions[3] and once recorded as "Enclosure of Shamash" (ḥtrʾ d-šmš 𐣧𐣨𐣣𐣠 𐣣𐣴𐣬𐣴‎) on a coin.[2]

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 period.[2] Hatra flourished under the Parthians, during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, as a religious and trading center.[4] Later on, the city became the capital of possibly the first Arab Kingdom in the chain of Arab cities running from Hatra, in the northeast, via Palmyra, Baalbek and Petra, in the southwest. The region controlled from Hatra was the Kingdom of Hatra, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire, governed by Arabian princes.

bronze coin struck in Hatra circa 117–138 AD, obverse depicts radiate bust of Shamash

Plan of Hatra

Hatra became an important fortified frontier city and played an important role in the Second Parthian War, withstanding repeated attacks by the Roman Empire. During the 2nd century CE the city repulsed sieges by both Trajan (116/117) and Septimius Severus (198/199).[5] 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 and was destroyed.[5] The traditional stories of the fall of Hatra 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.[4][6]

Hatra was the best preserved and most informative example of a Parthian city. Its plan was circular,[7] and was encircled by inner and outer walls nearly 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in diameter[8] and supported by more than 160 towers. A temenos (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, Mesopotamian, Canaanite, Aramean and Arabian pantheons, known in Aramaic as Beiṯ Ĕlāhā ("House of God"). The city had temples to Nergal (Assyrian-Babylonian and Akkadian), Hermes (Greek), Atargatis (Syro-Aramaean), Allat, Shamiyyah (Arabian), and Shamash (the Mesopotamian sun god).[4] 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.

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").[2]

Name		Title	Date	Portrait	Note
1	Worod	mry´
2	Ma’nu	mry´
3	Elkud	mry´	155/156
4	Nashrihab	mry´	128/29 – 137/38 AD
5	Naṣru	mry´	128/29 – 176/77
6	Wolgash I	mry´ and mlk			The two brothers may have been co-rulers.
7	Sanatruq I	mry´ and mlk	176/177
8	Abdsamiya	mlk	192/93 – 201/202		Supported the Roman emperor Pescennius Niger
9	Sanatruq II	mlk – King	207/08 – 229/230		Became a vassal of the Romans under Gordian III during Roman–Persian Wars

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.[9] The architecture of Hatra itself is generally seen as an example of Parthian architecture.[9] Similarities can be seen with the Art of the Kushans as well, due either to direct cultural exchanges between the area of Mesopotamia and the Kushan Empire at that time, or from a common Parthian artistic background leading to similar types of representation.[9]

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  Headless statue of a nobleman features intricate detail.
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  Military commander from the city of Hatra. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
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  Limestone statue of a military commander in his uniform holding a statue of a deity.
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  Relief of the god Nergal from Hatra.
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  Hatra relief devotee.

Hatra was used as the setting for the opening scene in the 1973 film The Exorcist,[10] and since 1985 has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[11]

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,[12] directed by R. Ricciardi Venco (University of Turin), made major discoveries at Hatra. The excavations were focused on an important house ("Building A"[13]), located close to the Temenos, and on deep soundings in the Temenos central area.[14] Now the Expedition is active in different projects regarding the preservation and development of the archaeological site.[15] In 1990, a Polish expedition of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw recorded and studied the city's defense walls.[16]

In 2004, The Daily Telegraph stated "Hatra's finely preserved columns and statues make it one of the most impressive of Iraq's archaeological sites"[17]

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  Remains of several temples and ancient walls (2004)
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  Elevated view of the site in 2007
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  Temple facade (May 2006)
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  Southern exposure of the temple (May 2006)
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  July 2008
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  Marn Temple (November 2008)
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  November 2008
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  American soldiers at the site, September 2010
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  American soldiers at the site, September 2010
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  Elevated view of the temple (September 2014)
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  Detail of a temple, showing Hellenistic, Mesopotamian and Iranian architecture
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  Decorated arch with faces
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  View of iwans
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  Closeup of an iwan
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  Facade of Temple
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  Arch of the temple
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  Protruded head on a wall
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  Statue of the Goddess Shahiro
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  From left to right, an unidentified ruler, Hermes, a female deity, and Sanatruq I.From Hatra. Erbil Civilization Museum
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  Door lintel from Hatra. 2nd-3rd century AD. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan

Hatra has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Hatra is 20.7 °C (69.3 °F). About 257 mm (10.12 in) of precipitation falls annually.

• Aramaic of Hatra
• Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL
• Taq-i Kisra, sharing architectural features with structures at Hatra

• al-Salihi, W. (2021). "Hatra: Three Notes, Historical, Iconographical, and Religious". Iraq. 83: 3–12. doi:10.1017/irq.2021.12. S2CID 239871840.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hatra.

• Between Rome and Parthia: The Desert City of Hatra
• http://lexicorient.com/e.o/hathra.htm Archived 2006-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
• http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9039509
• http://shezaf.net/english/Video/Video/Hatra.html Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
• 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