A large fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab Kingdom, Hatra withstood invasions by the Romans in A.D. 116 and 198 thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by towers. The remains of the city, especially the temples where Hellenistic and Roman architecture blend with Eastern decorative features, attest to the greatness of its civilization.

Brief synthesis An ancient, fortified city founded on the ruins of an Assyrian settlement, Hatra is located in northern Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates, in an open semi-desert, 110 km southwest of Mosul, and about 70 km west of the capital, Ashur, 3 km to the west of Wadi al-Tharthar. Its name, possibly of Aramaic or Arabic origin, probably referred to “enclosure”. Its location, along the military and trade routes that linked the Roman Empire in the west and the Parthian Empire in the east and bordering the Tigris and Euphrates which linked Mesopotamia to the Arabian Gulf, favoured the development of Hatra as an important religious and commercial centre. The religious factor was one of the main reasons for the development of the city from a small village in the first century BC to a large kingdom in the middle of the second century AD. It is the best-preserved city of the Parthian empire (ca. 200 BC-220 AD). Adapted to the topographic features of the site, Hatra presents a remarkable urban complex of circular design. The city's defences of double walls are in perfect condition and lie in an untouched desert steppe environment. The external wall is an earthen bank with a circumference of 9 km; the inner main wall, about 2 km in diameter, is built of stone and strengthened by 171 large and small towers, and a number of strongholds; a ditch ranging between 4-5 m in depth and about 8-14 m in width was dug adjacent to its external side; the inner wall has four fortified gates which roughly correspond with the four cardinal points. The fortifications successfully defended the city against the Roman armies led by Trajan in 116 CE, and by Septimius Severus in 198 CE, with the city becoming celebrated for its impregnability. In the centre of the city is the huge rectangular temenos, east-west oriented, surrounded by a wall and divided by a further wall into two unequal spaces, identified as a large and small courtyard and sanctuary. The main sanctuaries are located…