Hatra is an ancient ruined city in the former Iranian province of Khvarvaran, today part of Iraq. It was an important fortified city of the Iranian Parthian Empire, and withstood repeated attacks by the Roman Empire. It is also one of the 10 Legendary Lost Cities of Tayyab. The site was used as the setting for the opening scene in the 1970s movie "The Exorcist".

Hatra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pics can't show the beauty of Hatra, one the greatest world heritage monuments.

A masterpiece of both Persians and Greeks which has been built by Parthians! :)

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~wolf0126/photos/hatra2.jpg

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~wolf0126/photos/hatra4.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra27.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra19.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra04.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra02.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra05.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra08.jpg

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/HATRA/hatra30.jpg

Gilgamesh, do you know if it was built by the Parthians? The figures look more Roman than they do Iranian.

No, I dunno for sure. That's why I wasn't sure if i should post it or not. Also, I couldn't find any source on who built it...:? I assumed it was parthan based on Cyrus comment, he is a history pro after all. :D

Oh ok. I really don't know but from the statues/faces, it looks more Roman.

You're right...

Maybe I should delete it? :s

Romans could never conquer Hatra, even Trajan who conquered Ctesiphon (capital of Parthian empire) was defeated at the famous Battle of Hatra and couldn't capture this city.

Thanks Cyrus. Dorood bar to!

Not all of the statues look Roman to me. Some of them are very persian

Guys Hatra was not built by the Persians. It was built by Arabs on top of an earlier 3rd century BC Assyrian city. "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 Araba, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire, governed by Arabian princes."

The reason it looks the way it does is because this is what Levantine Pre-Islamic Arab cities looked like, a mish mash of Eastern elements and Roman architecture.

By the way, the Persians destroyed it, not built it:

"Hatra became an important fortified frontier city and withstood repeated attacks by the Roman Empire, and played an important role in the Second Parthian War. It repulsed the sieges of both Trajan (116/117) and Septimius Severus (198/199). Hatra defeated the Persians at the battle of Shahrazoor in 238, but fell to the Sassanid Empire of Shapur I in 241 and was destroyed. "

^^ Well that clears that up. Interesting. I hope it will attract people again. Most Iraqis probably dont know it exists.

^^ Well that clears that up. Interesting. I hope it will attract people again. Most Iraqis probably dont know it exists.



I'm sure a lot of people know about it. But I hope there's not a lot of this going on :


http://www.undermars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/1167-july-21st-2003-statue-at-hatra-iraq.jpg

^^ OMG Well we know that they badly damaged the Babylon site with a military base etc so it wouldnt surprise me if they damaged this place too.

I know some of them may have heard about it. But with the country going through so much upheaval for so long, with people just struggling through life and the authorities neglecting education and culture, places like this can fade from people's conciousness.

Should this topic be moved to the general Middle East and Africa forum?

Should this topic be moved to the general Middle East and Africa forum?

If you like, but it still was nominally part of the Parthian Empire, so....it's up to you.

Awesome

Gilgamesh, do you know if it was built by the Parthians? The figures look more Roman than they do Iranian.

during the parthian era, persian architecture was HEAVILY influenced by greek architecture

and also, damnit i wish it was in iran! this thing is in such good condition!

^^ Well that clears that up. Interesting. I hope it will attract people again. Most Iraqis probably dont know it exists.

actually we do, we're very aware of the cultural sites that we have within our borders...Hatra is even featured in many Iraqi stamps:

http://thesalmons.org/lynn/iraq-stamp.gif

and as KWT said, it was built by the arabs, so if you like you can move the thread over to the Iraq 'photography' section :)

it wasnt built only by arabs, the persians flourished the region when it became a persian province, the arabs built the base, but these buildings are from the seleucid-pathian era

arabs never had this type of architecture, and also iraq is not levantine

^^ Hatra was founded by Ancient Arab tribes[1] some time in the 3rd century BCE. A religious and trading centre under the Parthian empire of Iran, it flourished during the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE.[2] 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 Araba, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire of Iran, governed by Arabian princes.

and


Hatra defeated the Iranians at the battle of Shahrazoor in 238, but fell to the Iranian Sassanid Empire of Shapur I in 241 and was destroyed[3].

-Wikipedia

hence it was built by the arabs and was destroyed and taken by the persians and not "flourished". The only reason for the mix of architecture is the influence of the Roman and Parthian empires at the time.

^^ Hatra was founded by Ancient Arab tribes[1] some time in the 3rd century BCE. A religious and trading centre under the Parthian empire of Iran, it flourished during the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE.[2] 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 Araba, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire of Iran, governed by Arabian princes.

and


Hatra defeated the Iranians at the battle of Shahrazoor in 238, but fell to the Iranian Sassanid Empire of Shapur I in 241 and was destroyed[3].

-Wikipedia

hence it was built by the arabs and was destroyed and taken by the persians and not "flourished". The only reason for the mix of architecture is the influence of the Roman and Parthian empires at the time.

I don't think that actual building was built by the Arabs. The city was founded by Arabs, but that specific building was built by Parthians, who were from Iran.

^^ Hatra was founded by Ancient Arab tribes[1] some time in the 3rd century BCE. A religious and trading centre under the Parthian empire of Iran, it flourished during the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE.[2] 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 Araba, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire of Iran, governed by Arabian princes.

and


Hatra defeated the Iranians at the battle of Shahrazoor in 238, but fell to the Iranian Sassanid Empire of Shapur I in 241 and was destroyed[3].

-Wikipedia

hence it was built by the arabs and was destroyed and taken by the persians and not "flourished". The only reason for the mix of architecture is the influence of the Roman and Parthian empires at the time.

its saying it FLOURISHED UNDER THE PARTHIANS, parthians were a subgroup of persians

^^im just saying Hatra the CITY was founded and built (partly) by arabs until it was taken over...

:)

Relief of a Parthian man from Masjed Soleiman, Khuzestan, Iran:

http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/Parthian/bardeh_neshandeh/Parthian_standing_man.jpg

Statue of a Parthian Princess from Bardeh Neshandeh, Khuzestan, Iran:

http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Images2/Parthian/Sculpture/Bardnehsndeh_Parthian_statue.jpg

Unfortunately people don't know about Parthian art and architecture! :(

http://raeeka.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/parthian_lady_hatra.jpg

http://raeeka.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/parthian_male3_hatra.jpg

Don't you see similarities?

^^

Yes of course, the Parthians were extremely influential in the region! And Hatra was nominally part of the Parthian Empire. But the Arabs of the region combined Parthian elements and Graeco-Roman elements in the art and architecture of their cities since they were usually buffer zones beween the East and the West. This is a funerary statue of an Arab woman from Palmyra that was equally influenced by the Parthians and the Greeks (even though it was never controlled by the Parthians):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/PalmyraWoman.JPG/487px-PalmyraWoman.JPG

This is another Palmyrene funerary statue that is more influenced by the Parthians:

http://www.lessing-photo.com/p3/110104/11010439.jpg