Hatra (al-Hadr), Iraq: view N of C1st/2ndAD Iranian-style temple/palace complex in the central sacred enclosure (temenos) of the oasis city some 110km (68 miles) SW of Mosul in northern Iraq. Main deity worshipped at Hatra was sun-god Shamash, god of justice, controller of the seasons. This complex is sometimes called the Temple of Baal Shamin (Shamash): Baal means lord/owner but he was also a god of weather & fertility, important concerns in a hot, semi-arid climate. Combination of temples & open-fronted halls (iwans) may be based on the reception tent of a tribal sheikh with a great, central open-fronted mudhif flanked by family wings with facades of reed-walling & small open arches. Hatra was one of the earliest settlements established by Arabic-speaking nomad tribes. Situated in the desert on the W bank of Wadi Tharthar between the Rivers Tigris & Euphrates in a province of the Parthian Empire called Arabaya (Land of the Arabs). Hatra became a cosmopolitan caravan city, the hub of 12 ancient trade routes. In the 'forward zone' of Roman frontier policy, it was strongly fortified against invading Roman armies. Sieges by emperors Trajan (117AD), & Septimius Severus twice (198-201) failed because of heat, hunger & thirst, flies & hornets, & the effective use of machine catapults & sorties by the defenders. The city was captured & sacked c. 241AD by Shapur I & his father Ardashir, founder of the Sassanian dynasty. A hybrid between the Mediterranean world & Asia with a mix of C1st BC Hellenic & C1st/2ndAD Iranian architecture within the layout of an Asiatic town. Circular in plan with a double wall nearly 4 miles (6.4km) in circumference with over 160 towers. At the centre lay a rectangular enclosure (temenos) containing the sacred buildings & palaces. The area in between was packed with houses divided by narrow lanes. This photograph was taken in March 1983, in 1985 Hatra was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. IS/Daesh occupied Hatra 2014-17.
