IRAQ: Hatra
The remains of Hatra, the ancient capital of Arab Christian kings, lies off
the Mosul Highway 300 km north of Baghdad. Once a prosperous staging-post on
the fabled `Silk Route` crossing Mesopotamia, Hatra`s huge limestone
monuments are copies of Greek, Roman and Parthian-style architecture, built
by local Arabs. An inscription dated AD 97-88 records that two of the
biggest edifices were financed by local Bedouin tribes. Surrounded by a moat
and a double set of walls, 8 km long and topped with 160 watch-towers, Hatra
withstood two Roman invasions until being vanquished by Sassanian armies
around AD 232. It seems never to have been re-occupied, and its remote
location saved its stones from being taken for construction elsewhere in
Iraq. In the centre, attributed to King Sanatruq I, is a great temple
dedicated to Shamesh, the Babylonian Sun-God. Sculptures of other deities
include Tyche (the guardian goddess of Hatra), Apollo (Balmarin in the
Hatrene religion) Poseidon and Eros all of whom like had their own
individual temples. The discovery of several bulls' heads also indicates
secret male-only rituals associated with the eastern cult of Mithraism.
Serious archaeological excavations have been interrupted by war in Iraq, but
even partly restored, the temples are a powerful expression of Hatra`s
illustrious past. The site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985.