Anbar ( ar, الأنبار, al-Anbār, syr, ܐܢܒܐܪ, Anbar,) also known by its original ancient name, Peroz-Shapur, was an ancient and medieval town in central
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
. It played a role in the
Roman–Persian Wars
The Roman–Persian Wars, also known as the Roman–Iranian Wars, were a series of conflicts between states of the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranian empires: the Parthian and the Sasanian. Battles between the Parthian Empire and the ...
of the 3rd–4th centuries, and briefly became the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
before the founding of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
in 762. It remained a moderately prosperous town through the 10th century, but quickly declined thereafter. As a local administrative centre, it survived until the 14th century, but was later abandoned.
Its ruins are near modern
Fallujah. The city gives its name to the
Al-Anbar Governorate
Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...
.
History
Origins
The city is located on the left bank of the Middle
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...
, at the junction with the
Nahr Isa The Nahr Isa ( ar, نهر عيسى, Nahr ʿĪsā) or Isa Canal was a navigable canal that linked the two great rivers of Mesopotamia, the Euphrates and the Tigris, during the Abbasid Caliphate. It was one of the main water sources and the main avenu ...
canal, the first of the navigable canals that link the Euphrates to the
River Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
to the east. The origins of the city are unknown, but ancient, perhaps dating to the
Babylonian era and even earlier: the local
artificial mound of Tell Aswad dates to .
Sasanian period
The town was originally known as Misiche (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: ), Mesiche (), or Massice ( pal, 𐭬𐭱𐭩𐭪 mšyk; xpr, 𐭌𐭔𐭉𐭊 mšyk). As a major crossing point of the Euphrates, and occupying the northernmost point of the complex irrigation network of the
Sawad
Sawad was the name used in early Islamic times (7th–12th centuries) for southern Iraq. It means "black land" or "arable land" and refers to the stark contrast between the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Desert. Under the Umayyad ...
, the town was of considerable strategic significance. As the western gate to central Mesopotamia, it was fortified by the
Sasanian
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
ruler
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
() to shield his capital,
Ctesiphon, from the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
. After his decisive defeat of the
Roman emperor Gordian III at the
Battle of Misiche
The Battle of Misiche (Greek: ), Mesiche (), or Massice ( pal, 𐭬𐭱𐭩𐭪 mšyk; xpr, 𐭌𐭔𐭉𐭊 mšyk) (dated between January 13 and March 14, 244 ) was fought between the Sasanians and the Romans in Misiche, Mesopotamia.
Backgro ...
in 244, Shapur renamed the town to Peroz-Shapur (''Pērōz-Šāpūr'' or ''Pērōz-Šābuhr'', from pal, 𐭯𐭥𐭩𐭥𐭦𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, meaning "victorious Shapur"; in xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭂𐭅𐭆𐭔𐭇𐭐𐭅𐭇𐭓, prgwzšhypwhr; in arc, פירוז שבור). It became known as Pirisapora or Bersabora ( grc, Βηρσαβῶρα) to the Greeks and Romans.
The city was fortified by a double wall, possibly through the use of Roman prisoner labour; it was
sacked and burned after an agreement with its garrison in March 363 by the Roman emperor
Julian during
his invasion of the
Sasanian Empire. It was rebuilt by
Shapur II
Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigne ...
. By 420, it is attested as a bishopric, both for the
Church of the East and for the
Syriac Orthodox Church. The town's garrison was Persian, but it also contained sizeable Arab and Jewish populations. Anbar was adjacent or identical to the
Babylonian Jewish center of
Nehardea
Nehardea or Nehardeah ( arc, נהרדעא, ''nəhardəʿā'' "river of knowledge") was a city from the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka (the Royal Canal), one ...
( arc, נהרדעא), and lies a short distance from the present-day town of
Fallujah, formerly the
Babylonian Jewish center of
Pumbedita ( arc, פומבדיתא).
Islamic period
The city fell to the
Rashidun Caliphate in July 633, after a fiercely fought siege. The Arabs retained the name (''Fīrūz Shābūr'') for the surrounding district, but the town itself became known as Anbar (
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...
word for "granary" or "storehouse") from the granaries in its citadel, a name that had appeared already during the 6th century. According to
Baladhuri
ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and e ...
, the third mosque to be built in Iraq was erected in the city by
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
, image = File:Saad ibn Abi Waqqas Masjid an-Nabawi Calligraphy.png
, alt =
, caption = His name in Arabic calligraphy
, birth_date =
, death_date =
, birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia
, death_place ...
. Ibn Abi Waqqas initially considered Anbar as a candidate for the location of one of the first Muslim garrison towns, but the fever and fleas endemic in the area persuaded him otherwise.
According to medieval Arabic sources, most of the inhabitants of the town migrated north to found the city of
Hdatta Hdatta or Haditha ( syc, ܚܕܬܐ ', ar, الحديثة '), was a historical city on the East bank of the Tigris just below its confluence with the Upper Zab. The city flourished during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods.
The town was apparen ...
south of
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
.
The famous governor
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf cleared the canals of the city.
Abu'l-Abbas as-Saffah (), the founder of the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
, made it his capital in 752, constructing a new town half a ''
farsakh
The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of walking distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the league. In modern terms the distance is about 3 or 3½ miles (4.8 or 5.6 km).
His ...
'' () to the north for his
Khurasani troops. There he died and was buried at the palace he had built. His successor,
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
(), remained in the city until the founding of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
in 762. The Abbasids also dug the great
Nahr Isa The Nahr Isa ( ar, نهر عيسى, Nahr ʿĪsā) or Isa Canal was a navigable canal that linked the two great rivers of Mesopotamia, the Euphrates and the Tigris, during the Abbasid Caliphate. It was one of the main water sources and the main avenu ...
canal to the south of the city, which carried water and commerce east to Baghdad. The Nahr al-Saqlawiyya or Nahr al-Qarma canal, which branches off from the Euphrates to the west of the city, is sometimes erroneously held to be the Nahr Isa, but it is more likely that it is to be identified with the pre-Islamic Nahr al-Rufayl.
It continued to be a place of much importance throughout the Abbasid period. Caliph
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
() stayed at the town in 799 and in 803. The town's prosperity was founded on agricultural activities, but also on trade between Iraq and Syria. The town was still prosperous in the early 9th century, but the
decline of Abbasid authority during the later 9th century exposed it to
Bedouin attacks in 882 and 899. In 927, the
Qarmatians under
Abu Tahir al-Jannabi
Abu Tahir Sulayman al-Jannabi ( ar, ابو طاهر سلیمان الجنّابي, Abū Tāhir Sulaymān al-Jannābī, fa, ابوطاهر سلیمانِ گناوهای ''Abu-Tāher Soleymān-e Genāve'i'') was a Persian warlord and the ruler ...
sacked the city during
their invasion of Iraq, and the devastation was compounded by another Bedouin attack two years later. The town's decline accelerated after that: while the early 10th-century geographer
Istakhri
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arab ...
still calls the town modest but populous, with the ruins of the buildings of as-Saffah still visible,
Ibn Hawqal
Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler who travelled during the ye ...
and
al-Maqdisi
Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdisī ( ar, شَمْس ٱلدِّيْن أَبُو عَبْد ٱلله مُحَمَّد ابْن أَحْمَد ابْن أَبِي بَكْر ٱلْمَقْدِسِي), ...
, who wrote a generation later, attest to its decline, and the diminution of its population.
The town was sacked again in 1262 by the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
under
Kerboka. The
Ilkhanids
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm ...
retained Anbar as an administrative centre, a role it retained until the first half of the 14th century; the Ilkhanid minister
Shams al-Din Juvayni
Shams al-Din Juvayni ( fa, شمسالدین جوینی; also spelled Joveyni) was a Persian statesman and member of the Juvayni family. He was an influential figure in early Ilkhanate politics, serving as ''sahib-i divan'' (vizier and minist ...
had a canal dug from the city to
Najaf
Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
, and the city was surrounded by a wall of sun-dried bricks.
Ecclesiastical history
Anbar used to host an
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
community from the fifth century: the town was the seat of a bishopric of the
Church of the East. The names of fourteen of its bishops of the period 486–1074 are known, three of whom became
Chaldean Patriarchs of Babylon.
* Narses
* Simeon
* Salibazachi
* Paul
* Theodosius
* John
* Enos 890
* Elias
* Jaballaha
* Sebarjesus
* Elias II
* Unnamed bishop
* Mundar
* Maris
* Zacharias
Titular see
Anbar is listed by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
as a
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...
of the
Chaldean Catholic Church,
[''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 832] established as
titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.
By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...
ric in 1980.
It has had the following incumbents:
* Titular Archbishop
Stéphane Katchou (1980.10.03 – 1981.11.10), as
Coadjutor Archeparch
Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on t ...
of
Bassorah of the Chaldeans (Iraq) (1980.10.03 – 1981.11.10)
* Titular Bishop
Ibrahim Namo Ibrahim
Ibrahim Namo Ibrahim (born October 1, 1937) is a bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as the Apostolic Exarch of United States of America from 1982 to 1985, and then, following its elevation, as the first eparch (bishop ...
(1982.01.11 – 1985.08.03), as
Apostolic Exarch
An exarch (;
from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.
In the late Roman Empire and ea ...
in the United States of America (1982.01.11 – 1985.08.03)
* Titular Bishop Shlemon Warduni (since 2001.01.12),
Curial Bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church
Today
It is now entirely deserted, occupied only by mounds of ruins, whose great number indicate the city's former importance. Its ruins are northwest of Fallujah, with a circumference of some . The remains include traces of the late medieval wall, a square fortification, and the early Islamic mosque.
Citations
General sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
GCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anbar (Town)
Al Anbar Governorate
Dioceses of the Church of the East
Eastern Catholic titular sees
Former populated places in Iraq
Medieval Iraq
Abbasid Caliphate
Capitals in Asia
Archaeological sites in Iraq