Ayn al-Tamr or Ain al-Tamur () is a city in central

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, located about 67 km west of

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

near Razzaza Lake. The oasis of Ayn al-Tamr comprises many villages which are famous for palm orchards and mineral water. The city is considered one of the main sources of

dates Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...

that made it an important hub on the route of

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

in ancient times.

Background

The city was originally known as ''Ŝeṯâṯa'' or ''Ŝefâṯa'', which means "clear water" or "pure spring" in ancient

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, until 1938 when it was renamed to Ayn al-Tamr, best known as the location of the

Battle of Ayn al-Tamr The Battle of Ayn al-Tamr () took place in modern-day Iraq (Mesopotamia) between the early Muslim Arab forces and the Sassanians along with their Arab Christian auxiliary forces. Ayn al-Tamr is located west of Anbar and was a frontier post w ...

(633). The region contains many ancient palaces and monasteries, such as Al-Ukhaidir Fortress, Bardawil Castle, Shimon ibn Jaber Palace, and Al-Aqiser Church (Mini-Palace Church) which is one of the oldest churches in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Notable people

Ibn Ishaq Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar al-Muttalibi (; – , known simply as Ibn Ishaq, was an 8th-century Muslim historian and hagiographer who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Islamic proph ...

, a

Muslim historian The following is a list of Muslim historians writing in the Islamic historiographical tradition, which developed from hadith literature in the time of the first caliphs. Chronological list Historians of the Formative Period The First Century ...

and

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...

. *

Hasan of Basra Abi Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as al-Hasan al-Basri, was an ancient Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge. Born in Medina in 642,Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in: ''Encyc ...

, a well-known Muslim preacher, theologian, scholar. *

Ibn Sirin Muhammad Ibn Sirin (, romanized: Muḥammad Ibn Sirīn) (born in Basra) was a Muslim tabi' as he was a contemporary of Anas ibn Malik. He is claimed by some to have been an interpreter of dreams, though others regard the books to have been fal ...

, a Muslim mystic and interpreter of dreams. *

Abu-l-'Atahiya Abū al-ʻAtāhiyya (; 748–828), full name Abu Ishaq Isma'il ibn al-Qasim ibn Suwayd Al-Anzi (), was one of the principal Arab poets of the early Islamic era, a prolific ''muwallad'' poet of ascetics who ranked with Bashshār and Abū Nuwās, ...

, an Arab poet. *

Muhsin Mahdi Muḥsin Sayyid Mahdī (; cited Muhsin S. Mahdi; June 21, 1926 – July 9, 2007) was an Iraqi-American Islamologist and Arabist. He was a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy. His best-known work was the first critical ...

, a leading authority on Arabian history, philology, and philosophy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayn al-Tamr Populated places in Karbala Province District capitals of Iraq Cities in Iraq