11 Facts About Hatra

Hatra was an ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia located in present-day eastern Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq.

Hatra flourished in the 2nd century, and was destroyed and deserted in the 3rd century.

Hatra flourished under the Parthians, during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, as a religious and trading center.

The region controlled from Hatra was the Kingdom of Hatra, a semi-autonomous buffer kingdom on the western limits of the Parthian Empire, governed by Arabian princes.

Hatra became an important fortified frontier city and played an important role in the Second Parthian War, withstanding repeated attacks by the Roman Empire.

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Hatra's forces defeated the ascendant Sassanid Persians in 238 at the battle of Shahrazoor, but fell shortly after in 241 to the army of Sassanid king Shapur I and was destroyed.

The traditional stories of the fall of Hatra tell of al-Nadirah, daughter of the King of Araba, who betrayed the city into the hands of Shapur as she fell in love with him.

Hatra was the best preserved and most informative example of a Parthian city.

The architecture of Hatra itself is generally seen as an example of Parthian architecture.

Hatra was used as the setting for the opening scene in the 1973 film The Exorcist, and since 1985 has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 2004, The Daily Telegraph stated "Hatra's finely preserved columns and statues make it one of the most impressive of Iraq's archaeological sites".