Hatra: Ancient Powerful Caravan City That Could Withstand Invading Roman Armies

A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - Hatra, called the "City of the Sun" (139 BC - 226 AD), stands in the flat area of southern Jazirah, on the west bank of Wadi Tharthar and in the desert between the middle Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq.

The city of Hatra played an important role in the trade routes as a major caravan city.

Hatra ruins. Image credit: Spc. Leigh Campbell, Bronze coin struck in Hatra, Mesopotamia, 117-138 AD. Obverse: radiete, draped bust of Shamash right HTR DSMS (in Hatran alphabet = Hatra of Shamash) reverse: eagle half right, above S.C upside down. Johny SYSEL - CC BY-SA 4.0

Hatra was once the religious, military, and trading center of the Parthian Empire. The ruined city lies 180 miles (290 km) northwest of Baghdad and 68 miles (110 km) southwest of Mosul.

The city very likely evolved from an earlier temporary shelter. Strategically located at the center of a small independent state in Parthia, Hatra flourished between the rival powers of Rome and Parthia from the beginning of the 1st century AD, when they divided the legacy of the Seleucid kings (from 312 BC to 63 BC), successors of Alexander the Great, through the 3rd century.

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