-1 101 Z Hatra, a Parthian frontier city, is located in northern Iraq, 62 miles (100 km) south-west of Mosul. It was at the westernmost point in the Mesopotamian plain where the water supply could support a sizeable community. It also was a focal point for many caravan trading routes and desert tracks.
#PW Location (Hatra)
1 102 A The gods worshipped in these shrines were both Hellenistic and West Asian. They included Athena and Hercules - Greek gods - and Marten, an eastern sun god.
#Statue
2 101 X Outside the temple precinct were houses as well as smaller shrines dedicated to various deities. In them were found many fine statues of gods, kings, military and religious officials, and members of the royal family.
#House
3 101 X Hatra's earliest occupants were Arabs who settled there around 250 BC. Under the Parthians it became the capital of a client kingdom with Arab rulers. It served as a religious centre for nomadic tribes and a Parthian fortress against invading Roman armies.
#PW City (Arab Settlement)
4 101 X The Roman emperors Trajan and Septimius Severus unsuccessfully besieged Hatra in the early 2nd century AD, but it was occupied by Romans in AD 240 after the collapse of the Parthian dynasty. It was attacked and sacked by the Sassanian king Shapur I in the middle of the 3rd century AD and then abandoned.
