Irbīl

Arbil (also written Erbil or Irbil; BGN: Arbīl; Arabic: اربيل‎, Arbīl; Syriac: ܐܪܒܝܠ, Arbela, Turkish: Erbil) is believed by many to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world and is one of the larger cities in Iraq [1] [2] [3]. The city lies eighty kilometres (fifty miles) east of Mosul. In 2005, its estimated population was 990,000 inhabitants. The city is the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government.


Ancient history

Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the twenty-third century BC. The city's archaeological museum contains only pre-Islamic objects. The name Arbil was mentioned in the Sumerian holy writings (about 2000 B.C.) as Orbelum or Urbilum. Others believe the name derives from the Akkadian arba'ū ilū, meaning "four gods". The city was a centre for the worship of the Assyrian goddess Ishtar. In classical times, The city was known by its Aramaic name, Arbela.

The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in 331 BC, took place about one hundred kilometres (sixty miles) west of Arbil. After the Battle, Darius managed to flee to The city, and, somewhat inaccurately, the confrontation is sometimes known as the Battle of Arbela.

Arbil became, like Amida (Diyareker), part of the region disputed between Rome and Persia under the Sassanians. Under Emperor Trajan it was named the Roman province of Assyria, and after a century of independence was reoccupied by Rome. The Jewish kingdom of Adiabene (Greek form Hadyab) had its center at Arbil, and the town and kingdom are known in Jewish Middle Eastern history for the conversion of the royal family to Judaism, although the general population may have remained eclectic but with a strong eastern Christian presence. The queen of the Adiabenians apparently adopted Christianity, and it spread throughout this region, so that the area became a Christian stronghold. It served as the seat of a Metropolitan of the Church of the East. It is known from Butler's Lives of the Saints (see Martyrs of Hadiab) as the site of the Sassanian Persian martyrdom of almost 350 Christians in the year 345.