View source for Anbar (town)

{{short description|Former town in Al Anbar, Iraq}}
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{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Anbar
| native_name        = الأنبار <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|native_name_lang=ar
| nickname           = 
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| pushpin_map        = Iraq
| pushpin_label_position = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_map_caption = Anbar's location inside Iraq
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = Iraq
| subdivision_type1  = Governorate
| subdivision_name1  = [[Al Anbar Governorate|Al Anbar]]
| coordinates        = {{coord|33|22.5|N|43|43|E|region:IQ|display=title,inline}}{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}}
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'''Anbar''' ({{langx|ar|الأنبار|al-Anbār}}, {{langx|syr|ܐܢܒܐܪ|Anbar}}<ref>Thomas A. Carlson et al., "Peruz Shapur — ܐܢܒܐܪ " in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified December 9, 2016, http://syriaca.org/place/211.</ref>) was an ancient and medieval town in central [[Iraq]]. It played a role in the [[Roman–Persian Wars]] of the 3rd–4th centuries, and briefly became the capital of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] before the founding of [[Baghdad]] in 762. It remained a moderately prosperous town through the 10th century, but quickly declined thereafter. As a local administrative centre, it survived until the 14th century, but was later abandoned.

Its ruins are near modern [[Fallujah]]. The city gives its name to the [[Al-Anbar Governorate]].

== History ==
=== Origins ===
[[File:Assyrian wall relief showing a scribe and a horseman trampling enemies. From Anah, Iraq. Iraq Museum.jpg|thumb|Assyrian wall relief showing a scribe and a horseman trampling enemies. From Anah, al-Anbar Governorate, Iraq. 9th–7th century BCE. Iraq Museum]]
The city is located on the left bank of the Middle [[Euphrates]], at the junction with the [[Nahr Isa]] canal, the first of the navigable canals that link the Euphrates to the [[River Tigris]] to the east.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}}{{Sfn|Brunner|1975|p=759}} The origins of the city are unknown, but ancient, perhaps dating to the [[Babylonia]]n era and even earlier: the local [[Tell (archaeology)|artificial mound]] of Tell Aswad dates to {{circa| 3000 BC}}.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}}

=== Sasanian period ===
The town was originally known as '''Misiche''' ([[Koine Greek|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Μισιχή}}), '''Mesiche''' ({{lang|grc|Μεσιχή}}), or '''Massice''' ({{langx|pal|𐭬𐭱{{lrm}}𐭩{{lrm}}𐭪{{lrm}}{{lrm}}{{lrm}}{{lrm}}}} mšyk; {{langx|xpr|𐭌{{lrm}}𐭔{{lrm}}𐭉{{lrm}}𐭊{{lrm}}}} mšyk).{{Sfn|Brunner|1975|p=759}}{{Sfn|Frye|1983|p=125}} As a major crossing point of the Euphrates, and occupying the northernmost point of the complex irrigation network of the [[Sawad]], the town was of considerable strategic significance.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}} As the western gate to central Mesopotamia, it was fortified by the [[Sasanian]] ruler [[Shapur I]] ({{reign|241|272}}) to shield his capital, [[Ctesiphon]], from the [[Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}} After his decisive victory over the [[Roman emperor]] [[Gordian III]] at the [[Battle of Misiche]] in 244, Shapur renamed the town to '''Peroz-Shapur''' (''Pērōz-Šāpūr'' or ''Pērōz-Šābuhr'', from {{langx|pal|𐭯𐭥𐭩𐭥𐭦𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩}}, meaning "victorious Shapur"; in {{langx|xpr|𐭐𐭓𐭂𐭅𐭆𐭔𐭇𐭐𐭅𐭇𐭓|prgwzšhypwhr}}; in {{langx|arc|פירוז שבור}}).{{Sfn|Brunner|1975|p=759}}{{Sfn|Frye|1983|p=125}} It became known as '''Pirisapora''' or '''Bersabora''' ({{langx|grc|Βηρσαβῶρα}}) to the Greeks and Romans.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}}

The city was fortified by a double wall, possibly through the use of Roman prisoner labour; it was [[Siege of Pirisabora|sacked and burned]] after an agreement with its garrison in March 363 by the Roman emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] during [[Julian's Persian expedition|his invasion of the Sasanian Empire]].{{Sfn|Brunner|1975|p=759}}{{sfn|ODLA|loc="Peroz-Shapur" (J. Wienand), p. 1159}} It was rebuilt by [[Shapur II]].{{sfn|ODLA|loc="Peroz-Shapur" (J. Wienand), p. 1159}} By 420, it is attested as a bishopric,{{Sfn|Brunner|1975|p=759}} both for the [[Church of the East]] and for the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]].{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}} The town's garrison was Persian, but it also contained sizeable Arab and Jewish populations.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}} Anbar was adjacent or identical to the [[History of the Jews in Iraq#Babylonia as the center of Judaism|Babylonian Jewish]] center of [[Nehardea]] ({{langx|arc|נהרדעא}}), and lies a short distance from the present-day town of [[Fallujah]], formerly the [[History of the Jews in Iraq#Babylonia as the center of Judaism|Babylonian Jewish]] center of [[Pumbedita]] ({{langx|arc|פומבדיתא}}).

=== Islamic period ===
The city fell to the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] in July 633, after a fiercely fought siege.{{sfn|ODLA|loc="Peroz-Shapur" (J. Wienand), p. 1159}} When [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] (r. 656–661) passed through the city, he was warmly welcomed by ninety-thousand Jews who then lived there, and he "received them with great friendliness."<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Sherira Gaon |author-link=Sherira Gaon |title=The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon |translator=Nosson Dovid Rabinowich |publisher=Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press - Ahavath Torah Institute Moznaim|date=1988 |location=Jerusalem|page=125 |language=en |oclc=923562173 |title-link=Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon }}</ref>

The Arabs retained the name (''Fīrūz Shābūr'') for the surrounding district, but the town itself became known as '''Anbar''' ([[Middle Persian]] word for "granary" or "storehouse") from the granaries in its citadel, a name that had appeared already during the 6th century.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=484}}{{sfn|Le Strange|1905|pp=65–66}} According to [[Baladhuri]], the third mosque to be built in Iraq was erected in the city by [[Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas]].{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}} Ibn Abi Waqqas initially considered Anbar as a candidate for the location of one of the first Muslim garrison towns, but the fever and fleas endemic in the area persuaded him otherwise.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}

According to medieval Arabic sources, most of the inhabitants of the town migrated north to found the city of [[Hdatta]] south of [[Mosul]].<ref name=EOI>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Lewis | first = Bernard | author-link = Bernard Lewis | editor = Hertzfeld, E | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of Islam | isbn = 978-90-04-08118-5 | title = Ḥadīt̲a  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d9JSXwAACAAJ | access-date = 12 October 2012 | edition = Second | year = 1986 | publisher = BRILL | volume = 3 | page = 29 }}</ref> The famous governor [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]] cleared the canals of the city.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}

[[As-Saffah|Abu'l-Abbas as-Saffah]] ({{reign|749|754}}), the founder of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], made it his capital in 752, constructing a new town half a ''[[farsakh]]'' ({{circa| {{convert|2.5|km|mi}}}}) to the north for his [[Khurasan]]i troops. There he died and was buried at the palace he had built. His successor, [[al-Mansur]] ({{Reign|754|775}}), remained in the city until the founding of [[Baghdad]] in 762.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}{{sfn|Le Strange|1905|p=66}} The Abbasids also dug the great [[Nahr Isa]] canal to the south of the city, which carried water and commerce east to Baghdad.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}{{sfn|Le Strange|1905|pp=66–67}} The Nahr al-Saqlawiyya or Nahr al-Qarma canal, which branches off from the Euphrates to the west of the city, is sometimes erroneously held to be the Nahr Isa, but it is more likely that it is to be identified with the pre-Islamic Nahr al-Rufayl.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}

It continued to be a place of much importance throughout the Abbasid period.{{sfn|Peters|1911}} Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] ({{reign|786|809}}) stayed at the town in 799 and in 803.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}} The town's prosperity was founded on agricultural activities, but also on trade between Iraq and Syria.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}} The town was still prosperous in the early 9th century, but the [[Anarchy at Samarra|decline of Abbasid authority]] during the later 9th century exposed it to [[Bedouin]] attacks in 882 and 899. In 927, the [[Qarmatians]] under [[Abu Tahir al-Jannabi]] sacked the city during [[Qarmatian invasion of Iraq (927–928)|their invasion of Iraq]], and the devastation was compounded by another Bedouin attack two years later.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}} The town's decline accelerated after that: while the early 10th-century geographer [[Istakhri]] still calls the town modest but populous, with the ruins of the buildings of as-Saffah still visible, [[Ibn Hawqal]] and [[al-Maqdisi]], who wrote a generation later, attest to its decline, and the diminution of its population.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}

The town was sacked again in 1262 by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] under [[Kerboka]].{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}} The [[Ilkhanids]] retained Anbar as an administrative centre, a role it retained until the first half of the 14th century; the Ilkhanid minister [[Shams al-Din Juvayni]] had a canal dug from the city to [[Najaf]], and the city was surrounded by a wall of sun-dried bricks.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}}

== Ecclesiastical history ==
Anbar used to host an [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] community from the fifth century: the town was the seat of a bishopric of the [[Church of the East]]. The names of fourteen of its bishops of the period 486–1074 are known, three of whom became [[Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon|Chaldean Patriarchs of Babylon]].<ref>{{Oriens christianus|volume=2|at=coll. 1171-1174}}</ref>
* Narses {{fl.|540}}
* Simeon {{fl.|553}}
* Salibazachi {{fl.|714}}
* Paul {{fl.|740}}
* Theodosius 
* John {{fl.|885}}
* Enos 890
* Elias {{fl.|906-920}}
* Jaballaha {{fl.|960}}
* Sebarjesus
* Elias II {{fl.|987}}
* Unnamed bishop {{fl.|1021}}
* Mundar {{fl.|1028}}
* Maris {{fl.|1075}}
* Zacharias {{fl.|1111}}

=== Titular see ===
Anbar is listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]] of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]],<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 832</ref> established as [[titular bishop]]ric in 1980.
 
It has had the following incumbents:
* Titular Archbishop [[Stéphane Katchou]] (1980.10.03 – 1981.11.10), as [[Coadjutor Archeparch]] of [[Bassorah of the Chaldeans]] (Iraq) (1980.10.03 – 1981.11.10)
* Titular Bishop [[Ibrahim Namo Ibrahim]] (1982.01.11 – 1985.08.03), as [[Apostolic Exarch]] in the United States of America (1982.01.11 – 1985.08.03)
* Titular Bishop Shlemon Warduni (since 2001.01.12), [[Curial Bishop]] of the Chaldean Catholic Church

== Today ==
It is now entirely deserted, occupied only by mounds of ruins, whose great number indicate the city's former importance.{{sfn|Peters|1911}} Its ruins are {{convert|5|km|mi}} northwest of Fallujah, with a circumference of some {{convert|6|km|mi}}. The remains include traces of the late medieval wall, a square fortification, and the early Islamic mosque.{{sfn|Streck|Duri|1960|p=485}} 

== Citations ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== General sources ==
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFLe_Strange1905}}
* {{The Cambridge History of Iran | volume = 4 | last = Brunner | first = Christopher | chapter = Geographical and administrative divisions: settlements and economy | pages = 747–777 | chapter-url= {{Google Books|hvx9jq_2L3EC|page=747|plainurl=y}} }}
* {{The Cambridge History of Iran | volume =  3a | last = Frye | first = R. N. | author-link = R. N. Frye | chapter = The political history of Iran under the Sasanians | pages = 116–180 | chapter-url= {{Google Books|Ko_RafMSGLkC|page=116|plainurl=y}} }}
* {{Lands of the Eastern Caliphate}}
* {{ODLA}}
* {{EB1911|first=John Punnett |last=Peters |author-link=John Punnett Peters |wstitle=Anbar |volume=1 |page=944}}
* {{EI2|last1=Streck|first1=M.|last2=Duri|first2=A. A.|title=Al-Anbār|volume=1|pages=484–485}}
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0126.htm GCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anbar (Town)}}

[[Category:History of Al Anbar Governorate]]
[[Category:Dioceses of the Church of the East]]
[[Category:Eastern Catholic titular sees]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Iraq]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Iraq]]
[[Category:Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Capitals in Asia]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Iraq]]
[[Category:History of Fallujah]]