1.
Nakhal Fort
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Nakhal Fort is a large fortification in the Al Batinah Region of Oman. It is named after the Wilayah of Nakhal, the fort houses a museum, operated by the Ministry of Tourism, which has exhibits of historic guns, and the fort also hosts a weekly goat market. The fort, also known as Husn Al Heem, was named after the state of Nakhal where it exists above the old village of Nakhl and it has a history which dates back to the pre-Islamic period. Over the centuries, it underwent many renovations and improvements and it was re-built by Omani architects in the 17th century. Built as a measure for an area oasis and nearby trade routes. The gateway and towers seen now were built in 1834 attributed to imam Said bin Sultan. In 1990, it was fully renovated, imams of Wadi Bani Kharous and the Yaarubah dynasty resided here in the past. In November 2003, Prince Charles visited the fort during an official visit to Oman. The fort is approximately 120 kilometres to the west of Muscat and it is situated on a rocky prominence at the foot of Jebel Nakhal, a spur of the main Western Hajar range. It is to the northeast of Jabal Akhdar also called green mountain, Nakhal Fort is surrounded by orchards of palm trees. Its battlements provide a view of the Al-Batinah Region, the ancient Nakhal village is below the fort and close by is the warm springs of Ain AThawwarah. Nakhal Fort is one of several fortifications in the Al Batinah Region, the others being Al Hazim, Al-Sifalah, Rustaq, and Shinas forts. Built in the style of the Sultanate of Oman, it is unique in that it was built to fit around an irregularly-shaped rock. The fort houses a museum, operated by the Ministry of Tourism with exhibits of historic guns, a weekly Friday goat auction market takes place within the precincts of the fort. During recent renovations the fort has been fitted with traditional furniture, handicrafts, media related to Nakhal Fort at Wikimedia Commons
2.
Al Hajar Mountains
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The Al Hajar Mountains in northeastern Oman and also the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian peninsula. They separate the low plain of Oman from the high desert plateau. In Arabic, Al means The and Hajar means Stone or Rock, so Al Hajar would be defined as The Stone or The Rock. Therefore, Al Hajar Mountains could mean the stony mountains or the rocky mountains and these mountains are chiefly made of Cretaceous limestones and ophiolites. The mountains begin in the north, forming the peninsula, the central section of the Hajar is the highest and wildest terrain in the country. Jebel Akhdar and the smaller Jebel Nakhl range are bounded on the east by the low Samail Valley, east of Samail are the Eastern Hajar, which run east to the fishing town of Sur, almost at the eastern point of Oman. The mountains extend for 500 km in total, the low coastal land north and east of the Jebel Hajar is called the Al Batinah region. The climate is cool and wet from December to March, and warmer, the mountains are rich in plant life compared to most of Arabia, including a number of endemic species. Fruit trees such as pomegranate and apricot are grown in the cooler valleys, the flora shows similarities with mountain areas of nearby Iran, as well as with areas along the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa. For example, the tree Ceratonia oreothauma is found here and also in Somalia, a number of birds are found in the mountains including Egyptian and lappet-faced vultures. Mammals include mountain gazelles and the Arabian tahr, which is endemic to the Al Hajar, the endangered Arabian leopard is still found in the Musandam Peninsula, according to records of the Oman Ministry of Environment. Poaching of wildlife is another issue, the Oman government has created the Wadi Sareen Reserve and an area of Jebel Qahwan-Jebal Sebtah in the Eastern Hajar for the protection of Arabian tahr and mountain gazelle. For visitors there is a road into the mountains from the town of Birkat al-Mawz, there are 11 marked trails / routes of varying intensity and duration published by Ministry or Tourism, Oman along the Hajar Mountain range. Hatta Heritage Village Regions of Oman, a new species of Asaccus from the mountains of northern Oman
3.
Eastern Arabia
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Eastern Arabia was historically known as Bahrain until the 18th century. This region stretched from the south of Basra along the Persian Gulf coast and included the regions of Bahrain, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Southern Iraq, the entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as “Bahrain” for ten centuries. Until very recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from southern Iraq to the mountains of Oman, was a place where people moved around, the people of Eastern Arabia shared a culture based on the sea, they are seafaring peoples. The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are solely Eastern Arabia, the modern-day states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE are the archetypal Gulf Arab states. Saudi Arabia is often considered a Gulf Arab state although most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia, in Arabic, Bahrayn is the dual form of bahr, so al-Bahrayn means the Two Seas. However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute, the term appears five times in the Quran, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”—but rather to the oases of al-Katif and Hadjar. It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the Awal islands, in addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity. The term Gulf Arab solely refers, geographically, to inhabitants of eastern Arabia, the term Khaleejis is often misused to identify all the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. The inhabitants of Eastern Arabias Gulf coast share similar cultures and music such as fijiri, sawt. The most noticeable trait of Eastern Arabias Gulf Arabs is their orientation. Maritime-focused life in the small Gulf Arab states has resulted in a society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries. The Arabs of Eastern Arabia speak a dialect known as Gulf Arabic, most Saudis do not speak Gulf Arabic because most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia. There are approximately 2 million Gulf Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia, before the GCC was formed in 1981, the term “Khaleeji” was solely used to refer to the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia. In pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of partially Christianized Arabs, Arab Zoroastrians, Jews, some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit Akkadian, Aramaic and Syriac features. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official, Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II recovered from Nippur, during the Kassite dynasty of Babylon. These letters were from an official, Ilī-ippašra, in Dilmun to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are Akkadian and these letters and other documents, hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon at that time
4.
Mesopotamia
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In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires. The Sumerians and Akkadians dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of history to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD226, eastern part of it fell to the Sassanid Persians, division of Mesopotamia between Roman and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. The regional toponym Mesopotamia comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος middle and ποταμός river and it is used throughout the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew equivalent Naharaim. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria, the Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is made between Northern or Upper Mesopotamia and Southern or Lower Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazira, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran. In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation and it is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with names like Syria, Jazirah, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. It has been argued that these later euphemisms are Eurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments, Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the Armenian Highlands. Both rivers are fed by tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, in the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and these trends have continued to the present day in Iraq
5.
Persian Gulf
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The Persian Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, the Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf was a battlefield of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War and it is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War, the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraqs invasion of Kuwait. The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, the body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Some Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, the name Gulf of Iran is used by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Persian Gulf is geologically young, having been formed around 15,000 years ago. Its length is 989 kilometres, with Iran covering most of the northern coast, the Persian Gulf is about 56 km wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres. Various small islands lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states of the region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulfs southern limit as The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman and this limit is defined as A line joining Ràs Limah on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh on the coast of Iran. The Persian Gulf and its areas are the worlds largest single source of crude oil. Safaniya Oil Field, the worlds largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf, large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing a giant field across the territorial median line. Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas, the oil-rich countries that have a coastline on the Persian Gulf are referred to as the Persian Gulf States. In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis, consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the Persian Gulf. In the travel account of Pythagoras, several chapters are related to description of his travels accompanied by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great, to Susa and Persepolis, and the area is described. This water channel separates the Iran Plateau from the Arabia Plate, has enjoyed an Iranian Identity since at least 2200 years ago. Before being given its present name, the Persian Gulf was called many different names, the classical Greek writers, like Herodotus, called it the Red Sea. In Babylonian texts, it was known as the sea above Akkad, the name of the gulf, historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia, has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s
6.
Arabian Peninsula
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The Arabian Peninsula, simplified Arabia is a peninsula of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian plate. From a geological perspective, it is considered a subcontinent of Asia and it is the largest peninsula in the world, at 3,237,500 km2. The Arabian Peninsula consists of the countries Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Middle East and the Arab world due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Before the modern era, it was divided into four regions, Hejaz, Najd, Southern Arabia. Hejaz and Najd make up most of Saudi Arabia, Southern Arabia consists of Yemen and some parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Eastern Arabia consists of the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert, but in the southwest there are mountain ranges, harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from the northwestern Arabian Peninsula into Jordan and southern Syria. The peninsulas constituent countries are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the island nation of Bahrain lies off the east coast of the peninsula. Six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council, however, this is a disputed term. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the part of the peninsula. The majority of the population of the live in Saudi Arabia. The peninsula contains the worlds largest reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, though historically lightly populated, political Arabia is noted for a high population growth rate - as the result of both very strong inflows of migrant labor as well as sustained high birth rates. The population tends to be young and heavily skewed gender ratio dominated by males. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry, the four smallest states, which have their entire coastlines on the Persian Gulf, exhibit the worlds most extreme population growth, roughly tripling every 20 years. In 2014, the population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936. Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Arabia Haplogroup J is the most abundant component in the Arabian peninsula and its two main subclades, show opposite latitudinal gradients in the Middle East
7.
Syrian Desert
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To the south it borders and merges into the Arabian Desert. The land is open, gravely desert pavement, cut with occasional wadis, the desert is bounded by the Orontes Valley and volcanic field of Harrat al-Shamah to the west, and by the Euphrates to the east. In the north, the desert gives way to the fertile areas of grass. Several parts of the Syrian Desert have been referred to such as the Palmyrene desert around Palmyra. The name Shamiyah has also used for the Syrian Desert. The 700-900m high region in the middle of the desert is the Hamad Plateau, what little rain arrives on the plateau flows into local salt flats. The highest peaks of the Plateau are those of the 1000m+ Khawr um Wual in Saudi Arabia, together with the other deserts of the Arabian Peninsular, the Hamad Desert has been described as one of the most arid deserts of the world. The Syrian Desert is the origin of the Syrian hamster, storks, herons, cranes, small waders, waterfowl and also raptors visit the seasonal lakes. The large mammals are now no longer to be found, thought to be due to hunting by man, the desert was historically inhabited by Bedouin tribes, and many tribes still remain in the region, their members living mainly in towns and settlements built near oases. Some Bedouin still maintain their way of life in the desert. Safaitic inscriptions, proto-Arabic texts written by literate Bedouin, are throughout the Syrian Desert. These date approximately from the 1st century B. C. to the 4th century A. D, the desert was first traversed by motor vehicle in 1919. A series of Coalition military operations were ineffective at removing the resistance presence in the Desert. Arabian desert Fertile Crescent List of deserts by area Syrian steppe
8.
Pre-Islamic Arabia
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Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam in the 630s. Pre-Islamic religion in Arabia consisted of indigenous beliefs, Ancient Arabian Christianity, Nestorian Christianity. In the latter stages of the era, Christianity gained converts with some unorthodox sects, such as the gnostics. Archaeological exploration in the Arabian Peninsula has been sparse but fruitful, the most recent detailed study of pre-Islamic Arabia is Arabs and Empires Before Islam, published by Oxford University Press in 2015. This book collects a range of ancient texts and inscriptions for the history of the region during this time period. Ubaid period - could have originated in Eastern Arabia, umm an-Nar Culture Sabr culture Magan is attested as the name of a trading partner of the Sumerians. It is often assumed to have located in Oman. The Aadids established themselves in South Arabia, settling to the east of the Qahtan tribe and they established the Kingdom of ʿĀd around the 10th century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The ʿĀd nation were known to the Greeks and Egyptians, claudius Ptolemys Geographos refers to the place by a Hellenized version of the inhabitants of the capital Ubar. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Eastern Arabia were mainly Aramaic speakers, in pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of Christianized Arabs, Aramean Christians, Persian-speaking Zoroastrians and Jewish agriculturalists. Nestorian Christianity was the dominant religion in pre-Islamic Eastern Arabia, Zoroastrianism was also present, the Zoroastrians of Eastern Arabia were known as Majoos in pre-Islamic times. The sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia, including Bahrani Arabic, were influenced by Akkadian, Aramaic, the Dilmun civilization was an important trading centre which at the height of its power controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. The Sumerians regarded Dilmun as holy land, Dilmun is regarded as one of the oldest ancient civilizations in the Middle East. The Sumerians described Dilmun as a garden in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Sumerian tale of the paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story. Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BCE, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official, Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium to 1800 BCE. At the height of Dilmuns power, Dilmun controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes, Dilmun was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium
9.
Sasanian Empire
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The Sasanian Empire was founded by Ardashir I, after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the defeat of the last Arsacid king, Artabanus V. According to a legend, the vexilloid of the Sasanian Empire was the Derafsh Kaviani, in many ways, the Sasanian period witnessed the peak of ancient Iranian civilization. Persia influenced Roman culture considerably during the Sasanian period, the Sasanians cultural influence extended far beyond the empires territorial borders, reaching as far as Western Europe, Africa, China and India. It played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian medieval art, much of what later became known as Islamic culture in art, architecture, music and other subject matter was transferred from the Sasanians throughout the Muslim world. Conflicting accounts shroud the details of the fall of the Parthian Empire, the Sassanid Empire was established in Estakhr by Ardashir I. Papak was originally the ruler of a region called Khir, however, by the year 200, he managed to overthrow Gochihr, and appoint himself as the new ruler of the Bazrangids. His mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of the governor of Pars. Papak and his eldest son Shapur managed to expand their power all of Pars. The subsequent events are unclear, due to the nature of the sources. It is certain, however, that following the death of Papak, Ardashir, sources reveal that Shapur, leaving for a meeting with his brother, was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By the year 208, over the protests of his brothers who were put to death. Once Ardashir was appointed shahanshah, he moved his capital further to the south of Pars, the city, well supported by high mountains and easily defendable through narrow passes, became the center of Ardashirs efforts to gain more power. The city was surrounded by a high, circular wall, probably copied from that of Darabgird, in a second attempt to destroy Ardashir, Artabanus V himself met Ardashir in battle at Hormozgan, where Artabanus V met his death. Following the death of the Parthian ruler, Ardashir I went on to invade the provinces of the now defunct Parthian Empire. Ardashir was aided by the geography of the province of Fars, in the next few years, local rebellions would form around the empire. Nonetheless, Ardashir I further expanded his new empire to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana, Balkh and he also added Bahrain and Mosul to Sassanids possessions. In the west, assaults against Hatra, Armenia and Adiabene met with less success, in 230, he raided deep into Roman territory, and a Roman counter-offensive two years later ended inconclusively, although the Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, celebrated a triumph in Rome. Ardashir Is son Shapur I continued the expansion of the empire, conquering Bactria, invading Roman Mesopotamia, Shapur I captured Carrhae and Nisibis, but in 243 the Roman general Timesitheus defeated the Persians at Rhesaina and regained the lost territories
10.
Banu Bakr
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The tribe is reputed to have engaged in a 40-year war before Islam with its cousins from Taghlib, known as the War of Basous. The pre-Islamic poet, Tarafah was a member of Bakr, the region of Diyar Bakr, and later the city of Diyarbakır in southern Turkey, take their names from this tribe. The tribe is distinct from the tribe of Bani Bakr ibn Abd Manat, during the Islamic Prophet Muhammads era the Banu Bakr tribe was involved in various military conflicts. Banu Hanifa - mostly sedentary, were the tribe of al-Yamama. Banu Shayban - mostly nomadic, led the Battle of Dhi Qar against the Sassanid Persians in southern Iraq prior to Islam, the jurist Ahmad ibn Hanbal claimed descent from this tribe. Banu Qays ibn Thalabah - bedouin and sedentary, were the inhabitants of the town of Manfuha, the pre-Islamic poets al-Asha and Tarafah were among its members. Banu Yashkur - bedouin and sedentary, inhabitants of al-Yamama, al-Harith ibn Hillizah, one of the purported authors of the Seven Hanged Poems of pre-Islamic Arabia, was a member of Yashkur. Banu Ijl - mostly bedouin, located in al-Yamama and the borders of Mesopotamia. Abdul Qays in eastern Najd Taghlib ibn Wail, migrated northwards to the Jazirah plain in northern Mesopotamia in the 6th century, anz ibn Wail al-Nammir ibn Qasit Turkey - Southeastern Anatolia P621
11.
Banu Abdul Qays
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The Banu Abdul Qays is an ancient Arabian tribe from the Rabiah branch of the North Arabian tribes. In pre-Islamic times, the Abd al-Qays frequently raided Iran, when he became of age, Shapur II made it his first order of business to punish the Abd al-Qays. He led an army across the Persian Gulf and devastated large parts of Eastern Arabia and Syria, later in his reign, Shapur moved many Abd al-Qays people to Kerman Province in Iran. During the Arab conquest of Iran, the Abd al-Qays migrated to Iran in large numbers, sizable groups of them settled down in Tavvaz near Dalaki in Bushehr Province. In the early 8th century,4,000 Abd al-Qays warriors accompanied Qotayba on his campaign into Khorasan in Iran, the Abd al-Qays were one of the inhabitants of the coast of Eastern Arabia, including Bahrain island. There are many gaps and inconsistencies in the genealogies of Abd al-Qays in Bahrain, bahraini society has traditionally divided itself into three genealogical categories in order, ansab, la ansab and bani khudair. According to one author, Baharna were probably la ansab because they have unclear genealogies, Abd al-Qays were mostly Christians before the advent of Islam
12.
Shapur II
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Shapur II, also known as Shapur II the Great, was the tenth king of the Sasanian Empire. The longest reigning Sasanian monarch, he reigned from 309 to 379 and he was the son of Hormizd II. During Shapur IIs long reign, the Sasanian Empire saw its first golden era. When Hormizd II died in 309, he was succeeded by his son Adur Narseh and they then blinded the second, and imprisoned the third. The throne was reserved for the child of Hormizd IIs wife Ifra Hormizd. It is said that Shapur II may have been the king in history to be crowned in utero. However, according to Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, it is unlikely that Shapur was crowned as king while still in his mothers womb, during the childhood of Shapur II, Arab nomads made several incursions into the Sasanian homeland of Pars, where they raided Gor and its surroundings. Furthermore, they also made incursions into Meshan and Mazun and he then attacked the Banu Tamim in the Al Hajar Mountains. Shapur II reportedly killed a number of the Arab population. After having dealt with the Arabs of eastern Arabia, he continued his expedition into western Arabia and Syria, because of his cruel way of dealing with the Arabs, he was called Dhū l-Aktāf he who pierces shoulders by them. Not only did Shapur II pacify the Arabs of the Persian Gulf, Shapur II, in order to prevent the Arabs from making more raids into his country, ordered the construction of a wall near al-Hirah, which became known as war-i tāzigān. This was the beginning of two long drawn-out wars which were inadequately recorded, after crushing a rebellion in the south, Shapur II invaded Roman Mesopotamia and captured Armenia. Apparently, nine major battles were fought, gibbon asserts that Shapur II invariably defeated Constantius, but there is reason to believe that the honours were fairly evenly shared between the two capable commanders. The most notable feature of war was the consistently successful defence of the Roman fortress of Nisibis in Mesopotamia. Shapur besieged the fortress three times and was repulsed each time by Roman general Lucilianus, although often victorious in battles, Shapur II had made scarcely any progress. At the same time he was attacked in the east by Scythian Massagetae and he had to break off the war with the Romans and arrange a hasty truce in order to pay attention to the east. After a prolonged struggle they were forced to conclude a peace, in 358 Shapur II was ready for his second series of wars against Rome, which met with much more success. The delay forced Shapur to halt operations for the winter, early the following spring he continued his operations against the Roman fortresses, capturing Singara and Bezabde
13.
Siege of Amida
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The Siege of Amida took place when the Sassanids, under Shah Shapur II besieged the Roman city of Amida in 359. In this battle Ammianus Marcellinus, a historian of Greek origin from Antioch, was a Roman army officer, when Shapur II took control of the Sassanid Empire he sought to regain old territories previously lost to the Roman Empire. After crushing the Arabs in the south, he moved east to deal with nomadic forces, following a prolonged struggle from the Xionites were forced to conclude a peace, and their king, Grumbates, accompanied Shapur II in the war against the Romans. In 358 the Romans had failed to dissuade Shapur from attacking Mesopotamia, Shapur started the western campaign in 359. Emperor Constantius II had increasingly been doubting the loyalty of general Ursicinus, as a result, he did not give him command of the Roman forces in the East, and instead gave it to Sabinianus. Carrhae was to be evacuated immediately, because of the weakness of its fortifications, in the panic which followed, several Roman legions chaotically escaped the Persian advance to the safety of Amida. These included the Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix and the Legio X Fretensis and it appears the Sassanid plan was to bypass difficult fortresses like Nisibis and to then march straight into Syria. When his forces approached Amida, the Sassanids were provoked into attacking the city and this came about when the son of Grumbates, while inspecting the defences of Amida, was shot and killed with an arrow shot by the city garrison. Ammianus described how the Grumbates, outraged at his sons death, demanded revenge from the Romans, the Sassanids began the attack with siege towers and attempted to take the city hastily, but were largely unsuccessful. Unable to gain a victory, Shapur had to commit to capturing Amida in order to appease his ally. But it was clear that he would try the effect of a conference on the defenders of the walls. Shapur attempted to capture the city several times but every time it ended with disaster, many times siege towers were set on fire by the Romans. During the siege, plague broke out in Amida but ended after ten days by a light rain, a day before capture of the city, Ammianus Marcellinus escaped to Melitene, and thence returned to Antioch. After capturing the city, the garrison and its inhabitants were put to the sword, the Persians lost approximately 30,000 in the siege but Shapur II advanced further and took Singara and some other fortresses in the following years. In 363, Emperor Julian, at the head of a strong army and his successor Jovian signed a treaty of peace, by which the districts on the Tigris and Nisibis were ceded to the Persians and the Romans promised to interfere no more in Armenia. Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, Cambridge MA,1982, abd al-Husayn Zarrin’kub, Ruzgaran, tarikh-i Iran az aghz ta saqut saltnat Pahlvi, Sukhan,1999. ISBN 964-6961-11-8 The Siege of Amida in 359 by Ammianus Marcellinus
14.
Julian's Persian War
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Julians Persian War, or the Perso-Roman War of 363, was the last undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian, begun in March 363. It was a war against the Persian Empire ruled by the Sassanian king Shapur II. Shapur is believed to have expected an invasion by way of the Tigris valley, Julian sent a detachment to join with his ally Arshak II of Armenia and take the Tigris route. In one of the skirmishes Julian was wounded and later died of his wounds leaving his successor along with his army trapped in Persian territory, the leaderless Roman army chose Jovian as Julians successor. Thus Arsaces II of Armenia was left without any military or diplomatic support and he was captured and imprisoned by Shapur in 368, he committed suicide in 369 or 370 whilst in Persian captivity. A devout believer in the old Roman religion, Julian asked several major oracles about the outcome of his expedition. The philosopher Sallustius, a friend of Julian, wrote advising him to abandon his plan, and numerous adverse omens were reported, at the urging of other advisers he went ahead. He instructed Arshak II of Armenia to prepare a large army and these preparations are thought by scholars to have suggested to Shapur that an invasion from the north, by way of the Tigris valley, was Julians plan. Julian had wintered at Antioch in Roman Syria, on 5 March 363 he set out north-west with his army by way of Aleppo and Manbij, where fifty soldiers were killed in the collapse of a portico while they were marching under it. He sent a detachment under Procopius and Sebastianus towards the Tigris where they were to join Arshak and they were then to attack the Persians from the north. Julian himself, with the part of his army turned south towards the lower Euphrates, reaching Callinicum on 27 March. There he was met by leaders of the Saraceni, who offered Julian a gold crown and he refused to pay the traditional tribute in return. The army followed the Euphrates downstream to Circesium and crossed the river Aboras with the help of a pontoon bridge assembled for the purpose, teitler, Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus XXIV. Kriterien einer Katastrophe in Richard Klein, ed. Julian Apostata p.455 ff
15.
Battle of Samarra
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The Battle of Samarra took place in June 363, after the invasion of Sassanid Persia by the Roman Emperor Julian. A major skirmish, the fighting was indecisive but Julian was mortally wounded in the battle, the Romans, stranded deep in Persian territory and suffering from a lack of supplies, were forced to accept terms for peace. Julian invaded Sassanian Empire with a force of 65,000 men, hoping to win a victory against Persians in the east. Julian made two blundering mistakes at the onset of the invasion. He split his force into two, one under General Procopius numbering 30,000 men, which went to northern Mesopotamia and his second mistake was not defeating the main Sassanid army before attacking the capital, which would eventually lead to expeditions failure in 363. Julian at first won a victory outside Ctesiphon, but could not take the city. Even worse, Procopius failed to join him with his army, david S. Potter suggests that Julians main faults was that he made a very risky campaign and that he didnt bring adequate siege train. Therefore, he had to retreat after realizing that Ctesiphon was too strongly defended to be taken by assault while his army was running out of supplies. However, the Sassanid army, under Shapur, implemented a scorched earth policy while harassing Romans all their way back to Roman Mesopotamia. Julian, realizing that his army could not be resupplied or reinforced, tried to force a set piece battle with his enemy, so decision was taken to retreat through the district of Corduene to the north, where there was hope to find adequate supplies. After three quiet days, the Roman army was attacked during its cautious advance in square formations, the battle at Samarra was a Persian skirmish, first against the rear guard of the Roman column. Then they fell on the center and the wing of the Romans. According to Ammianus Marcellinus narrative, Julian hastened to rally his forces against the Persians and he managed to raise their morale and reverse the possibility of collapsing but his personal guard was dispersed during the fighting and Julian was fatally hit on his back by a spear. The spear was most probably thrown by a Saracen auxiliary in Persian service, after treatment by the doctors, he returned to the battlefield. The battle continued indecisively until the darkness of the night put an end to the fighting, according to other views, the Roman army was victorious or was defeated by the Persian forces. Julian died from his wound, in his tent, a few hours later, the Roman armys general staff proclaimed Jovian, the commander of Julians guard, as his successor. He led his army to the east bank of Tigris, under continuous harassing from the Persians, after failing to cross the Tigris, Jovian clearly saw that the situation was desperate. Thus he was forced to accept humiliating terms from Shapur, in order to save his army, the treaty with Shapur included surrendering Eastern Mesopotamia, Georgia and Armenia, as well as fifteen fortresses, including the strategic cities of Nisibis and Singara, without their inhabitants
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Arabs
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Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab
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Firuzabad, Fars
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Firuzabad is a city in and the capital of Firuzabad County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 58,210, Firuzabad is located south of Shiraz. The town is surrounded by a mud wall and ditch, Alexander of Macedonia destroyed the original city of Gōr. Centuries later, Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid Dynasty, Firuzabad is situated in a low-lying area of the region, so Alexander was able to drown the city by directing the flow of a river into the city. The lake he created remained until Ardashir I built a tunnel to drain it and he founded his new capital city on this site. Ardashirs new city was known as Khor Ardashīr, Ardashīr Khurah and it had a circular plan so precise in measurement that the Persian historian Ibn Balkhi wrote it to be devised using a compass. It was protected by a trench 50 meters in width, and was 2 kilometers in diameter. The city had four gates, to the north was the Hormozd Gate, to the south the Ardashir Gate, to the east the Mithra Gate, the royal capitals compounds were constructed at the center of a circle 450 m in radius. At the center point of the city was a Zoroastrian fire temple 30 m high and spiral in design, the citys importance was revived again in the reign of Adud al-Dawla of the Buyid dynasty, who used the city as his frequent residence. It is at time that the old name of the city—Gōr, was abandoned in favor of the new. In New Persian, spoken at the time, Gōr had come to mean grave, king Adud al-Dawla, as the story goes, found it distasteful to reside in a grave. Per his instruction, the name was changed to Peroz-abad. Since then, the city has been known by variations of that name, among the attractions of the city are the Ghaleh Dokhtar, the Palace of Ardeshir, and the fire temple tower among the remains of Gōr. Bishapur Cities of the Ancient Near East Round city of Baghdad, modeled after Firuzabad Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 5, Drawings and Maps, Records of Firuzabad Collections Search Center, a guided tour of Firouzabad Palace, Ardeshirs Palace, YouTube
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Meshan
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Meshan was a province of the Sasanian Empire. It consisted of the Parthian vassal kingdoms of Mesene and Characene and reached north along the Shatt al-Arab river and then the lower Tigris to Madhar and its inhabitants included Babylonians, Arabs, Iranians, and even some Indians and Malays. The province was very fertile, the best place for barley according to Strabo and it was also an important trading province along the Persian Gulf. In, the first ruler of the Sasanian dynasty, Ardashir I after having conquered his native province, Pars, invaded Meshan, killing its ruler, Ardashir had a city named Karkh Meshan rebuilt, and had it renamed as Astarabad-Ardashir. According to a fraction of a Manichean source, a brother of the Sasanian king Shapur I, Mihrshah, ruled as the vassal-king of Meshan - however, Ardashir also built a town named Vahman-Ardashir, also known as Forat Meshan. A son of Shapur I, Shapur Mishanshah, is confirmed to have ruled Meshan from a date until his death in 260. During the 5th century, Vahman-Ardashir had seemingly succeeded Karkh Meshan as the capital of Meshan, Iranians had also begun to settle in the province, along with the Zutt, who had been deported from India. Other Indian groups such as the Malays may also have been deported to Meshan, the Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume 5. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. V. Brill, Arabs and Iran in the pre-Islamic period. The Cambridge History of Iran, The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods
