AL-HIRAH

Hira / al-Hirah / Hirta shown within Iraq

Location : Iraq

Region : Najaf Governorate

Coordinates : 31°53'0 N 44°27'0 E

Al-Hirah (Arabic: al-Hirah, Syriac: Hirta, Middle Persian: Hert) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq.

History :

Kingdom of the Lakhmids :

A Persian miniature from the 15th century describing the constructing of Khawarnaq (Persian: which means Mansion) in Hira, the capital city of the Lakhmids; miniature painting by Kamal ud-Din Behzad.

Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre-Islamic Arab history. Al-Hirah (4th-7th centuries) served as the capital of the Lakhmids, an Arab vassal kingdom of the Sasanian Empire, whom it helped in containing the nomadic Arabs to the south. The Lakhmid rulers of al-Hirah were recognized by Shapur II (337-358), the tenth Sasanian emperor.

A particular Mar 'Abdišo' was born in Maysan (Syriac: Mayšan) and moved to Hira after studying elsewhere under Mar 'Abda. There he gained widespread respect as he built a monastery and lived a pious life. The Sasanian emperor Bahram V won the throne with support of al-Mundhir I ibn al-Nu'man, king of Hira, in 420. He was amazed and showed great respect as he encountered the saint near the village of Bet 'Arbi on his way back from the imperial capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon.

From c. 527, al-Hirah was opposed by the Ghassanids, a Byzantine-sponsored Arab state in Syria and Palestine. The two powers engaged in a long conflict of their own that functioned as a proxy war for the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires.

In 531, the Sasanians defeated the Byzantine general Belisarius at the Battle of Callinicum south of Edessa (now in southeastern Turkey), with the help of al-Hirah. In 602, Khosrow II deposed al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir and annexed al-Hirah.

Ecclesiastical history :

Hirta was the seat of a bishopric of the Church of the East from the 4th century until the 11th century. It belonged to the Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.

Today, Hirta is a titular Catholic diocese in Iraq.

Spread of Islam :

Following the Battle of Hira, the city was captured by an army of the Rashidun Caliphate under the command of Khalid ibn al-Walid in May 633. [citation needed]

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Al-Hirah