HIT,
IRAQ
![](hitiraq.jpg)
Hit,
Iraq
![](543px-0311iraq.jpg)
Hit
in 2004
Coordinates
: 33°38'42 N 42°49'35 E
Country : Iraq
Province : Al-Anbar
District : Hit District
Hit,
also spelled Heet, ancient name Is, is an Iraqi city in Al-Anbar
province. Hit lies northwest of Ramadi, the provincial capital.
On
the Euphrates River, Hit is a small walled town built on two mounds
on the site of the ancient city of Is. In ancient times, the town
was known for its bitumen wells; bitumen from the wells was used
in the construction of Babylon over 3,000 years ago, and for tasks
such as caulking boats. Hit also became a frontier fortress for
Assyria. Now, Hit is a marketplace for agricultural produce. Oil
pipelines to the Mediterranean Sea cross the Euphrates there. It
was regarded as the head of navigation on the river before the decline
in river traffic. Hit marks the beginning of the high sedimentary
plain on the Euphrates, and it contains a number of hot springs.
History
:
In ancient times, the area around Hit was very fertile and was used
for agriculture. During the Early Dynastic Period the Sumerians
discovered bitumen wells in the region, which they used in building
the Ziggurats.
They also used it in shipbuilding, to waterproof their boats. During
the era of the Akkadian Empire, when Sargon of Akkad (2279–2334
BC) unified ancient Iraq by conquering many Sumerian cities, he
established a city near modern-day Hit which he called Tutul, meaning
"the city of buckets".
This
is the first name which is known for this city. Its importance was
attested by Sargon himself, who said that the god Dagon gave him
the area which comprised Tutul and Mari, capital of the Amorites.
There is also an inscription by Naram-Sin which mentions Tutul,
as one of the cities bequeathed to him by Dagon. The Akkadian
kings after Naram-Sin were weak, which led to the establishment
of a renewed Sumerian kingdom in 2120 BC. This kingdom included
Tutul, and lasted until about 1950 BC.
In
1850 BC, the city-state of Eshnunna, which had begun in the Diyala
Valley, took control of Tutul. Babylonia achieved preeminence in
the area for a time, and was followed by Assyria. The Assyrian king
Tiglath-Pileser I (r. 1114–1076 B.C.) changed the name of
Tutul to Eru. During the era of Aramean expansion in the 11th century
BC, they settled in Eru for a time before moving to southern Iraq.
When the Neo-Assyrian Empire was established in 911 BC, they reasserted
control of Eru. Cuneiform tablets from the time of Tukulti-Ninurta
II (891–884 BC) mention the city and its bitumen wells. During
this period the city was known as Atum or Hitum, meaning bitumen.
The modern name Hit comes from Hitum. Hitum remained part of the
Bablyonian-Chaldean empire until its fall in 539 BC.
The
Greek historian Herodotus used the name Is for the city, while other
Greeks called in Isiopolis. During the era of the Parthian Empire,
it was a waystation on the road to Ctesiphon. It was sacked multiple
times during the Byzantine–Sasanian wars. During Julian's
Persian War in 363, the Roman army encamped at Hit and destroyed
much of the city. It was rebuilt by Shapur II.
As
part of the Muslim conquest of Persia, Hit was conquered by the
Arab army in 636. The defenders dug a moat around the city, but
the Muslim army was able to penetrate it. In 639, the Muslim commander
Harith ibn Yazid al-'Amri built the city's first mosque, Farouq
Mosque [ar].
Hit
prospered during the medieval period. Ibn Hawqal remarked on its
large population, and Hamdallah Mustawfi counted over 30 villages
as its dependencies. The city produced a great deal of fruit; its
noted agricultural products included nuts, dates, oranges, and eggplants.
However, the neighboring bitumen springs produced an overpowering
stench that made Hit unpleasant to live in.
In
October 2014, the city had fallen to the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant, but was recaptured after a military offensive by the
Iraqi Army in April 2016.
Climate
:
Hit has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification
BWh). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature
in Hit is 21.9 °C (71.4 °F). About 115 mm (4.53 in) of precipitation
falls annually.
Gallery
:
![](Hit_Iraq_(cropped).jpg)
Hit,
Iraq, 2004
![](600px-Kubaisa_Oasis.jpg)
Kubaisa
Oasis, 2003
![](Full_shop_in_Hit_Iraq_May_2008.jpg)
A
shop in Hit, 2008
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Hit,_Iraq