Hatra

The Centro Scavi Torino, together with the University of Turin, conducted explorations and studies of Hatra, the capital of the Arab tribes in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates, which became the ancient tribes’ most important pre-Islamic city between the 1^st century BCE and the 2^nd century CE.

The Centro Scavi Torino conducted numerous campaigns, one of the most important of which was the photogrammetric survey of Hatra's main sanctuary.

The history

Hatra, the large pre-Islamic Arab city (300 hectares), is an isolated centre in northern Iraq, at the crossroads of the communications routes between central Mesopotamia, Syria and the Mediterranean area. Although trade was not one of the city’s main activities, Hatra may have been a layover on a secondary route and may have benefited from its position. In fact, on the Peutingerian Table it is displayed as a layover in the Jazirah’s road network.

Allied with the great Parthian king, who controlled an area that extended from central Asia to Mesopotamia, Hatra was the Jazirah’s main city, probably the “Arabaya” of the local royal inscriptions, ruled by an independent dynasty whose rulers proclaimed themselves “kings of the Arabs”. The presence at the city’s centre of a large and opulent sanctuary (450x300 m) indicates how Hatra’s development was mostly due to its role of a religious centre dedicated to Shamash, the Sun God, worshipped by Arab tribes.

The strategic position of the city, a buffer country between the Roman limes and Parthian Mesopotamia, combined with its religious and commercial importance. Hatra was in fact unsuccessfully besieged by both Trajan and Septimius Severus and fell only in 240-241 CE at the hands of the Sassanids, the Iranian dynasty that replaced the Parthians. After the fall into Sasanian hands, the city was progressively abandoned and, consequently, its most recent architectural facies have been exceptionally preserved. The urban layout with the fortifications and inner temples is still visible today.

The volumes written by the German archaeologist W. Andrae, who at the beginning of the 20^th century graphically and photographically documented the architectural evidence, show to the state of preservation of the city. Only starting from 1951 archaeological excavations and restorations campaigns were conducted on the site by the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities, however limited to the main monumental evidence and in particular to religious buildings.

The research

The interest of the Centro Scavi Torino for the city dates back to 1967, when the photogrammetric survey of parts of the structures of the city’s Great Sanctuary was conducted for the Antiquities Department. Then, in 1986 research led by R. Ricciardi Venco started, and in 1987 excavations for identifying the sanctuary’s phases of occupation and its origin began. While the excavations were underway, the city’s topography was also studied in greater depth, especially in its eastern part, and in 1989 the Iraqi-Italian Centre for Restorations of Monuments began a topographical and architectural survey of the Great Sanctuary’s walls.

1987 saw the beginning of excavations of a large dwelling (Building A) located north of the Great Sanctuary and of a section of the adjacent road, the main thoroughfare joining the temenos to the city walls’ north gate. The quarter seems to possess a composite appearance and several functions: commercial, residential and religious, in accordance with the city’s distinctive Arab character. Building A, a large and opulent dwelling that in its most recent phase (around 200 CE) extended over an area of over 1850 square metres, is located on the east side of the road. Its plan comprises several parts with specific functions; the most important took place in the central courtyard, which included an iwan and an altar on which statues were placed, including one of a young god with a standard and two winged victories of well defined iconography in the central Sanctuary. South of the courtyard, a large rectangular room was decorated with paintings depicting hunting scenes. The room opened onto the southern suite of the building, probably a dwelling area developed around an ample courtyard that was closed off to the south by a covered portico. An iwan with an apsidal plan faced the north side. The northern part of the dwelling was dedicated to household activities such as the preparation of food and weaving, as attested by small ovens, mill stones and loom weights. The dwelling and the objects that were found in it display a wealth comparable to that of the city’s religious compounds.

The investigations of Building A and of the adjacent road allowed to establish the chronology of its phases, from the late 2^nd century to the mid-3^rd century CE, coinciding with the city’s demise. In fact, the excavation provided not only valuable artistic documents, but also an exact sequence of materials, essential for establishing the site’s chronology.

In 1993, after an interruption caused by the war, research resumed on behalf of the University of Turin.

Bibliography

BRUNO, J.

2016, “Preliminary Report of the ‘Small Finds’ from the Italian Excavations at Hatra”, ARAM 28, 277-302.

BUCCI, I.

2016, “New Religious Images from Hatra. Unpublished Pictorial Graffiti from the Iraq Museum, Baghdad”, in E. Foietta et alii (eds.), Cultural & Material Contacts in the Ancient Near East. Proceedings of the International Workshop, 1-2 December 2014, 109-117.

DIRVEN L. - MESSINA V.

2020, “Reproducing divine images in Hellenized Mesopotamia. The case of Nabu of Hierapolis at Hatra”, Parthica 22, 43-64.

FOIETTA E.

2014, “Jewels with Stone Inlays from Hatra”, Parthica 16, 165-192.

2015, “The Defences of Hatra: a Revaluation through the Archive of the Italian Expedition”, in G. Affanni, K. Baccarin, L. Cordera et alii (eds.), Broadening Horizons 4. A Conference of Young Researchers working in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia, University of Torino, October 2011, BAR International Series 2698, 295-302.

2016, “The Complex System of the Fortifications of Hatra: Defence, Chronology and Secondary Functions”, ARAM 28, 237-263.

2018, Hatra: Il territorio e l’urbanistica, Oxford.

2019, “I ritratti scultorei di Nasru, signore di Hatra. Segni del potere di un importante sovrano locale nella città del dio Sole” in F. Crivello, L. Zamparo (eds.) Intorno al ritratto. Origini, sviluppi e trasformazioni, 41-50.

2019, “Mouvable Altars and Burners in Stone from Hatra”, Mesopotamia LIV, 197-218.

2020, “New Considerations and Data regarding the North Border of the Kingdom of Hatra (North Mesopotamia) during the 2nd and 3rd cent. AD.” Thiasos 9, 153-170.

2020, “The Kingdom of Hatra during the Second and Third Centuries AD: Frontiers, Ecological Limits, Settlements and Landmarks”, in R. Palermo, K. Gavagnin (eds.) 3. Imperial Connections. Interactions and Expansion from Assyria to the Roman Period, 299-316.

FOIETTA E. – BUCCI I.

2013, “A Gazelle Pendant from Hatra. A Comparative Analysis”, in A. Peruzzetto, F. Dorna Metzger, L. Dirven (eds.), Animals, Gods and Men from East to West. Papers on Archaeology and History in honour of Roberta Venco Ricciardi, BAR International Series 2516, 181-186.

FOIETTA E. – MARCATO E.

2018, “A Review of the Sequence of Hatra Rulers and the Role of the Inscription H416”, Parthica 20, 147-159.

FOSSATI C. – VENCO RICCIARDI R.

2018, “Il temenos di Hatra: osservazioni sui templi di Shahiru e Samya”, in P. De Vingo (ed.) Le archeologie di Marilli. Miscellanea di studi in ricordo di Maria Maddalena Negro Ponzi Mancini, 65-84.

MORIGGI M. – BUCCI I.

2019, Aramaic Graffiti from Hatra. A Study Based on the Archive of the Missione Archeologica Italiana, Leiden-Boston.

PARAPETTI R. - VENCO RICCIARDI R.

2013, “Hatra. Documenti e note sul Santuario del Sole”, in Μνημειον. Scritti in memoria di Paolo Fiorina, raccolti da Antonio Invernizzi (Mnème, 9), 219-249.

VENCO RICCIARDI R.

1988, “Preliminary Report on the 1987 Excavation at Hatra”, Mesopotamia XXIII, 31-42.

1990, “Second Preliminary Report on the Excavation at Hatra (Season 1988)”, Mesopotamia XXV, 37-45.

1992, “Archaeological Research at Hatra, Preliminary Report on the 1989 Season”, Mesopotamia XXVII, 189-198.

1996, “Domestic Architecture at Hatra”, in K.R. Veenhof (Ed.), Houses and Households in Ancient Mesopotamia. Papers read at the 40th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Leiden, July 5-8-1993, Istanbul, 309-321.

1996, “Wall Paintings from Building A at Hatra”, Iranica Antiqua XXXI, 147-165.

1998, “Pictorial Graffiti in the City of Hatra”, in E. Dabrova (ed.), Electrum 2 (Ancient Iran and the Mediterranean World), Krakow, 187-205.

1998, “Preliminary Report on the 1995 Excavations at Hatra”, Mesopotamia XXXIII, 261-273.

2002, “Dossier Hatra”, Topoi, 10/1, 87-265.

2004, “Immagini graffite dall’Edificio A di Hatra”, Parthica 6, 203-225.

2015, “Decorazione architettonica figurata del grande Temenos di Hatra”, Mesopotamia L, 209-242.

VENCO RICCIARDI R. - DORNA METZGER F.

1998, “Preliminary Report on the 1995 Excavations at Hatra”, Mesopotamia XXXIII, 261-273.

VENCO RICCIARDI R. - FOIETTA E.

2020, “Cinture di sovrani, nobili e cavalieri nella statuaria di Hatra” in M. Cammarosano, E. Devecchi, M. Viano (eds.) Talugaeš witter. Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Presented to Stefano de Martino on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. KASION 2, 453-468.

VENCO RICCIARDI R. – PERUZZETTO A.

2013, “The Ancient Phases of the Great Sanctuary at Hatra”, in L. Dirven (ed.) Hatra: Politics, Culture and Religion between Parthia and Rome, 81-89.