Citadel of Arbil

Aerial view of the Citadel of Arbil

The Citadel of Arbil (Arabic قلعة أربيل, Qal ʿ at DMG ʾ Arbīl; Kurdish: Qelay Hewler ) is a fortified Tell the midst of the old city of Arbil in northern Iraq. It is said that the citadel of the longest continuously inhabited place in the world was.

The earliest traces of settlement date back to the 5th millennium BC, and perhaps even earlier. In the written sources, the citadel was first mentioned during the Ur III period. They won the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in importance; under the Sassanid and Abbasid Arbil was an important center of Christianity. After the Mongol conquest in 1258 Arbil declined in importance. In the 20th century the citadel underwent great changes and a number of buildings and houses were destroyed. 2007, the High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization ( HCECR ) was established to oversee the restoration work. Up to a family all residents a restoration project purpose were resettled and started. In addition, archaeological investigations were carried out with foreign labor groups and local researchers.

History

Prehistory

Since when is the place of the Citadel is inhabited, is not known. Potsherds found at the foot of the hill could be from the Neolithic period. Secure tracks there from the Chalcolithic period. From this period pottery were found, which you can assign to the Obed and Uruk culture. Therefore, the Citadel is considered the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

From Sumer to the Sassanids

Arbil appears for the first time in writing under the name Urbilem end of the 3rd millennium BC: King Šulgi from the 3rd dynasty of Sumer destroyed Urbilum in his 43rd year of reign and during the reign of his successor and son Amar -Sin was Urbilum part of the Sumerian Empire. In the 18th century BC Urbilum appears in a list of places that are allocated from Assyria and Dāduša of Eshnunna the rulers of Samsi -Adad I.. Samsi - Adad I stationed a garrison in the city of Arbil and used as a base for military campaigns to the east.

In the Neo-Assyrian Empire was Arbil - known as Arbi - Ilu - an important city. She participated in the great revolt of Ashur - dayyin apli against his brother Samsi -Adad V because of the succession to the throne of her father Šulmanu - ašared III. in part. Arbil came as a religious center the cities of Babylon and Ashur same, because here was the Ishtar of Arbela, which was one of the most important deities of Assyria worshiped. Her temple was kept as Šulmānu - ašarād I, Ashur - ahhe iddina and Ashur - bani - apli restored and repaired by kings. In an inscription mentions Ashur - bani - apli dreams that came from the goddess Ishtar. Ashur - bani - apli held probably court in Arbil and there received the envoys of other kings.

After the end of the Assyrian Empire Arbil moved into the possession of the Medes, which then become part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire were, but which was then subjected to the Great after the Battle of Gaugamela near Arbil in 331 BC, Alexander. Later, the Romans fought against the Parthians for supremacy in the region. The city became an important Christian center and was also governor seat of the Sassanid, the successor to the Parthians. 340 there was persecution of Christians and as the governor himself 358 converted to Christianity, he died a martyr. Approximately 521 founded the Christian Nestorians a school in Arbil. During this time there was also a Zoroastrian fire temple in the city.

From the Muslim conquest to the Ottomans

Arbil was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century. It remained still until the 9th century, when the bishop moved his seat from Arbil to Mosul, an important Christian center. From the first half of the 12th century until 1233 was the capital of Arbil Begteginiden, a Turkmen dynasty that flourished under the suzerainty of the Zengids of Mosul. The second Begteginiden - Atabeg Gökböri founded around the citadel around a city and erected hospitals and madrasas. He died in 1233 without heirs, so Arbil passed into the possession of the Abbasid Caliph al - Mustansir.

When the Mongols invaded the Middle East in the 13th century, they attacked Arbil in 1237 for the first time. They sacked the lower town and retreated before an advancing army to have conquered without the citadel. 1258 was the caliph capital of Baghdad to the Mongols and was destroyed. In the same year they again marched against Arbil and could this time, after a six- month siege, take the citadel. They appointed a Christian as the manager and so on, they were influential in the city. But already in 1289 began the persecution of Christians, which reached its climax with the massacre of all Christians Arbil in 1310.

During the Ottoman rule Arbil was part of Eyâlets Baghdad, which had been created in 1535. In 1743, the city was briefly held by the Iranian Afschariden Nadir Shah, the city had besieged for 60 days. An engraving of 1820 shows that the Citadel and the level were inhabited to the south. Mohammed Pasha Rewanduz, the Lord of the Kurdish principality of Soran, in 1830 rebelled against his Ottoman overlords and conquered large parts of what is now northern Iraq, including 1832 Arbil. In 1892 there were about 3,200 people in the city, which had a larger Jewish community.

Modern period

During the 20th century, major urban and social changes took place. A 15 m high of steel water tank was installed in 1924 to provide the residents with clean water, but it went by seeping water damage to the foundations on. The number of inhabitants decreased continuously, because the richer people moved into modern homes with gardens in the growing city outside the citadel. 1960 60 houses, a mosque and a school was demolished to make way for the main road from the northern to the southern gate. 2007, the remaining 840 families were resettled to restore the citadel as part of a project and to preserve its historic character. The families were compensated financially. Only one family was allowed to stay, so there is no interruption in the 8000jährigen colonization of the citadel. After the completion of the project, again 50 families may move into the citadel. Was opened in 2004, the Kurdish Textile Museum in the southwestern part of the citadel.

Architecture and construction

The Citadel is located on a large, ovoid settlement mound, which is 25-32 m high. The area on the hill is 430 times 340 m tall and has an area of 102,000 m². 36 m below the surface has been encountered on the ground. The inclination of the slope is about 45 °. Three ramps (north, east and south ) lead up to the outer ring. The southern gate is the oldest of the three approaches and has been repaired at least once in 1860. It was damaged in 1960 and rebuilt in 1979. The eastern gate was known as " Haremstor " known and has been used by women. When the northern gate was built is not clear, a source says in 1924, while other sources from 1944 have only two goals.

In the early 20th century were in the citadel three mosques, two schools, two tekkes and a hamam, until 1957 there was a synagogue. Of the religious institutions is today only the Mulla - Afandi Mosque, which was built on the site of a mosque in the early 19th century. The hamam was built in 1775 by Qassim Agha Abdullah and was in operation until the 1970s. In 1979 he was restored, but this went many architectural details are lost.

As the citadel was still inhabited, there were three districts ( mahalla ): From east to west the Serai, the Takya and the Topkhana. In Seraiviertel ( Palace District ) lived the noble families in Takya ( Tekke ) the dervishes and in Topkhaneviertel (Arsenal District) the artisans and farmers. 1920, the citadel was divided into 506 plots, since the population declined steadily. 1984 lived here 4466 people in 375 houses and 1995 only 247 houses in 1631. Before the north-south thoroughfare was built, all the roads were like a tree from the southern gate. The roads were between 1 and 2.5 m wide and up to 300 m long; in addition, there were also shorter dead ends.

The edge of the citadel has no continuous wall, but consists of about 100 tightly packed houses. So do not rush over the edge the buildings, their facades were reinforced with struts. There were about 30 posh, palatial buildings, most of which were in the outer part of the citadel. The oldest still standing house dates from the year 1893. The houses in the southeastern quarter of the elderly, while the houses are in the north from the 1930s and 1940s. The traditional architectural style was that to build houses around a courtyard. The roofs were flat and angled her the way into the yard from the door, so you had no direct view of the door into the courtyard.

Investigations and restorations

In the years 2006 and 2007, the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and the Salahaddin University in collaboration conducted a detailed investigation and evaluation of the entire citadel. For geodetic measurements were performed and combined with satellite images, aerial photographs and other photographs to a digital 3D model. In some sections, geophysical studies have been done to detect traces of older buildings under the current homes. On the western slope and in a small area in the eastern part of the citadels excavations were carried out.

In the course of construction a Neo-Assyrian grave chamber at the foot of the hill was discovered in 2009. The chamber was then investigated by the German Archaeological Institute ( DAI). The grave had been plundered in antiquity, but still harbored pottery dating from the 8th or 7th century BC. In the following year the DAI worked with the local authorities on the grave and discovered other building structures, possibly from the same period, and other tombs of later centuries.

In 2007, the Kurdistan Regional Government, the HCECR to obtain the citadel with the help of UNESCO and to restore. The HCECR favor of a zone of 300-400 m around the citadel, where the houses may not be higher than ten meters. This would ensure that the citadel rises above the city. On 8 January 2010, Iraq requested the inclusion of the citadel in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In March 2010, the HCECR and UNESCO agreed that the province of Arbil will take over the financing of the restoration project with 13 million U.S. dollars. Initial work was carried out in June 2010.