Basra

Basra is an Iraqi city located in the far south of Iraq on the western bank of the Shatt al-Arab, and is the administrative and political center of Basra Governorate, with a population of 1,612,000 according to 2021 estimates. Basra is also the main port of Iraq, despite the lack of a deep-water outlet, which is handled at the port of Umm Qasr. In April 2017, the Iraqi parliament recognized Basra as the economic capital of Iraq.

Basra is an ancient city built by Utbah bin Ghazwan during the reign of the second of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Omar bin Al-Khattab, to be the first Islamic city built by the Arabs outside the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the major Arab cities, ranking fifteenth in terms of population according to 2007 statistics.

The location of the Gardens of Eden, north of Basra

The history of Basra dates back to prehistoric times, as many researchers believe that the Gardens of Eden, where Adam, the father of mankind, descended, is located north of the city center, specifically the Al-Qurna area, which contains the Tree of Adam according to the prevailing belief there, and is 20 km away from it. Basra was built on the ruins of a Persian camp in an area called Al-Kharibah. There is also an ancient city that some historians believe was built in the time of Nebuchadnezzar called Taridon, while others claim that it was an Assyrian city, as this city had a dam that protected it from rising sea levels. If this is true, then Taridon or Tridon is south of the city of Al-Zubair, near Khor Al-Zubair at the present time, while the traveler Jasni believes that the location of Taridon is near Mount Sanam, which is about thirteen miles south of the city of Al-Zubair. If this is true, then Khor Al-Zubair, which is an extension of the Arabian Gulf, must have extended to Mount Sanam during the Babylonian Empire.