Erbil

Erbil or Arbil or Hawler (in Kurdish: Hewlêr هه‌ولیر, in Syriac: ܐܪܒܝܠ) is an Iraqi city and the center of Erbil Governorate and the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is the fourth largest city in terms of population in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul and the sixth in terms of area, with a population of approximately 1.5 million people. It is about 360 km from Baghdad, 85 km from Mosul, about 140 km from Sulaymaniyah and about 109 km from Kirkuk. The majority of the city's population is Kurdish, in addition to other minorities such as Turkmen, Arabs, Armenians and Assyrians. Erbil is one of the oldest cities in the world that has continued human settlement. The settlement of the hills of Erbil Citadel dates back to five thousand years BC. It was controlled by many empires, such as the Jutian, Assyrian, Parthian, Seleucid, and Sassanian. It became part of the Umayyad state, then the Abbasid state, then the Ottoman state, before becoming part of the borders of the Kingdom of Iraq with the division of the Ottoman state since 1920.

Naming

Taha Baqir said in his book (From Our Ancient Linguistic Heritage) “The name Erbil is ancient and was mentioned in cuneiform texts and historical records from various eras. It is almost among the only Assyrian cities that have remained inhabited and preserved its old name to this day.”

In Kurdistan and in the Kurdish language, it is known as Hawler “Hahwler”.

The provinces of the Kurdistan Region with their official names, in the middle "Hawler"

History

Ancient History

Al-Manara Al-Muzaffariyya

The area in which Erbil is located was largely under Sumerian control from around 3000 BC until the rise of the Akkadian Empire (2335-2154 BC). The conflict between Gutium and the Akkadian Empire was linked to the collapse of the empire at the end of the third millennium BC, so the Gutians ruled those areas and formed the Kingdom of Gutium. Erbil became part of the Kingdom of Assyria by the twenty-first century BC until the end of the 7th century BC, and was known in Assyrian records in different forms. The rule of the Medes followed and it became part of the Median Empire and continued until 549 BC. Erbil witnessed the rule of the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Seleucid Empire, the Armenian Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Sassanid Empire, as well as becoming the capital of the tributary state, Adiabene, between the mid-2nd century BC and the early 2nd century AD.