Admire the world's oldest citadel

The Erbil ancient citadel is of particular interest to historians because it is the oldest inhabited residential area in the world.

The oldest citadel in the world

Although not widely known, the Erbil Citadel is of particular interest to the research community because it is the oldest inhabited residential area in the world.

This citadel made a first impression with a very special terrain: located on an interior plot of about 30m high.This ground has been accreted by many successive civilizations for thousands of years.

Since prehistoric times, the land that Erbil ancient citadel is located has been bestowed with favorable conditions for human settlement.This is a delta near the river where the two rivers have stable rainfall.

The groups of people living by hunting and gathering have settled here in 9,300 BC.Then there was the period of the original Hassuna, about 7,000 BC.In 1,400 BC, the ancient town of Erbil became one of the most important cities of the Assyrian Empire.

The Assyrian Empire collapsed after a siege in 612 BC.Then the Persians took control of this land.But 300 years later, in 331 BC, the Persian Empire had to cede control of Erbil to the Greek dynasty of Alexander.

1,000 years later, the Ottomans swept the region, defeating the Abbasids - the reign of Sunni Muslims in central Iraq.In 1918, the Ottoman Empire collapsed.The British army entered the city without any resistance.The mark marks the end of a long period of history and the beginning of modern Iraq.

In the twentieth century, under intense political turmoil, the Erbil Citadel became the settlement of about 1,000 Kurdish families, with temporary shelters interspersed with ancient ancient relics.

In the 2000s, there were archeologies on a limited scale.The excavation results initially show that the underground under the Erbil ancient citadel lurks an invaluable treasure of human civilization.

The most famous artifact here is the Mabarek Ahmed Sharafaddin statue from the 12th century. However, many more impressive artifacts can be discovered if the excavation scale is expanded.

With great historical values, UNESCO recognized the Erbil ancient citadel as a World Cultural Heritage in 2007.