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I took out the world Arbela replacing it with Arbil and i took out a small paragraph that had misundering.
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'''Arbil''' (also written '''Erbil''' or '''Irbil''' or '''Arbela''') ([[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]: {{unicode|ھەولێر}}, ''Hewlêr'', anglicized '''Hawler'''; {{lang-ar|اربيل}}, [[Syriac language|Syriac]]: <big>ܐܪܒܝܠ</big>, ''Arbel'') is the third-largest city in [[Iraq]] after [[Baghdad]] and [[Mosul]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/Iraq.htm | title=Largest Cities in Iraq | accessdate=2009-01-26 | publisher=mongabay.com | date=2002-01-01 }}</ref> The city lies eighty kilometres (fifty miles) east of Mosul, and is the [[Capital (political)|capital]] of [[Kurdistan Autonomous Region]].
'''Arbil''' (also written '''Erbil''' or '''Irbil''') ([[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]: {{unicode|ھەولێر}}, ''Hewlêr'', anglicized '''Hawler'''; is a city in [[South Kurdistan]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/Iraq.htm | title=Largest Cities in Iraq | accessdate=2009-01-26 | publisher=mongabay.com | date=2002-01-01 }}</ref>


Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the twenty-third century BC. The city has been under the rule of many regional powers during that time, such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Sasanians, Arabs, and Ottomans. The city's archaeological museum contains only pre-[[Islam]]ic artifacts.
Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the twenty-third century BC. The city has been under the rule of many regional powers during that time, such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Sasanians, Arabs, and Ottomans. The city's archaeological museum contains only pre-[[Islam]]ic artifacts.


==Name==
==Name==
The name of Arbil or Arbela appears to be not Semitic origin. The initial ''ar'' element is a feature of a number of Hurrian place names. The name ''Arbil'' was mentioned in the [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] holy writings (about 2000 BC) as ''Arbilum'', ''Orbelum'' or ''Urbilum'' and it may also be Sumerian in origin.
The name of Arbil appears to be not Semitic origin. The initial ''ar'' element is a feature of a number of Hurrian place names. The name ''Arbil'' was mentioned in the [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] holy writings (about 2000 BC) as ''Arbilum'', ''Orbelum'' or ''Urbilum'' and it may also be Sumerian in origin.


Later, [[Akkadians]] and [[Assyria]]ns based on similarity and folk etymology rendered the name to mean ''four gods'' (arba'ū ilū).<ref>Geoffrey Khan, ''A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic: The Dialect of the Jews of Arbel'', (Leiden:Brill) 1999, p.2,</ref> The city was a centre for the worship of the goddess [[Ishtar]].
Later, [[Akkadians]] and [[Assyria]]ns based on similarity and folk etymology rendered the name to mean ''four gods'' (arba'ū ilū).<ref>Geoffrey Khan, ''A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic: The Dialect of the Jews of Arbel'', (Leiden:Brill) 1999, p.2,</ref> The city was a centre for the worship of the goddess [[Ishtar]].

In classical times, the city was known by its [[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic|Assyrian]] [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] name, ''Arbela''. Another opinion states that the name of Arbela is composed from [[Sumerian language]] UR (town) + BELA (high) which means the City that located in the upper area; in [[Kurdistan]] there are some locations that have the same appelation: [[Akra]] (or Aqra, عقرة) (upper village: old Hilinic language), Dei bala (high village/ده بالا ) (the old name of the Kurdish city of [[Ilam]] (Iran))


The Kurdish name for the city is ''Hawler'' meaning ''the place where sun is worshipped''. The name is thought to derive from the Greek ''helio'' (sun).<ref>[http://iwa.univie.ac.at/iraqarchive65.html The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 65<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
The Kurdish name for the city is ''Hawler'' meaning ''the place where sun is worshipped''. The name is thought to derive from the Greek ''helio'' (sun).<ref>[http://iwa.univie.ac.at/iraqarchive65.html The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 65<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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===Ancient history===
===Ancient history===
Under the Median Empire [[Cyaxares]] settled a number of [[Sagarthians|Sagarthian]] tribes of Zagros in Arbela and Kirkuk, probably as a reward for their help in the capture of Nineveh. After revolts of [[Medes]] led by Phraortes king of Media (522-521 BC) were put down by [[Darius I of Persia]], the Sagartians of Arbela rebelled against Darius continuing the Median revolts. Darius sent an army led by a Median general named Takhmaspâda, and in the summer of 521 BC defeated Sagartians, led by Tritantaechmes (in Old Persian ''Ciçataxma''), who claimed to be a descendant of the Great Median King Cyaxares. According to Darius, the rebellion of Arbela was the last revolt of Media which he put down. These incidents are carved on the [[Behistun Inscription]].
Under the Median Empire [[Cyaxares]] settled a number of [[Sagarthians|Sagarthian]] tribes of Zagros in Arbil and [[Kirkuk]], probably as a reward for their help in the capture of Nineveh. After revolts of [[Medes]] led by Phraortes king of Media (522-521 BC) were put down by [[Darius I of Persia]], the Sagartians of Arbil rebelled against Darius continuing the Median revolts. Darius sent an army led by a Median general named Takhmaspâda, and in the summer of 521 BC defeated Sagartians, led by Tritantaechmes (in Old Persian ''Ciçataxma''), who claimed to be a descendant of the Great Median King Cyaxares. According to Darius, the rebellion of Arbil was the last revolt of Media which he put down. These incidents are carved on the [[Behistun Inscription]].


The [[Battle of Gaugamela]], in which [[Alexander the Great]] defeated [[Darius III of Persia]] in 331 BC, took place about one hundred kilometres (sixty miles) west of Arbil. After the battle, Darius managed to flee to the city, and, somewhat inaccurately, the confrontation is sometimes known as the ''Battle of Arbela''.
The [[Battle of Gaugamela]], in which [[Alexander the Great]] defeated [[Darius III of Persia]] in 331 BC, took place about one hundred kilometres (sixty miles) west of Arbil. After the battle, Darius managed to flee to the city, and, somewhat inaccurately, the confrontation is sometimes known as the ''Battle of Arbil''.


The name ''Hewlêr'', that is also used for this historic town of [[Mesopotamia]] by Kurdish inhabitants derives from ''Horlêr'', meaning "Temple of the Sun" in the Kurdish language. This may have originated from the religions of [[Mithraism]], [[Yazdanism]] and [[Zoroastrianism]] practiced by Kurds in which the sun and fire play a significant role (see also: [[Helios]]).
The name ''Hewlêr'', that is also used for this historic town of [[Mesopotamia]] by Kurdish inhabitants derives from ''Horlêr'', meaning "Temple of the Sun" in the Kurdish language. This may have originated from the religions of [[Mithraism]], [[Yazdanism]] and [[Zoroastrianism]] practiced by Kurds in which the sun and fire play a significant role (see also: [[Helios]]).
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Erbil became, like Amida (Diyarbekr), part of the region disputed between Rome and Persia under the Sassanians. The [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] kingdom of [[Adiabene]] (Greek form for ''Hadyab'')(Kurdish form for "Hadhaban") had its center at Arbil, and the town and kingdom are known in Jewish Middle Eastern history for the conversion of the royal family to Judaism, although the general population remained eclectic<!--a better adj. could be found--> but with a very strong Assyrian Christian presence.
Erbil became, like Amida (Diyarbekr), part of the region disputed between Rome and Persia under the Sassanians. The [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] kingdom of [[Adiabene]] (Greek form for ''Hadyab'')(Kurdish form for "Hadhaban") had its center at Arbil, and the town and kingdom are known in Jewish Middle Eastern history for the conversion of the royal family to Judaism, although the general population remained eclectic<!--a better adj. could be found--> but with a very strong Assyrian Christian presence.


===Christianity in Arbela===
===Christianity in Arbil===
Arbela was an early center of [[Church of the East|Assyrian]] Christianity. By AD 100 there was a bishop seated in the city. Most of the early bishops had Jewish names, suggesting that most of the early Christians in this city were converts from Judaism.<ref>Gillman, Ian and Hans-Joachim Klimkeit. ''Christians in Asia before 1500''. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1999) p. 33</ref> The conversions worked both ways, with some early [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] Pagans and Christians converting to Judaism then back again.
Arbil was an early center of [[Church of the East|Assyrian]] Christianity. By AD 100 there was a bishop seated in the city. Most of the early bishops had Jewish names, suggesting that most of the early Christians in this city were converts from Judaism.<ref>Gillman, Ian and Hans-Joachim Klimkeit. ''Christians in Asia before 1500''. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1999) p. 33</ref> The conversions worked both ways, with some early [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] Pagans and Christians converting to Judaism then back again.


The queen of Adiabene (which was a Neo Assyrian kingdom) adopted Judaism, however the majority population were ethnic [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] who began to adopt Christianity from the 1st Century AD, and the area became a Christian stronghold. It served as the seat of a Metropolitan of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]].
The queen of Adiabene (which was a Neo Assyrian kingdom) adopted Judaism, however the majority population were ethnic [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] who began to adopt Christianity from the 1st Century AD, and the area became a Christian stronghold. It served as the seat of a Metropolitan of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]].
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===Medieval history===
===Medieval history===
[[File:Great mosque in Hewlêr (Erbil) Kurdistan.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Great Mosque]]
[[File:Great mosque in Hewlêr (Erbil) Kurdistan.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Great Mosque]]
Until the 10th century Arbil was mainly populated by [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] and [[Hadhabani]] (Adiabeni) Kurds who gradually migrated northward.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} In 1310 the Christian [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] population suffered a massacre by the Moslem Arabs;<ref>Budge, E.A. Wallis. [[The Monk of Kublai Khan]], [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sshoemak/324/texts/monks_of_kubla_khan.htm]</ref> with the help of Kurds.<ref>''E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936'', M. Th. Houtsma, E. van Donzel eds., p. 1141, 1993 ISBN 9004097961</ref> Its [[Aramaic]]-speaking Assyrian population remained significant in size until destruction of the city by the forces of [[Timur]] in 1397.<ref>[[Edwin Munsell Bliss]], ''[[Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities]]'', (Chicago 1896) p. 153</ref> In the wake of Timur's raids, Arbil increasingly became a Muslim-dominated town. As is attested in the region in general, those who converted to Islam became enfolded into the ethnic Muslim culture of the region, whether Turkish, Arab, Persian or Kurdish. However Assyrian Christianity remained in the area, and the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] retained their distinct culture and Aramaic language. Arbil is also the birthplace of the famous Muslim historian and writer of 13th century, [[Ibn Khallikan]]. In the Middle Ages, Arbil was ruled successively by the [[Umayyads]], the [[Abbasids]], the [[Buwayhids]], the [[Seljuks]] and then by the [[atabeg of Erbil|Atabegs of Erbil]] (1131-1232), under whom it was a Turkmen state; they were in turn fowlloed by the [[Ilkhanids]], the [[Jalayirids]], the [[Karakoyun]] and the [[Akkoyun]].
Until the 10th century Arbil was mainly populated by [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] and [[Hadhabani]] (Adiabeni) Kurds who gradually migrated northward.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} In 1310 the Christian [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] population suffered a massacre by the Moslem Arabs;<ref>Budge, E.A. Wallis. [[The Monk of Kublai Khan]], [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sshoemak/324/texts/monks_of_kubla_khan.htm]</ref> with the help of Kurds.<ref>''E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936'', M. Th. Houtsma, E. van Donzel eds., p. 1141, 1993 ISBN 9004097961</ref> Its [[Aramaic]]-speaking Assyrian population remained significant in size until destruction of the city by the forces of [[Timur]] in 1397.<ref>[[Edwin Munsell Bliss]], ''[[Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities]]'', (Chicago 1896) p. 153</ref> In the wake of Timur's raids, Arbil increasingly became a Muslim-dominated town. As is attested in the region in general, those who converted to Islam became enfolded into the ethnic Muslim culture of the region, whether Turkish, Arab, Persian or Kurdish. However Assyrian Christianity remained in the area, and the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] retained their distinct culture and Aramaic language. Arbil is also the birthplace of the famous Muslim historian and writer of 13th century, [[Ibn Khallikan]]. In the Middle Ages, Arbil was ruled successively by the [[Umayyads]], the [[Abbasids]], the [[Buwayhids]], the [[Seljuks]] and then by the Atabegs of Erbil (1131-1232), under whom it was a Turkmen state; they were in turn fowlloed by the [[Ilkhanids]], the [[Jalayirids]], the [[Karakoyun]] and the [[Akkoyun]].


===Modern history===
===Modern history===
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==Famous families==
==Famous families==
*[[Doghramachy]]
*[[Qassap]]
*[[Berber]]
*[[Berber]]
*[[Ilkhanli]]
*[[Chawshli]]
*[[Cambaz]]
*[[Bradost]]
*[[Bradost]]
*[[Naqshbandi]]
*[[Naqshbandi]]
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*[[Sîan]]
*[[Sîan]]
*[[Mizurî]]
*[[Mizurî]]
*[[Uzairi]]
*[[Dabbagh]]
*[[Agha]]
*[[Agha]]

==Villages and towns==
* [[Sidekan]]
* [[Armota]]


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
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Image:EIA.jpg|Construction of the new EIA terminal as of Nov 14, 2007. The [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] is putting $325 million in the expansion of the [[Erbil International Airport]].
Image:EIA.jpg|Construction of the new EIA terminal as of Nov 14, 2007. The [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] is putting $325 million in the expansion of the [[Erbil International Airport]].
</gallery>
</gallery>

==See also==
{{commonscat|Arbil}}
*[[Cities of the ancient Near East]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IZ/11/Arbil.html FallingRain Map - elevation = 536m (Red dots are railways)]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IZ/11/Arbil.html FallingRain Map - elevation = 536m (Red dots are railways)]
⚫
[[Category:Kurdistan]]

⚫
[[Category:Iraqi Kurdistan]]
==External links==
* [http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/arbela/arbela.html Livius.org: Arbela]
* [http://www.kurdishglobe.net The Kurdish Globe] - English-language news.
* [http://www.faoiraq.org/images/word/erbil.pdf GOVERNORATE - ERBIL]
<!-- Template removed per [[Wikipedia:Templates_for_deletion/Log/2008_April_22#Template:AL_LargestCities]] -->

⚫
[[Category:History of Iraq]]
[[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Erbil Governorate]]
[[Category:Cities, towns and villages in Erbil Governorate]]
[[Category:Adiabene]]
[[Category:Sagarthians]]
[[Category:Sagarthians]]
⚫
[[Category:Iraqi Kurdistan]]
[[Category:Fertile Crescent]]
[[Category:Settlements established in the 3rd millennium BC]]
[[Category:Settlements established in the 3rd millennium BC]]


Revision as of 23:37, 8 April 2010

Arbil
ھەولێر / Hewlêr/Hawler (Kurdish)
Country Kurdistan
GovernorateErbil
Settled23rd century BC
Government
 • GovernorNawzad Hadi
Population
 (2009 Est.)
 • Total1 293 839 World Gazetteer
Time zoneGMT +3
 • Summer (DST)GMT +4
Website[1]

Arbil (also written Erbil or Irbil) (Kurdish: ھەولێر, Hewlêr, anglicized Hawler; is a city in South Kurdistan.[2]

Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the twenty-third century BC. The city has been under the rule of many regional powers during that time, such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Sasanians, Arabs, and Ottomans. The city's archaeological museum contains only pre-Islamic artifacts.

Name

The name of Arbil appears to be not Semitic origin. The initial ar element is a feature of a number of Hurrian place names. The name Arbil was mentioned in the Sumerian holy writings (about 2000 BC) as Arbilum, Orbelum or Urbilum and it may also be Sumerian in origin.

Later, Akkadians and Assyrians based on similarity and folk etymology rendered the name to mean four gods (arba'ū ilū).[3] The city was a centre for the worship of the goddess Ishtar.

The Kurdish name for the city is Hawler meaning the place where sun is worshipped. The name is thought to derive from the Greek helio (sun).[4]

History

The ancient city wall still dominates the center of Arbil.

Ancient history

Under the Median Empire Cyaxares settled a number of Sagarthian tribes of Zagros in Arbil and Kirkuk, probably as a reward for their help in the capture of Nineveh. After revolts of Medes led by Phraortes king of Media (522-521 BC) were put down by Darius I of Persia, the Sagartians of Arbil rebelled against Darius continuing the Median revolts. Darius sent an army led by a Median general named Takhmaspâda, and in the summer of 521 BC defeated Sagartians, led by Tritantaechmes (in Old Persian Ciçataxma), who claimed to be a descendant of the Great Median King Cyaxares. According to Darius, the rebellion of Arbil was the last revolt of Media which he put down. These incidents are carved on the Behistun Inscription.

The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in 331 BC, took place about one hundred kilometres (sixty miles) west of Arbil. After the battle, Darius managed to flee to the city, and, somewhat inaccurately, the confrontation is sometimes known as the Battle of Arbil.

The name Hewlêr, that is also used for this historic town of Mesopotamia by Kurdish inhabitants derives from Horlêr, meaning "Temple of the Sun" in the Kurdish language. This may have originated from the religions of Mithraism, Yazdanism and Zoroastrianism practiced by Kurds in which the sun and fire play a significant role (see also: Helios).

Erbil became, like Amida (Diyarbekr), part of the region disputed between Rome and Persia under the Sassanians. The Kurdish kingdom of Adiabene (Greek form for Hadyab)(Kurdish form for "Hadhaban") had its center at Arbil, and the town and kingdom are known in Jewish Middle Eastern history for the conversion of the royal family to Judaism, although the general population remained eclectic but with a very strong Assyrian Christian presence.

Christianity in Arbil

Arbil was an early center of Assyrian Christianity. By AD 100 there was a bishop seated in the city. Most of the early bishops had Jewish names, suggesting that most of the early Christians in this city were converts from Judaism.[5] The conversions worked both ways, with some early Assyrian Pagans and Christians converting to Judaism then back again.

The queen of Adiabene (which was a Neo Assyrian kingdom) adopted Judaism, however the majority population were ethnic Assyrians who began to adopt Christianity from the 1st Century AD, and the area became a Christian stronghold. It served as the seat of a Metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East.

From its Christian period come many church fathers and well-known authors in Syriac, the classical language off-shoot of Aramaic. The 13th century Syriac writer Gewargis Warda Arbillaya [from Arbil] identifies the Christian population of Arbil and neighboring areas as Assyrian in a prayer dedicated to the Rogation of the Ninevites.

Medieval history

File:Great mosque in Hewlêr (Erbil) Kurdistan.jpg
Great Mosque

Until the 10th century Arbil was mainly populated by Assyrians and Hadhabani (Adiabeni) Kurds who gradually migrated northward.[citation needed] In 1310 the Christian Assyrian population suffered a massacre by the Moslem Arabs;[6] with the help of Kurds.[7] Its Aramaic-speaking Assyrian population remained significant in size until destruction of the city by the forces of Timur in 1397.[8] In the wake of Timur's raids, Arbil increasingly became a Muslim-dominated town. As is attested in the region in general, those who converted to Islam became enfolded into the ethnic Muslim culture of the region, whether Turkish, Arab, Persian or Kurdish. However Assyrian Christianity remained in the area, and the Assyrians retained their distinct culture and Aramaic language. Arbil is also the birthplace of the famous Muslim historian and writer of 13th century, Ibn Khallikan. In the Middle Ages, Arbil was ruled successively by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Buwayhids, the Seljuks and then by the Atabegs of Erbil (1131-1232), under whom it was a Turkmen state; they were in turn fowlloed by the Ilkhanids, the Jalayirids, the Karakoyun and the Akkoyun.

Modern history

The modern town of Arbil stands on a tell topped by an Ottoman fort. During the Middle Ages, Arbil became a major trading centre on the route between Baghdad and Mosul, a role which it still plays today with important road links to the outside world. A population of Assyrian Christians (about 20,000) live mostly in suburbs such as Ankawa.

The parliament of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region was established in Erbil in 1970 after negotiations between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Mustafa Barzani, but was effectively controlled by Saddam Hussein until the Kurdish uprising at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. The legislature ceased to function effectively in the mid-1990s when fighting broke out between the two main Kurdish factions, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The city was captured by the KDP in 1996 with the assistance of the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. The PUK then established an alternative Kurdish government in Sulaimaniyah. KDP claimed that on March 1996 PUK asked for Iran's help to fight KDP. Considering this as a foreign attack on Iraq's soil, KDP asked the central Iraqi government for help.

File:Arbil, Iraq.jpg
View over Arbil

While the forces of Saddam Hussein ransacked Arbil, many NGO's and international organizations fled. These same organizations were able, with the assistance of the United States and other countries, to accept many Kurds as refugees. Many bound for the US were first taken to Guam.

The Kurdish Parliament in Arbil reconvened after a peace agreement was signed between the Kurdish parties in 1997, but had no real power. The Kurdish government in Arbil had control only in the western and northern parts of the autonomous region.

During the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, a United States special forces task force was headquartered just outside of Arbil. The city was the scene of rapturous celebrations on April 10, 2003 after the fall of Baghdad.

Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, only isolated, sporadic violence has hit Arbil, unlike many other areas of Iraq. Parallel bomb attacks against Eid celebrations (those celebrations were arranged by the PUK and KDP) killed 109 people on February 1, 2004. Responsibility was claimed by the Islamist group Ansar al-Sunnah, and stated to be in solidarity with the Kurdish Islamist faction Ansar al-Islam. Another bombing on May 4, 2005 killed 60 civilians. Despite these bombings the population generally feels safe.

The new Iraqi constitution of 2005, explicitly recognizes the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the two parallel administrations, in January 2006, signed an agreement to unify the administration of the entire Kurdish region under a new multi-party government in Arbil. In May 2006 the unitary government of the Kurdistan region was formally presented.[9]

The new Erbil International Airport was opened in autumn of 2005. It has scheduled flights to a number of airports in the Middle East and to Vienna via Austrian Airlines 5 flights weekly to more than 130 destinations world wide. Royal Jordanian flies in from Amman and Kurdistan Airlines flies to many locations across the Middle East. On 16 September 2009 weekly flights will open between Erbil and Oslo, Norway. Viking Airlines launched flight between Erbil and Athens, Greece.

Moreover, the KRG is building a new $325 million airport adjacent to the existing terminal, which will have the capacity to accept the largest aircraft in the world, including the Russian Antonov 225 cargo plane and the American C-5 Galaxy. It is scheduled for completion in 2009.

Main sights

Famous people

Famous families

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Insert footnote text here
  2. ^ "Largest Cities in Iraq". mongabay.com. 2002-01-01. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  3. ^ Geoffrey Khan, A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic: The Dialect of the Jews of Arbel, (Leiden:Brill) 1999, p.2,
  4. ^ The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 65
  5. ^ Gillman, Ian and Hans-Joachim Klimkeit. Christians in Asia before 1500. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1999) p. 33
  6. ^ Budge, E.A. Wallis. The Monk of Kublai Khan, [1]
  7. ^ E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936, M. Th. Houtsma, E. van Donzel eds., p. 1141, 1993 ISBN 9004097961
  8. ^ Edwin Munsell Bliss, Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities, (Chicago 1896) p. 153
  9. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Single government for Iraqi Kurds
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