There was once a thriving city state called Hatra in the northern Iraqi desert.

The exact details of the site werent known until the 20th century.
An excavation team were hugely surprised when they found a Greek temple on this site.
The marble columns built in Ionic style look exactly like ones found in Greece.
Camel caravans passed through here for a period of several hundred years before and after Christ.

The Silk Road was then a busy trade route, connecting the Chinese Han and Roman Empires.

Hatra was an important stopover between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean Sea.
The discovery of this Allat temple unveiled a different side of Hatra.
The imposing carvings depict camels, which represent wealth and affluence.
This relief could represent the Goddess Allat.
The figures here are believed to be either of a King or an oracle.

Eastern and Western civilizations met here and created a form of art known as the Hellenistan style, a combination of Greek Hellenism and the Eastern style from Asia.
There is a 2-metre high female statue. in the deepest part of the sacred temple area.

It is believed to be of a princess.

Hellenic art is characterised by realistic representation of the human form.

However, the way she is holding her hand up in front of her chest is not usually seen in Hellenism.

The main temple has 8 arches.

It is dedicated to Shamash, the supreme God of Hatra.

It is possible to see how Eastern and Western culture is fused here.
The face of Medusa, of Greek myth, is carved at the entrance.
While the temple itself was built in the Iwan style, from Western Asia.

Each God worshipped in the vast area between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean was enshrined here.

Hatra thrived by welcoming and accepting people of different religious faiths.

Only a part of the town and sacred areas have been excavated so far.

Hatra was a city where an array of cultures and religions coexisted in harmony. (less info)