city
al-Hira (Hirta)
near Kufa / Najaf, Iraq · Arabia & Arab frontier
31.883, 44.450
Approximate location.
Attested. Bishops of Hirta appear in synod lists from 410. Excavated churches confirm a large Christian presence.
Al-Hira was the capital of the Lakhmid Arab kings, allies of Persia, and a center of Arab Christianity, with a bishop attested from 410. Its Christian Arab elite (the 'Ibad) and many monasteries made it a bridge between Syriac Christianity and the Arabs. The last Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III, became a Christian late in the 6th century.
Added from later research
slug-alias
Slug alias: al-hira
The bridge run uses place_id 'al-hira' for the same place as batch 1's 'hira'. Treat them as the same Atlas place.
attested. Id mapping only.
Source stance: neutral. Syriac synod lists (insider) plus Arabic histories and archaeology.
People and groups named here
- al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir
- Hind (founder of a convent)
Sources
- ḤIRA
Encyclopaedia Iranica. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Hirta (al-Hira) (e-GEDSH)
Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, electronic ed., Beth Mardutho. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 912800: [(al-)Hir(t)a]/Ertha?
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.