Ukbara


ʿUkbarā was a medieval city on the left bank of the Tigris between Samarra and Baghdad. The Tigris has changed course since, and its ruins now lie some distance from the river. Its name may possibly have inspired the "Uqbar" of Borges' short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.

History

It was refounded by the Sasanian shah Shapur I under the name of Vuzurg-Shapur and settled with Roman captives. According to adh-Dhahabi, the Buwayhid Sultan Jalal ad-Dawla fled there in 1031 to escape a slave revolt.
Famous native sons include:
It is described in many Arabic geographical works, beginning with the famous 9th-century geography of Ibn Khordadhbeh, which mentions it four times, stating that:
However, the tenth-century al-Muqaddasi goes into a little more detail, saying that:
The twelfth-century geographer al-Idrisi is briefer, mentioning it twice.
The Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela also mentions it, calling it "Okbara, the city which Jeconiah the King built, where there are about 10,000 Jews, and at their head are R. Chanan, R. Jabin and R. Ishmael."
The later Yaqut al-Hamawi goes into yet more detail, noting two alternate names, the "Arabized" form `Akburah and Buzurj-Sabur بزرج سابور, after the Persian name Vuzurg-Shapur mentioned above, calling it:
and quotes two brief epigrams about the town.
The biographical dictionary of Ibn Khallikan calls it: