Samawah
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Samawah Arabic: السماوة |
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|---|---|
| City | |
Samawah
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| Nickname(s): Samawa | |
 Samawah
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| Coordinates: 31°19′N 45°17′E / 31.317°N 45.283°E | |
| Country |
 Iraq
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| Province | Muthanna |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Abdul Hussein Khalaf Hamza |
| Elevation | 29 ft (9 m) |
| Population | |
| • Estimate (2011) | 152,890 |
| • Rank | 20th |
| Time zone | Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3) |
| • Summer (DST) | No DST (UTC) |
| Postal code | 66001 |
Samawah or As Samawah (Arabic language:السماوة ) is a city in Iraq, 280 kilometres (174 mi) southeast of Baghdad.
The city of Samawah is the modern capital of the Al Muthanna Governorate. The city is located midway between Baghdad and Basra, at the northern edge of the governorate. The province was established in 1975; prior to that date it was a unified province along with Qadissiya (Diwaniya) and Najaf.
The city was settled by the Himyarite tribe of Banu Quda'a around the 3rd century AD. It is built on both sides of the Euphrates river; there are four bridges in the centre of town for crossing between the two sides. The west bank of the city contains the commercial heart of the city, and includes the old town and the Jewish quarter, agd al yahood. The west bank is the site of the covered market Suq Al Masgoof, which dates to the Ottoman period. The area surrounding the market is the old city with its Byzantine maze of crowded markets and streets.
The eastern side of the city including 'Qushla' has a more modern feel and contains a number of estates of apartment blocks built during the 1970s and 1980s, As Samawah Stadium, which is home to the local Muthanna football team Samawa FC, as well as technical colleges and the polytechnic. There too is Al Qushla, the historic "Ottoman Barracks".
The most famous attraction of Samawah is the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk which dates to 4000 BC. This was the largest city in Sumer, extending over 2 km². Uruk was not only the largest conurbation of the first urban civilisation on earth, but it is also the place where the first written script was discovered, the oldest dating back to 3300 BC.
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