'Ayn at-Tamr

Ayn al-Tamr was an oasis on the edge of the desert west of Kufa, known for its dates and fortified settlement. The geographer Yaqut described the abundance of dates produced here and at neighbouring Shithatha, from which they were carried to other lands. In the early Islamic conquests Khalid ibn al-Walid besieged the fortress, then held by a Persian garrison. The oasis stood at the meeting of the cultivated lands of Iraq and the open desert routes toward Syria.