Al-Ḥilla

Hillah stands on a branch of the Euphrates near the ruins of ancient Babylon. Its river, gardens and markets made it an important town on the route between Baghdad and Kufa. The Mazyadid ruler Sayf al-Dawla Sadaqa established his capital here in the early twelfth century, building a centre for his family's power in central Iraq.

In the fourteenth century Ibn Battuta described a large town along the western bank of the river, with fine markets selling both natural produce and manufactured goods. Hillah was also a centre of Shiite scholarship. Its scholars taught students from beyond Iraq, and the influence of the Hillah school reached Iran during the same century. The river carried trade and supplied the agricultural country around the town, while pilgrims passed along the road between Baghdad and the holy cities farther south.