Khanaqin

Khanaqin stands on the Alwand River, on the road from Baghdad toward the Zagros and Hamadan. Medieval geographer Yaqut described it as a town on the route to the mountains, several stages from Qasr-e Shirin. A bridge across the river carried travellers along the road between Iraq and Iran, and an old account also mentions a productive source of bitumen nearby. Pilgrims travelling from Iran to the shrines of Iraq followed this passage through the frontier country.