Madīnat al-Fār

Madinat al-Far stood east of the Balikh River, on the road between Raqqa and Edessa. A canal brought water from the river to the town, whose square walls enclosed an area some 320 metres on each side. Towers strengthened its defences, and settlement extended beyond the southern wall in the Abbasid period. Founded or occupied in Umayyad times, the town lay at a junction of routes joining Mesopotamia, the Jazira and Anatolia.