Shahrizor

Shahrizor or Shahrazur (شاره‌زوور / Şarezûr) is a region part of Kurdistan Region, Iraq situated in the Silêmanî Governorate and west of Hewraman. Shahrizor is a fertile plain watered by the tributaries of Tandjaro river which flows to Diyala and Tigris rivers. The name Shahrazur is likely derived from two Iranian words: shah (king) and (forest), hence sharazur meaning kingly forest. Herzfeld based on the fact that in classical sources the name was spelt with an initial /s/ rather /sh/, suggested white forest, which he connected with the Avestan legends. Indeed, to this day the plain of Sharazur has an important status among adherents of native religion of Yarsan as a holy and sacred region where God descends for the Last Judgement. The 12th century geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, based on folk etymology interpreted origin of name Sharazur, from the name of the son of Zahhak, whom he mentions as founder of the famous city of Sharazor. Extensive archaeological research, especially since 2009, at sites like Bakr Awa, Tell Begum, Gird-î Qalrakh, and Bestansur (which is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List), has shown that the plain has been continuously occupied since prehistoric times. Billerbeck states that that Sharizor was part of Zamua during the Assyrian era and populated by the Lullubi during the rule of Assurnasirbal II. Arabs associated Shahrizor with biblical legends associated with Saul and David suggesting that the region had a Jewish colony. Sharazor and its king Yazdan Kard are mentioned in the Karnamag, a book of Persian mythology, of Ardashir I and also in the inscription of Narseh alongside Garmian. During the Sassanid era the region of Sharazor was one of the 5 provinces of the satrapy of Medes, an ancient Iranian people. In the 4th century, some of inhabitants of Sharazor who had converted to Christianity were persecuted by the Sassanids. Among the prominent examples of this persecution is the killing of Bishop Shahdost Shahrazori and 128 of his followers.