Sikkar Castle
قلعة سكر
Qal‘at es Sikkar
Sikkar Castle is located in Iraq
Sikkar Castle
Sikkar Castle
Location in Iraq
Coordinates: 31°51′32″N 46°04′38″E / 31.85889°N 46.07722°E / 31.85889; 46.07722
CountryIraq
GovernorateDhi Qar Governorate
Elevation
39 ft (12 m)
Population
 (2014)
 • Total110,000
Time zone5
Bridge over the Gharraf Canal at Qalat Sukkar

Qalat Sukkar (Arabic: قلعة سكر, romanized: Qal`at es Sikar, lit. 'Sugar Castle') is a town in the Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, located on the Gharraf Canal.

Demographics

Qalat Sukkar has a population of 110,000.[1]

Location

Qalat Sukar is located on a ridge west of the Gharraf Canal (the old canal that the Sumerians dug up some 4000 years ago). Qalat Sukar is 6 km northeast of the remains of the ancient Sumerian city of Larsa.[2] A modern drainage canal separates Qalat Sukar from Larsa Tell.[2]

James Abbott Sauer and Khair Yassine, believe that because of the name, and the former marshlands in the area,[3] it is likely that Qalat Sukar was originally the site of a sugar mill,[4] constructed after sugarcane was introduced into the area in the ninth century.[5]

The nearest large city is An Nasiriyah, Iraq with a population of 587,000.

Airfield

During the Iraq War, the Qalat Sukkar Airfield was occupied by the US Marines and called Camp Fenway.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ ""Đī Qār: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population:Qal'at Sukkar" World Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. World Gazetteer, accessed 19 February 2009
  2. 1 2 "31.3333°,45.8828° – 31.2858°,45.8536° : 5.964 km / 3.707 m (great circle distance)" (distance between Qalat Sukar and Larsa Tell), Movable Type Scripts, accessed 19 February 2009
  3. ↑ Dougherty, Raymond P; (1926); Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research; "An Archæological Survey in Southern Babylonia I;" No. 23; pp. 15–28
  4. ↑ Tell es-Sukkar in Ibrahim; Mo 'Awiyah; Sauer, James Abbott and Yassine, Khair; (1976); Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research; "The East Jordan Valley Survey, 1975;" No. 222, pp. 41–66
  5. ↑ Yeats, John (1887) The Natural History of the Raw Materials of Commerce (3rd ed.) George Philip & Son, London, p. 177, OCLC 6066004
  6. ↑ "Charlie Company Leads BLT into Northern Iraq"; Kennedy, Christopher M.; (2006); "U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2003 Anthology and Annotated Bibliography;" History Division, U.S. Marine Corps; Washington, D.C.; p. 97; OCLC 81149577 Archived 12 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine


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