Nasiriyah is a city in Southern Iraq. It is the closest major settlement to the prehistoric city of Ur.

Understand

A Mandaean house of worship in central Nasiriyah.

Nasiriyah was founded in 1872 and became a major center of trade in Ottoman Iraq. The areas around the city is the ancestral home of many Mandaeans, an ethnoreligious group that were probably the first to practice baptism and are the last surviving Gnostics from antiquity. Today, only a few hundred families remain.

Get in

Nasiriyah has a station on the railway between Baghdad and Basra. Iraqi Republic Railways runs two overnight trains which both call here. There are also irregular trains to and from Karbala, especially during religious holidays.

• 1 Nasiriyah railway station (South of city centre, at the end of Al-Mustafa street). (updated Jul 2021)

See

There is a UNESCO World Heritage Site called The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. "Ahwar" translates as "marshland" and the region is listed partly for the wetlands flora and fauna. However, the listing also includes several cities of ancient Sumer.

Ruins of Ur.

• 1 Museum of Nasiriyah. The second largest museum in Iraq, housing a large collection of Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid artifacts. (updated Jul 2016)
• 2 Ruins of Ur. The historical city of Ur, one of the most important cities during the Sumerian era. Includes the partly restored Great Ziggurat. Large parts of the city have been damaged. (updated Jul 2016)
• 3 Ruins of Tell Eridu. A smaller archaeological site containing the city of Eridu, another Sumerian city, possibly the oldest recorded city in the world. (updated Mar 2019)
• 4 Ruins of Larsa. Ruins of the historic city of Larsa, the city peaked in its influence around 1750-1700 BC. (updated Jul 2021)

Do

The amusement park in Nasiriyah.

Eat

• 1 Mandi Palace Restaurant, in Shamiyah. Daily 9AM-10PM. good if you're wanting to try some Arabic dishes like mandi, a Yemeni concoction of meat and rice and spices cooked underground. (May 2022). 

Sleep

• 1 Al-Zaitoon Hotel (فندق الزيتون), Al Nahr Street, ☏ +964 780 006 6155. $90 (May 2022). 

Go next

The ruins of the ancient cities of Ur and Larsa are located nearby.