Saqqez

The name Saqqez derives from the Scythian word "Eskit" and then "Sakez". Before that it was Izirtu, the capital of Mannaeans. In some historical sources it has been mentioned that the name of the city is derived from the name of powerful Median ruler Cyaxares (reigned 625 – 585 BC), who turned the empire into a regional power, but other historians believe that the name of the city is derived from Sakez and is attributed to the Scythians who settled in the city during the reign of Cyaxares.[3]

The city is populated by Kurds who speak the Sorani dialect.[4] David D'Beth Hillel (d. 1846) stated that the city was home to a small Jewish community with one synagogue dating from around 1827.[5]

Saqqez's history goes back to the seventh millennium BC.[6] Based on historical ruins and Antiques which have been found in Saqqez, like the historical treasures of Ziwiye hoard in the Ziwiyeh Castle, experts like Roman Ghirshman believe that the modern city of Saqqez is built on the site of the ancient capital of the Median empire. when Sargon II (reigned 722 – 705 BC) attacked the Median Empire and forced them to flee to Ecbatana (modern day Hamadan) and made this city his capital. On the attack of Sargon II, the ruler of Assyria, the Medes were defended and their fortifications were destroyed. Thereafter, the Scythians tried to rebuild this city and they chose Saqqez, then named Eskit as their capital. This city was repeatedly attacked by Assyrians and Romans.[7]

According to Vladimir Minorsky, Saqqez is the site of the earlier medieval city of Barza.[8]^{: 251, 253} According to Theophanes the Confessor, who calls the city "Barzan" (Ancient Greek: βάρζαν), the Byzantine emperor Heraclius stayed at Barza for seven days in March 628 while on his way to Ganzak.[8]^: 250–1 Barza was an important crossroads in the medieval period, where there was a fork in the road from Dinavar to Maragheh with one branch splitting off towards Urmia.[8]^{: 251, 253} In the early 9th century, Barza was the capital of a separate principality.[8]^: 251

The city was the hometown of Mahsa Amini, who in 2022 died in the custody of Iran's morality police at the age of 22 after being arrested for violating Iran's hijab rules.[9] Her death sparked the Mahsa Amini protests, a nationwide movement protesting the Islamic republic and its treatment of women.

The city of Saqqez has been a place of culture and art since ancient times. In this city, performing arts and culture has a special place, and artists have created valuable works in various fields of art such as theater, painting, sculpture, music, literature, poetry, and cinema. In this city, every year at the end of the autumn season, a theater festival called The Kurdish Theater Festival is held, in which theater groups from all over Kurdistan perform their works. Also, in Saqqez, famous musicians and singers, such as Rashid Fayznejad perform their music and songs in the Kurdish language. Also there are well-known poets in this city, such as Abdul Karim Sahib, Mullah Ghafoor Dabbaghi, Jila Hosseini, Rahim Loghmani, Malekoalkalam majdi and Sheikh Hassan Molanabad.[10][11]

An old golden necklace from the Ziwiye hoard kept in National Museum of Iran

The city will be served in the future by Saqqez Airport

• Bazaar of Saqqez
• Domenareh Mosque
• Karaftu Cave
• Haj Saleh Hammam
• Mount Chlchama

• Bosworth, C.E. (1995). "Saḳḳiz". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VIII: Ned–Sam. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 895. ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
• Grami, Bahram (2015). "Saqqez". Encyclopaedia Iranica.