The Kirkuk Citadel

Citadel

A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....

( Qal’at Karkuk) is located in the centre of the city of Kirkuk

Kirkuk

Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...

 in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, and is considered to be the oldest part of the city. The citadel stands on an artificial mound 130 feet high located on a plateau across the Khasa River

Khasa River

The Khasa River is a winterbourne river which runs through the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq. It dries up completely in the summer but turns into a raging river in the winter, flooding its banks at times as happened in the 1950s. The river has symbolic value to the city's inhabitants. It is one...

. The mound, or tell

Tell

A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...

, is believed to have been built by King Ashurnasirpal II between 884 and 858 BCE as a military defence line of Arrapha

Arrapha

Arrapha was an ancient Assyrian city that existed in what is today the city of Kirkuk, Iraq. The city was founded around 2000 BC and derived its name from the old Assyrian word Arabkha which was later changed to Arrapha...

.

Later King Sluks built a strong rampart

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...

 with 72 towers around the 72 streets and the two entries to the citadel.