Ancient history
It has been claimed that Erbil is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history. The Neo-Sumerian ruler of Ur, Amar-Sin sacked Urbilum in his second year, ca. 1975 BC)
Erbil was under the Assyrian Empire from around 2000 BC until 608 BC, and it remained part of the Assyrian province under Persian, Greek, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid rule.
Under the Median Empire, Cyaxares might have settled a number of people from the Ancient Iranian tribe of Sagarthians in Arbela and Kirkuk, probably as a reward for their help in the capture of Nineveh. The Persian emperor Cyrus the Great occupied Assyria in 547 BC, and established there an Achaemenid satrapy called in Old Persian A?ur? (Assyria), with Arbela as the capital.
The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in 331 BC, took place approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Erbil. After the battle, Darius managed to flee to the city, and, somewhat inaccurately, the confrontation is sometimes known as the "Battle of Arbela".
Erbil became part of the region disputed between Rome and Persia under the Sasanids. The ancient Syriac kingdom of Adiabene (the Greek form of ?adyab) had its center at Erbil, and the town and kingdom are known in Jewish Middle Eastern history for the conversion of the royal family to Judaism. Its populace then converted during the first and second century to Christianity, with Pkidha becoming traditionally its first bishop around 104 AD. The metropolitanate of ?adyab in Arbela became a centre of eastern Syriac Christianity until late in the Middle Ages.
Medieval history
Arbela was an early center of the Syriac Christianity. By 100 AD there was a bishop seated in the city. As many modern Assyrians use Biblical (including Jewish) names, most of the early bishops had Jewish/Biblical names, which does not suggest that many of the early Christians in this city were converts
