Miqdadiyah

Miqdadiyah (Arabic: المقدادية‎) (also transliterated Al-Miqdadiyah, Miqdadia, Muqdadiyah). Kurdish, Shareban (شارەبان). Al- Muqdadiyah is a city in the Diyala Governorate of Iraq. The city is located at 33°58′43″N 44°56′13″E / 33.97861°N 44.93694°E / 33.97861; 44.93694, about 80 km northeast of Baghdad and 30 km northeast of Baquba, the capital of Diyala. It has a population of about 298,000 inhabitants.

The alternative name of the town is Shareban (kurdish: Şareban or شاره‌بان), mentioned as such in the works of the classical writers such as Ptolemy and Strabo. Sharaban (from Shahraban, from old Iranian, Shatrapan) transforms into satrap in Greek and means a governor or a governorate. This name is still used locally by the Kurds. As of late, however, the term Muqdadiyah has largely replaced the old name. "Muqdadia" stands for Persian and Kurdish "Given by the Magi" and parallels the name Baghdad, Persian and Kurdish for "Given by the God". This was a common style of naming towns in the Sassanian Persian. The towns of Shahdad and Bamdad (modern Bam) in Kirman are just two other examples of this naming convention. The family name 'al-Sharebani' can be found among Iraqi Jews in Israel who lived or their ancestors lived there.