ancient Mesopotamian town located on the left bank of the Euphrates River, downstream from modern Ar-Ramādī in central Iraq. Originally called Massice and Fairuz Sapur, it was destroyed by the Roman emperor Julian in AD 363. The town was rebuilt and became known from at least the 6th century as Anbar (“Stores”). Jews from the academy of Pumbedita took refuge there from Sāsānian persecution in 588, and it became a Jewish centre. Anbar was the residence of the ʿAbbāsid (Abbāsid Dynastyʿ) caliphs from the beginning of that caliphate (750) until the founding of Baghdad (762).