AMEDI, Kurdistan Region – In the ancient town of Amedi atop a tiny plateau in the mountainous province of Duhok sits the Kurdistan Region's oldest mosque and minaret that dates back to the 12th century.
Formerly used as a church, the Great Mosque of Amedi (also known as Amadiya) was later founded in the 16th century during the reign of Sultan Hussein Wali (1534-1570 C.E.), prince of the Bahdinan Emirate, one of the most powerful Muslim Kurdish principalities in history.
The architectural design of the structure itself, with the floor sitting over a meter below ground level, hints that the present-day mosque may have once been used as a temple prior to being converted into a church.
The mosque, with an area of approximately 2,000 square meters that can accommodate at least 300 worshipers, was also once used as a school for Islamic studies and Arabic language.
At the entrance of the courtyard stands the iconic minaret, reaching 33 meters high.
Inside, a spiral staircase leads to the top of the minaret where the Adhan, or call to prayer, is traditionally performed five times daily.
Visitors are also allowed to enter the minaret for a view of the village and valleys below when the caretaker or imam is available.
The Amedi minaret has been compared to the one that once towered over the Mosul’s al-Nuri mosque, which was destroyed by ISIS in 2017. They were built during the same period and have a similar round tower on a square foundation.
Amedi sits on a plateau of just 1,000 meters long and 550 meters wide. A place where Muslims and Christians coexisted peacefully for centuries, it has a present day population of approximately 5,000 and was also home to a sizeable Jewish community before the State of Israel was created in the late 1940s.
Human habitation in Amedi dates back to at least 3,000 BCE when it was controlled by the Assyrian Empire.
Present day Amedi still has a well-integrated Assyrian Christian and Muslim Kurdish community with physical remnants its Muslim, Christian, and Jewish history throughout the village.
Amedi is located a little over an hour drive northeast of Duhok city.
