Amedi or Amadiye (; ; ) is a town in the

Duhok Governorate Duhok Governorate (, , ) is a governorate in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Duhok. It includes Zakho, near the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Şırnak Province, Turkey. It borders the Al-Hasakah Gove ...

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

of Iraq. It is built on a

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...

in the broader

Great Zab The Great Zab or Upper Zab (; or ; ; ) is an approximately long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. During its course, the river collects water from many tributar ...

river valley. Amedi is known for its celebrations of

Newroz Newroz () is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 20 is the main symbol of Newroz among the Kurds. In Zoroastrianism, fire i ...

Etymology

According to ibn al-Athir, the Arabic name "ʿAmadiyya" is eponymous to

Imad al-Din Zengi Imad al-Din Zengi (; – 14 September 1146), also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkoman atabeg of the Seljuk Empire, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake and founder of the Zengid dyn ...

, who built a Citadel in 1142 on the site of an earlier fortification called āšib. Another theory is that the name is named after

Imad al-Dawla Ali ibn Buya (, ), commonly known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) Imad al-Dawla (; c. 891/2 – December 949), was the founder of the Buyid amirate of Fars, ruling as its ''amir'' (ruler) from 934 to 949. Together with his two younger bro ...

, but this theory is less likely. According to Professor Jeffrey Szuchman, Amedi is of

Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushp ...

origin.

History

From the

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

until it came under the control of the

Mitanni Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...

in the

16th century BC The 16th century BC was a century that lasted from 1600 BC to 1501 BC. Events * 1700 BC – 1500 BC: Hurrian conquests. * 1601 BC: Sharma-Adad II became the King of Assyria. *c. 1600 BC: The creation of one of the oldest surviving astronomi ...

, Amedi region was part of

Kurda Kurda was a small ancient city-state and a Middle Bronze petty kingdom located in the region of the Sinjar Plain in Northern Mesopotamia which eventually became subsumed into Assyria. It is mentioned along with the Amorite states of Andarig and ...

and it was entirely inhabited by

Subartu The land of Subartu (, Assyrian: '' mât Šubarri'') or Subar (, ) is mentioned in Bronze Age literature. The name also appears as ''Subari'' in the Amarna letters, and, in the form ''Šbr'', in Ugarit. Subartu was apparently a kingdom in Uppe ...

, which did not speak a Semitic language. During the rule of the Mittani, the inhabitants of this region were known as Zubarians. After the fall of the Mittani, Amedi was conquered by

Ashurnasirpal I Ashurnasirpal I (Aššur-nāṣir-apli I, inscribed m''aš-šur-''PAB-A, meaning "the god Assur is the protector of the heir") was the king of Assyria, 1049–1031 BC, and the 92nd to appear on the ''Assyrian Kinglist''. He was the son and successo ...

of the

Middle Assyrian Empire The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I 1363 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC. ...

in the

11th century BC The 11th century BC comprises all years from 1100 BC to 1001 BC. Although many human societies were literate in this period, some of the individuals mentioned below may be apocryphal rather than historically accurate. The world in the 11th c ...

after he fought a vicious campaign against the Mittani Empire. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the Amedi region came under the rule of the

Medes The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...

. When

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

passed through the region in the

4th century BC The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical antiquity, Classical era, Epoch (reference date), epoch, or historical period. This century marked the height of Classi ...

, he referred to its inhabitants as the Medes and identified the sparsely inhabited area as “ruined Median cities“. Later Amedi area was incorporated into the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

under the name of Media Magna. Under the rule of the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...

Amedi region was part of the Barchan (Barzan) district. eventually it became an integral part of

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

in the district of

Adiabene Adiabene ( Greek: Αδιαβηνή, ) was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it ...

until it was conquered by the Muslims in 640s, after they defeated the Kurds in Tikrit, Mosul and Saharzor. Then, for several centuries, after the Abbasid Revolution in the seventh century, it was ruled by an

amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

from the royal

Abbasid dynasty The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids () were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Abbasid Caliphate is divid ...

, reputed to be one of the richest families in the region. Amedi was the birthplace of the

messiah claimant In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach' ...

David Alroy David Alroy or Alrui (, , , fl. 1160), also known as Ibn ar-Ruhi and David El-David, was a Jewish Messiah claimant born in Amadiya, Iraq under the name Menaḥem ben Solomon (). David Alroy studied Torah and Talmud under Hasdai the Exilarch, and A ...

(

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1160). In 1163, according to

Joseph ha-Kohen Joseph ben Joshua ben Meïr ha-Kohen (also HaKohen, Hakohen or Hacohen; 20 December 1496 in Avignon – 1575 or shortly thereafter in Genoa) was a Jewish historian and physician of the 16th century. Life Joseph's paternal family originally ...

's ''Emeq ha-Baka'', the Jewish population numbered about a thousand families and traded in gall-nuts. Alroy led a revolt against the city but was defeated and killed in the process. The Spanish Jewish historian

Solomon ibn Verga Solomon ibn Verga or ''Salomón ben Verga'' (, 14601554) was a Spanish-born Sephardic Jewish historian, physician, and author of the ''Shevet Yehudah'' (Hebrew: – "'' Scepter of Judah''"). He was the nephew of Judah ibn Verga. Schudt (1718) ...

(1450–1525) portrayed the Jewish community of Amedi at the time of Alroy as wealthy and contented. Amedi was the seat of the semi-autonomous

Bahdinan The Bahdinan (or Badinan) was one of the most powerful and enduring Kurdish emirates. It was founded by ''Baha-al-Din'' originally from '' Şemzînan'' area in Hakkari in sometime between 13th or 14th century CE. The capital of this emirate was ...

, which lasted from 1376 to 1843. There are ruins of the Qubahan School in Amedi which was founded during the region of Sultan Hussein Wali of Bahdinan(1534-1576) AD for the study of Islamic Sciences. There are also ruins of a synagogue and a tomb attributed to Ezekiel a church in the small town. One of the icons of the city is the

Great Mosque of Amedi The Great Mosque of Amêdî ( ), also spelled as the Great Mosque of Amadiya, is a mosque in the town of Amedi, Amêdî, Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan, Iraq. It was founded in 1177 Common Era, CE during the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid era, and has ...

, which dates back to the 12th century and the oldest and largest in the region. In 1760, the Dominican

Leopoldo Soldini Leopoldo is a given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese form of the English, German, Dutch, Polish, and Slovene name, Leopold. Notable people with the name include: * Leopoldo de' Medici (1617–1675), Italian cardinal and Governor o ...

founded a mission for Kurdistan in Amedi, with his colleague Maurizio Garzoni. Garzoni lived there for fourteen years and composed a 4,600 word Italian-Kurdish dictionary and grammar. The dictionary is a key work because it represents the first study of the Kurdish grammar and language; for this reason, Garzoni is often called the “father of Kurdology”. In 1907, the population numbered 6,000, of whom 2,500 were

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

, 1,900

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and 1,600

Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

Assyrians. Kurdistan1920

Geography

Climate

Amedi has a hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Csa'') with hot summers and cool, wet winters. Being the most northerly city in Iraq, it is the mildest major city in the country. Snow falls occasionally in the winter.

Gallery

File:Badinanporten.jpg, Citadel of Amedi File:Badinan-Gate-Amedia-Iraq-August-2009.jpg, The Badinan Gate, and the entrance to the Citadel File:Minaret of the main mosque in Amedi 2.jpg,

File:Amadiya gate 1994.jpg, Amedi Gate (1994) File:Amedi city, Dihok.jpg, View of Amedi City, Duhok File:Amedi From Badinan Gate.jpg, Panoramic view from the Badinan Gate File:Views from the Amedi gate, at sunset.jpg, Views from the Amedi gate, at sunset

Notable people

Tahsin Taha Tahsin Muhammed Salim Taha ( Kurdish:تەحسین محەممەد سليم تەھا) (25 May 1941 - 28 May 1995). was a Kurdish singer. Taha was born in Amadiya District in Iraqi Kurdistan. Tahsin Taha finished his school in the city of Amadiya an ...

(1941–1995), singer *

Ali Tatar Dr. Ali Tatar Tawfiq Muhammad Amin, known as Ali Tatar (; born 15 October 1968, Amedi), is an Iraqi Kurdish politician of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (K.D.P). Mr. Tatar is the current governor of Duhok. Early life and education Ali Tatar wa ...

(born 1968), politician

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities in Iraqi Kurdistan Assyrian communities in Iraq Kurdish settlements in Iraq Populated places in Dohuk Province Historic Jewish communities in Iraq District capitals of Iraq Mesas