Amadiya

Town

Bird's eye view of Amadiya

Amadiya

Show map of Iraqi Kurdistan

Amadiya

Show map of Iraq

Coordinates:  [ ⚑ ] : 37°05′33″N 43°29′14″E﻿ / ﻿37.0925°N 43.48722°E﻿ / 37.0925; 43.48722
Country|  Iraq
Region|  Kurdistan Region
Governorate| Dohuk
District| Amadiya District
Founded| Before 3000 B.C.
Government

• Type| Mayor
Elevation

| 3,900 ft (1,200 m)
Population

• Total| 11,000
Time zone| GMT +3
Postcode|

42008

Amadiya (Kurdish: Amêdî ,ئامێدی,[1][2] Northeastern Neo-Aramaic: Amədya)[3] is a town along the Great Zab in the Duhok Governorate of Kurdistan Region.[4]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 History
* 3 Geography
* 3.1 Climate
* 4 Gallery
* 5 Notable people
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Etymology

According to Ali ibn al-Athir, the name Amadiya is eponymous to Imad al-Din Zengi who built a fortress there in 1142. Another theory is that the name is named after Imad al-Dawla, but this theory is less likely.[4]

According to Professor Jeffrey Szuchman, Amedi is of Hurrian or Urartian origin.[5]

## History

From Early Bronze Age until it came under the control of the Mitanni Empire in the 16th century BCE, Amedi region was part of the kingdom of Kurda and it was entirely inhabited by non Semitic Subarians.[6][7] During the rule of the Mittanian Empire the inhabitants of this region were known as Zubarians.[8][9][10][11]

After the fall of the Mittanian Empire, the city of Amedi was conquered by Ashurnasirpal I of Assyria in 11th century BCE after he fought the Nairi and Barzani people.[12] After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the Amedi region came under the rule of the Medes. When Xenophon passed through the region in 4th century BCE he referred to its inhabitants as Medes.[13] Later Amedi area was incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire under the name of Media Magna. Under the rule of Parthian Empire Amedi region was part of the Barchan (Barzan) district.[14] eventually it became an integral part of Sasanian Empire in the district of Adiabene until it was conquered by the Muslims in 640s, after they defeated the Kurds in Tikrit, Mosul and Saharzor.[15]

Amedi is believed to have been the seat of the Magi, or high priests of Medes, and the city itself is believed to be the home of some of the most significant Magi priests: the Biblical Magi or the "Three Wise Men" who made a pilgrimage to Bethlehem to see Jesus Christ shortly after his birth.[16]

Then, for several centuries, after the expulsion of the caliphs from Baghdad in the 7th century, it was ruled by a pasha from the royal Abbas family, reputed to be one of the richest families in the region.[17]

Amedi was the birthplace of the pseudo-Messiah, David Alroy (fl. 1160). In 1163, according to Joseph ha-Kohen's "'Emeḳ ha-Baka", the Jewish population numbered about a thousand families and traded in gall-nuts. Alroy led a revolt against the city but was apparently defeated and killed in the process.[18] The Spanish Jewish historian R. Schlomo Ibn Verga (1450–1525) portrayed the Jewish community of Amadiya at the time of Alroy as wealthy and contented.[19]

Amedi was the seat of the semi-autonomous Badinan Emirate, 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.[20][21] 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 Amadiya which dates back to the 12th century and the oldest and largest in the region.[22]

In 1760, the Dominican Leopoldo Soldini founded a mission for Kurdistan in Amedi, with his colleague Maurizio Garzoni.[23] 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”.[23][24][25]

In 1907, the population numbered 6,000, of whom 2,500 were Kurds, 1,900 Jews and 1,600 Chaldeans.[26]

## Geography

The town is perched on a mesa or a plateau, formerly only accessible by a narrow stairway cut into the rock. Amadiya has a well-integrated community of Assyrian Christians, Jews and Muslim Kurds who share the city and local social events.[27]

### Climate

Amedi has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) with long, hot summers and cool, wet winters. Being the most northerly city in Iraq, it is the mildest major city in the country.

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## Gallery

* Citadel of Al Amadiya

* The Badinan Gate, and the entrance to the Citadel

* Great Mosque of Amadiya

*   *   *

## Notable people

* Tahsin Taha

## References

1. ↑ "Li sînorê Gare 12 gund ji ber bombebaranên Tirkiyê hatine valakirin" (in ku). Rûdaw. https://www.rudaw.net/kurmanci/kurdistan/1511201811.
2. ↑ "ئامێدی | كوردستانی سەرسوڕهێنەر- وێبسایتی فەرمی دەستەی گشتی گەشت و گوزار". http://bot.gov.krd/kurdish/duhok-province/amedi.
3. ↑ Greenblatt, Jared (2010) (in en). The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Amədya. BRILL. p. 56. ISBN 978-90-04-19230-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=ruB5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA56&dq=Amad?ya+Jewish+neo-aramaic&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPt6qHrJfwAhWbKDQIHaOLC3YQ6AEwAXoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=Amad?ya Jewish neo-aramaic&f=false.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Streck, M. (1965). "ʿAmādiya". Encyclopedia of Islam Second Edition. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_0575.
5. ↑ Szuchman, Jeffrey (2009-11-01). "Bit Zamani and Assyria" (in en). Syria. Archéologie, art et histoire (86): 55–65. doi:10.4000/syria.511. ISSN 0039-7946. http://journals.openedition.org/syria/511.
6. ↑ Mieroop, Marc Van De (2008) (in en). King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 51. ISBN 978-0-470-69534-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=ELMAGvmJ7YIC&q=keep+subartu+under+your+control&pg=PA51. "King of Elam to King of Kurda in 1770s BCE: Keep Subartu under your control and don’t give troops to the prince of Babylon. Send a message to Zimri-Lim of Mari that also he should give none to the prince of Babylon."
7. ↑ Michael C. Astour. (1987). Hisotory of Ebla, in "Eblaitica". Eisenbrauns. pp. 98. ISBN 9781575060606. https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rwals-oh6kC&q=astour++Eblaitica&pg=PA103. "According to the renowned Assyriologists Charpin & Durand: for the Old Babylonian kings, Subartu is neither Assur nor Ekallatum but the agglomeration of the little city-kingdoms."
8. ↑ Samuel Alfred Browne Mercer & Frank Hudson Hallock. The Tell El-Amarna Tablets. (AMS Press, 1983), V.1. pp. 341.
9. ↑ Gadd, C. J. (1940). "Tablets from Chagar Bazar and Tall Brak, 1937-38". Iraq 7: 22–66. doi:10.2307/4241663. ISSN 0021-0889. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4241663.
10. ↑ Mallowan, M. E. L. (1937). "The Excavations at Tall Chagar Bazar and an Archaeological Survey of the Habur Region. Second Campaign, 1936". Iraq 4 (2): 91–177. doi:10.2307/4241610. ISSN 0021-0889. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4241610.
11. ↑ Kazanjian, Garabet, "The Hurrians in the Ancient Near East", Dept. of History and Archaeology, A.U.B, 1969.. ""Zubari undoubtedly means Mitanni, Subartu, or Hurri""
12. ↑ Luckenbill, Daniel David (1989) (in en). Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Volume I: Historical Records Of Assyria From The Earliest Times To Sargon. Histories & Mysteries of Man. pp. 140, 141, 184. https://books.google.com/books?id=KFW0zQEACAAJ&q=Ancient+Records+of+Assyria+and+Babylonia+Volume+1. ""against the Nairi lands I marched. The city of Barzani their property, their goods, their oxen, their sheep (to tells and) ruins I turned. The head(s) of their fighters (I smashed), of the Nairi lands; horses, donkeys.. Barzani I burned with fire, I devastated, I destroyed, to mounds and ruins [I turned it]... From the pass of the mountain of Amadani I went forth unto the city of Barzanishtun. Unto the city of Damdammusa, the stronghold of Hani of Zamani, I drew nigh. I stormed the city; my warriors flew like birds against them. 600 of their fighting men I struck down with the sword, I cut off their heads. 400 men I took alive, 3,000 prisoners I brought out. That city I took for my own possession. The living men and the heads I carried to Amedi, his royal city, I made a pillar of heads in front of his city gate, the living men I impaled on stakes round about his city. I fought a battle within his city gate, I cut down his orchards. From the city of Amedi I departed. I entered the pass of the mountain of Kashiari (and) of the city of Ahabr &, wherein none among the kings, my fathers, had set foot, or had made an expedition thereto.""
13. ↑ Joseph, John (2000) (in en). The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East: A History of Their Encounter with Western Christian Missions, Archaeologists, and Colonial Powers. BRILL. pp. 8. ISBN 978-90-04-11641-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=79wj2hj4wKUC&q=xenophon+nimrud+median+john+joseph&pg=PA8.
14. ↑ Mclachlan, Keith (2016-11-10) (in en). The Boundaries of Modern Iran. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-39936-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=xvp5DQAAQBAJ&q=parthian+empire+barchan&pg=PT83.
15. ↑ Houtsma, M. Th (1993) (in en). E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. BRILL. pp. 1136. ISBN 978-90-04-09790-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&q=The+Kurds+'+first+contact+with+the+Muslim+armies+was+in+637&pg=PA1136.
16. ↑ Bailey, Betty Jane (2003). Who are the Christians in the Middle East?. Wm. B. Eerdmans.
17. ↑ Wright, George Newenham (1834). A New and Comprehensive gazetteer, Volume 1. T. Kelly. https://books.google.com/books?id=CSMDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA141. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
18. ↑ "Jewish Encyclopedia". 1906. http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=A&artid=1348.
19. ↑ Lenowitz, Harris (1906). The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights. ISBN 9780195348941. https://books.google.com/books?id=PLyb3zV8OmgC&pg=PA81. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
20. ↑ "the Ancient Qobahan School | General Directorate of Tourism / Duhok". http://duhoktourism.org/place/ancient-qobahan-school.
21. ↑ Alnumman, Raeed. (2017).. "ROOTING OF QUBAHAN SCHOOL AN ANALYTICAL STUDY TO ARCHITECTURAL ITEMS (SPATIAL CONFIGURATION AND FORMALITY ELEMENT OF INTERIOR FACADES OF QUBAHAN SCHOOL).". The Journal of the University of Duhok. 20. 26-41. 10.26682/Sjuod.2017.20.1.4.. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319200640.
22. ↑ “ذو الكفل” يجمع المسلمين والمسيحيين واليهود في العمادية العراقية. Kitabat. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Filoni, Fernando (2017) (in en). The Church in Iraq. CUA Press. pp. 64. ISBN 978-0-8132-2965-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=Xp8rDwAAQBAJ&q=Italian-Kurdish+dictionary&pg=PA64.
24. ↑ P.G. Bobone, A. Mengozzi and M. Tosco (eds.). Loquentes linguis. Linguistic and Oriental Studies in Honour of Fabrizio A. Pennacchietti. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006. pp. 293.
25. ↑ Bois, Thomas (1966) (in en). The Kurds. Khayats. pp. 79. https://books.google.com/books?id=-FVtAAAAMAAJ&q=Garzoni+is+often+called+the+“father+of+Kurdology”.
26. ↑ "Catholic Encyclopaedia". Appleton. 1907. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01376a.htm.
27. ↑ "Driving in Iraqi Kurdistan - Amedi to Barzan Road Trip". 13 June 2015. http://www.joaoleitao.com/driving/road-trip-northern-iraq. "When I was in the Kurdish town of Amediay."
28. ↑ "Weather averages for Amadiya". World Weather Online. http://www.worldweatheronline.com/v2/weather-averages.aspx?q=Amedi, Iraq.
29. ↑ "Weather averages for Amadiya". Climate-Data. https://en.climate-data.org/location/935084/.

## External links

Amedi travel guide from Wikivoyage

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