050. Mosul - Nabis Younis Complex

Ninawa Governorate. Mosul, occupying both banks of the Tigris River, some 396 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Baghdad, has been continuously inhabited for at least 8,000 years by a succession of Assyrians, Persians, Parthians, Abbassids and Ottomans. While the entire city can be considered an archaeological treasure worthy of protection, these monuments stand out in particular:

Nabis Younis Mosque Complex (destroyed 24 July 2014)

Eastern Mosul, on Al-Tawba Mountain, straddling the southern section of the ancient city of Nineveh

Patron/Builder: Timur Lang
Date: Timurid, circa 1393

On 24 July2014, the Nabis Yunnis Mosque complex and minaret were set with expolosive charges and destroyed by ISIS militants.

Situated on one of the two most prominent mounds of the Nineveh ruins, which date from the 8th century BC, rises a mosque (previously a Nestorian-Assyrian church) dedicated to the prophet Younis (the Biblical Jonah), the son of Amittai. In Muslim tradition, the site is believed to be the burial place of Jonah (Jewish and Christian tradition differs on this point. St. Jerome's Commentaries of Jonah, written in 396-397 AD, records the location of Jonah's tomb as being in the village of el-Mashad near Nazareth in present-day northern Israel).

The Nabis Yunis Mosque was built atop the ruins of a Christian church, which in turn was built atop an ancient palace erected by King Esarhaddon, near the walls and gates of Nineveh. Early descriptions of the Jonah shrine at Nabis Yunis suggest it was in the center of the mosque and held a sepulcher covered with a Persian carpet of silk and silver and lit by copper candlesticks at the four corners, with assorted lamps and ostridge shells that hung down from the roof. A whale's tooth, appropriate to Jonah's well-known adventure at sea was allegedly preserved in the sepulcher. But the original tooth is no longer present; a replica was donated to the mosque by U.S. Fifth Army in 2008.

Nabis Younis was one of the most important mosques in Mosul and one of the few historic mosques that are found in the east side of the city. The mosque and minaret were destroyed by ISIS militants on July 24, 2014.

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Brief History of Mosul. Built on the site of an earlier Assyrian fortress, Mosul succeeded Nineveh which was founded by the Assyrians as an outpost or citadel located on the right bank of the Tigris, across from the ancient city of Nineveh (now the town of Ninewa). In circa 850 B.C., King Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria chose the city of Nimrud to build his capital city where present day Mosul is located. In approximately 700 B.C., King Sennacherib made Nineveh the new capital of Assyria. The mound of Kuyunjik in Mosul is the site of the palaces of King Sennacherib and his grandson Ashurbanipal. Probably built on the site of an earlier Assyrian fortress, Mosul later succeeded Nineveh as the Tigris bridgehead of the road that linked Syria and Anatolia with Persia. 

Mosul became a commercial center of the Persian Empire in the 6th century B.C. It became part of the Seleucid Empire after Alexander's conquests in 332 B.C. before being re-taken by the Parthians in 224 B.C. The city changed hands once again with the rise of Sassanid Persia in 225 A.D. before falling to Muslim rule in 637 A.D. during the period of the Muslim Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, Utba bin Farqad Al-Salami was the leader of the Muslims Army that conquered the city. It was promoted to the status of capital of Mesopotamia under the Umayyads in the 8th century A.D., during which it reached a peak of prosperity.

During the Abbassid era Mosul was an important trading center because of its strategic location, astride the trade routes to India, Persia and the Mediterranean. In 1127 it became the centre of power of the Zengid dynasty. Saladin besieged the city unsuccessfully in 1182 but in the 13th century it was conquered and destroyed by the Mongols; although it was later rebuilt under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and remained important, it did not regain its earlier grandeur. It remained under Ottoman control until 1918.

The city is a historic center for Christian Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, who is commemorated in a rare joint Muslim/Christian shrine (originally a Nestorian church, now a mosque).

GoogleEarth Satellite Image of
Nabis Yunnis in Mosul
(external resource)