South Kurdistan · Bashur · Kurdish principalities
Amedi
A town on a flat-topped mountain, entered through the carved Bab Zebar gate — once the capital of the Kurdish emirate of Bahdinan.
- Period
- Ancient; capital of Bahdinan, 14th–19th century
- Place
- Duhok province
- Region
- South Kurdistan · Bashur
- Age
- Kurdish principalities
Amedi sits on a natural fortress: a plateau about a kilometre long with cliffs on every side, high above the valleys of Bahdinan. People have lived here since antiquity, and for centuries it was the seat of the emirs of Bahdinan, a Kurdish principality.
The western gate, Bab Zebar, still carries carved figures in its stone. The town's old mosque and minaret, and the ruins of the Qubahan school, a famous centre of learning, recall when Amedi was one of the leading cities of Kurdistan.
Chosen and introduced by Aram Mizuri, architect in Erbil