According to ibn al-Athir, the Arabic name "ʿAmadiyya" 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 the Early Bronze Age until it came under the control of the Mitanni in the 16th century BC, Amedi region was part of Kurda and it was entirely inhabited by Subartu, which did not speak a Semitic language.[6][7] During the rule of the Mittani, the inhabitants of this region were known as Zubarians.[8][9][10][11]
After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the Amedi region came under the rule of the Medes. When Xenophon passed through the region in the 4th century BC, 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 the 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]
Then, for several centuries, after the Abbasid Revolution in the seventh century, it was ruled by an amir from the royal Abbasid dynasty, reputed to be one of the richest families in the region.[16]
Amedi was the birthplace of the messiah claimantDavid Alroy (fl. 1160). In 1163, according to Joseph ha-Kohen'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.[17] The Spanish Jewish historian Solomon ibn Verga (1450–1525) portrayed the Jewish community of Amedi at the time of Alroy as wealthy and contented.[18]
Amedi was the seat of the semi-autonomous Bahdinan, 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.[19][20] 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, which dates back to the 12th century and the oldest and largest in the region.[21]
In 1760, the Dominican Leopoldo Soldini founded a mission for Kurdistan in Amedi, with his colleague Maurizio Garzoni.[22] 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”.[22][23][24] In 1907, the population numbered 6,000, of whom 2,500 were Kurds, 1,900 Jews and 1,600 Chaldean Catholic Assyrians.[25]
Provisions of the Treaty of Sèvres for an independent Kurdistan (in 1920)
Geography
Climate
Amedi has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: 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.
^Mieroop, Marc Van De (2008). King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography. John Wiley & Sons. p. 51. ISBN978-0-470-69534-0. 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.
^Michael C. Astour. (1987). Hisotory of Ebla, in "Eblaitica". Eisenbrauns. p. 98. ISBN9781575060606. 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.
^Samuel Alfred Browne Mercer & Frank Hudson Hallock. The Tell El-Amarna Tablets. (AMS Press, 1983), V.1. p. 341.
^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
^Luckenbill, Daniel David (1989). 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. 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.
Iraq
