Long lost to time, northern gate of Mosul's Al Nuri Mosque restored to its rightful place

The National

16-05-2025

It's not merely a gate. It's a threshold to a memory restored at last. Beneath the dust and shadow of war, remnants of the lost gate from the 12th-century Al Nuri Mosque in Mosul, Iraq have been lying in storage for nearly half a century. Years after it was bombed by the terrorist group ISIS, new pieces have been unearthed amid reconstruction efforts led by a Unesco project partly funded by the UAE. The gate has eventually risen again, breathing life back into a lost chapter of Mosul's soul. 'The gate was first discovered during the 1980s but the fragments were kept in storage rooms since then,' Abdul Rahman Emad, an archaeologist at Nineveh Antiquities Department, told The National. 'During recent excavations we did at the site, we discovered the two lost pieces, so we decided to retrieve the fragments from storage and to put them together with the new ones to reconstruct the gate,' Mr Emad said. The stone gate, about 2.6 metre high and 2.4 metre wide, dates back to the Atabeg period nearly 850 years ago when the mosque was built by Nureddin Al Zinki, a Seljuk ruler of the Syrian province who famously unified Muslim forces against the Crusaders, Mr Emad added. It has now been reassembled and placed back in its original position in the mosque's wall. Though it no longer serves as a functional doorway, it stands as a powerful symbol – an enduring reminder of Mosul's deep-rooted history. 'Its historical significance compels us to restore it and place it in the exact same location,' he said. 'We want to return the mosque to its former state, with all its original details, because over the years it has undergone changes, developments and modifications,' Mr Emad added. During reconstruction, teams made an exceptional archaeological discovery in 2021. When workers were examining the site to ensure the foundations were safe, they noticed gaps underneath which led them to a room that was largely buried. They discovered four rooms, now thought to have been used for ablutions, and the original prayer hall, dating back to the 12th century, unearthing coins, jars, pottery fragments and carved stone from the Atabeg era. The extent of excavations was limited due to the fragility of the site. However, the older layers discovered have been integrated into the reconstruction design of the mosque, where visitors can see the original stones through a glass ceiling from the prayer hall. Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, was the first in the country to fall into the hands of ISIS during their takeover of 2014-2017. From the pulpit in Al Nuri Mosque, ISIS declared its self-proclaimed "caliphate' in parts of Iraq and Syria in mid-2014. The extremists blew up its famous leaning minaret in June 2017 as they retreated from the last urban stronghold they held for almost three years of a ruinous war. In February, Unesco celebrated the completion of the restoration of the 45-metre minaret, as well as two nearby churches, as part of the $115 million Revive the Spirit of Mosul project. The UAE donated $50.4 million to restore the mosque and its Al Hadba minaret, as well as Our Lady of the Hour Convent, its House of Prayer and Al Tahera Church. Today, more than 90 per cent of Al Nuri complex has been restored and handed over to Sunni Waqf in Nineveh before the official inauguration ceremony, said Sheik Ahmed Rakan Al Ebadi, spokesman for Sunni Waqf. The restored complex radiates grandeur. Its gardens are lush with neatly manicured lawns and flowers, as the minaret, decorated with ornamental brickwork featuring floral and geometric designs, once again dominates the Mosul skyline with a gleaming copper crescent placed on the top. The mihrab, a niche indicating the direction of Makkah, has been largely repaired using its original stones but the minbar, from where sermons are delivered, had to be predominantly rebuilt using new materials. Intricate patterns of geometric and floral designs are etched into the walls and pillars. 'The mosque is an identity for the city of Mosul and it is a source of pride not only for every Mosuli citizen but for every Iraqi citizen,' Sheik Al Ebadi said. The inauguration ceremony date will be determined soon. 'Al Hadba minaret today touches the sky and the mosque has been restored to its former glory – truly an indescribable feeling,' he added.