The Tomb of Jonah
Jonah’s Tomb at Ninevah was built around the 8th century and was believed to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah in both the Christian and Muslim faiths. Over time, it has been proven that that the remains at the site are not the true remains of the prophet, but the site has continued to be an important piece of Iraqi heritage. The tomb is actually built on top of a large site of an ancient Assyrian city, which named Ninevah. There are two mounds of the ancient remains, Kouyunkik and Nabi Yunus. The ruins underneath Nabi Yunus were never excavated because of the desire to preserve the shrine that was built upon the believed tomb of Jonah that sits on the mound.
The tomb for years was a site of pilgrimage and prayer. It once held a skeleton to represent the remains of the whale that swallowed Jonah and then later a whale tooth. When the skeleton and the tooth disappeared, the U.S. government presented the Tomb with a replica sperm whale tooth to keep in the shrine. The shrine was still a place of daily prayer up until July 2014 when ISIS fighters turned away worshipers. The terrorist group had taken control of Mosul the month before and had made threats against the site.
After evacuating the shrine and turning away worshipers, ISIS forces rigged the entire building with explosives and leveled the shrine to the ground while a crowd watched. They also threatened the ruins on the site that still remained of the ancient Assyrian city. It was not until 2014 when Iraqi forces recaptured that area of Mosul that the extent of the damage was truly seen.
The fence surrounding the shrine and the artifacts within were completely destroyed. Under the ruins of the temple was a tunnel. The tunnel led through the ancient ruins of Ninevah and the palace underneath which had been previously untouched and dated back to 600 BC. Most of what could be removed and sold was gone from the site, but many ancient carvings in the walls remain.