Editing Mosul

{{Short description|City in Nineveh, Iraq}}
{{about|the city|the former province|Mosul Vilayet|other uses}}
{{redirect|Moslawi|the dialect|North Mesopotamian Arabic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      =
| native_name        = {{Script/Arabic|الموصل}} <br>
{{Script/Syriac|ܡܘܨܠ}} <br>
{{Script/Arabic|مووسڵ}}
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities in Iraq|Metropolis]]
| image_skyline      = {{Photomontage
| photo1a = مدينة الموصل.jpg
| photo2a = Views around the old city of Mosul in 2019 during the summer, following war with the Islamic State 08.jpg
| photo2b = Views at around the Syriac Orthodox Monastery of Saint Matthew 09.jpg 
| photo3a =  Views around the old city of Mosul in 2019 during the summer, following war with the Islamic State 13.jpg 
| photo3b = اثار الحضر.jpg
| photo5a = Mosul Wall-Nineveh 02.jpg
| photo5b = Mosul Corniche.jpg
| spacing = 2
| size = 260
}}
| imagesize          = 275
| image_caption      = '''Top to bottom, left to right''':{{br}}
View over [[Tigris river]], The Eastern Bank of Tigris River, [[Green Mosque, Mosul|Green Mosque]], [[Mor Mattai Monastery]], Old City of Mosul, [[Hatra]], [[Nineveh|Nineveh Walls]] and Mosul Corniche
| image_flag         =
| image_seal         =
| image_shield       =
| nickname           = Nīnwē ܢܝ݂ܢܘܹܐ <br />
The Pearl of the North
| motto              =
| image_map          =
| map_caption        =
| pushpin_map        = Iraq#West Asia
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_relief     = yes
| pushpin_mapsize    =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Iraq
| coordinates        = {{coord|36.34|N|43.13|E|region:IQ|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Iraq}}
| subdivision_type2  = Governorate
| subdivision_name2  = [[Nineveh Governorate|Nineveh]]
| established_title  =
| established_date   =
| government_type    = [[Mayor–council government]]
| governing_body     = Nineveh Governorate
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Zuhair Al-Araji
| leader_title1      =
| area_footnotes     =
| area_magnitude     =
| area_total_km2     = 180
| area_land_km2      =
| area_water_km2     =
| area_urban_km2     =
| area_metro_km2     =
| area_blank1_title  =
| area_blank1_km2    =
| area_water_percent =
| elevation_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |last=Gladstone |first=Philip |date=10 February 2014 |title=Synop Information for ORBM (40608) in Mosul, Iraq |url=http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/ORBM |access-date=16 June 2014 |website=Weather Quality Reporter}}</ref>
| elevation_m        = 223
| elevation_ft       = 732
| population_total   = 1792000<!--Note: use population_footnotes for refs, use only unformatted numbers here -->
| population_density_sq_mi = auto
| population_as_of   = 2023
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Mosul, Iraq Metro Area Population 1950-2023 |url=https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/21536/mosul/population#:~:text=The%20metro%20area%20population%20of,a%203.32%25%20increase%20from%202017. |website=Macrotrends}}</ref>
| population_demonym = Mosuli<br />Maslawi
| population_note    =
| postal_code_type   =
| postal_code        =
| area_code          = 60
| website            =
| footnotes          =
| unemployment_rate  =
| timezone           = [[Arabia Standard Time|AST]]
| utc_offset         = +3
| timezone_DST       =
| utc_offset_DST     =
| name               = Mosul
| subdivision_type3  = District
| subdivision_name3  = [[Mosul District|Mosul]]
}}
'''Mosul''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|oʊ|s|əl|,_|m|oʊ|ˈ|s|uː|l}} {{respell|MOH|səl|,_|moh|SOOL}}; {{Langx|ar|{{Script/Arabic|الموصل}}|al-Mawṣil}}, {{IPA|ar|alˈmawsˤil|pron|LL-Q13955 (ara)-Zinou2go-الموصل.wav}}, {{IPA|acm|ɪlˈmoːsˤɪl|label=locally}}; {{Langx|ku|{{Script/Arabic|مووسڵ}}|translit=Mûsl}};<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nêçîrvan Barzanî: Serxwebûn Mafê Gelê Kurd E |language=ku |agency=Voice of America |url=https://www.dengeamerika.com/a/3432783.html |access-date=13 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=ئەمساڵ كۆنسۆڵخانەى توركيا لە مووسڵ دووبارە دەكرێتەوە |language=ku |agency=Anadolu Agency |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/ks/سياسەت/ئەمساڵ-كۆنسۆڵخانەى-توركيا-لە-مووسڵ-دووبارە-دەكرێتەوە/1697237 |access-date=13 March 2020}}</ref> {{langx|tr|Musul}}; {{langx|syr|ܡܘܨܠ|Māwṣil}}<ref>Thomas A. Carlson et al., "Mosul – ܡܘܨܠ " in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified 30 June 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/139.</ref>) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of [[Nineveh Governorate]]. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ancient [[Old Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] city of [[Nineveh]]—once the [[List of largest cities throughout history|largest city in the world]]—on its east side.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coker |first=Margaret |date=10 December 2017 |title=After Fall of ISIS, Iraq's Second-Largest City Picks Up the Pieces |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/world/middleeast/iraq-isis-mosul.html |access-date=25 April 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Due to its strategic and central location, the city has traditionally served as one of the hubs of international commerce and travel in the region. It is considered as one of the historically and culturally significant cities of the [[Arab world]]. The North Mesopotamian dialect of Arabic commonly known as [[North Mesopotamian Arabic|''Moslawi'']] is named after Mosul, and is widely spoken in the region. Together, with the [[Nineveh Plains]], Mosul is a historical center of the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]. The surrounding region is ethnically and religiously diverse; a large majority of the city is [[Arabs]], with [[Arabs|Kurds]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Iraqi Turkmen|Turkmens]], [[Shabaks]], and other minorities comprising the population. [[Sunni Islam]] is the largest religion, but there is a sizeable number of [[Christians]] and [[Yazidis]], as well as adherents of other [[Islam|Islamic sects]] such as [[Shi'ites]] and [[Shabaks|Shabakis]] and formerly [[Jews]].<ref name="Dalley">Dalley, Stephanie (1993). "Nineveh After 612 BC." ''Alt-Orientanlische Forshchungen 20''. p.134.</ref> Mosul and its surrounding region is significantly important in biblical history

During the [[invasion of Iraq]], Mosul was captured by [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|United States-led coalition forces]] in [[Battle of Mosul (2003)|April 2003]]. Throughout the [[Iraq War|war]], the city was subjected to attacks, bombings, and a sectarian civil war. After the [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|withdrawal of American troops]] in 2011, an [[Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)|Islamist insurgency]] began, and the [[Islamic State]] started its [[Territory of the Islamic State|territorial expansion]]. Mosul fell to IS in [[Fall of Mosul|2014]], causing around 500,000 people to flee the city. Christians and Yazidis were persecuted, prompting a [[Assyrian exodus from Iraq|mass exodus of Assyrians]]. Much of the [[Destruction of cultural heritage by the Islamic State|city's cultural heritage was destroyed]] by the IS. With the help of an [[War against the Islamic State|international intervention]] and [[US-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)|support]] from the [[United States]], the [[Iraqi Armed Forces]] successfully [[Liberation of Mosul|liberated the city]]. On 9 July 2017, prime minister [[Haider al-Abadi]] officially declared the city's liberation from the IS militants. Currently, the city is reviving its lost legacy, with help of foreign funds for reconstruction.

The [[metropolitan area]] has grown from the old city on the western side to encompass substantial areas on both the "Left Bank" (east side) and the "Right Bank" (west side), as locals call the two respective sides of the Tigris. Historically, essential products of the area included [[marble]] and [[oil]]. The region around Mosul is rich in [[Oil reserves in Iraq|oil reserves]]. Mosul is home to the [[University of Mosul]] and its renowned Medical College, one of the Middle East's largest educational and research centers. The city is also home to [[List of Islamic structures in Mosul|historic mosques]], [[List of churches and monasteries in Nineveh|Christian sites]], [[List of Jewish sites in Iraq|synagogues]] and [[List of Yazidi holy places|Yazidi temples]].

==Etymology==
In its current Arabic form and spelling (الموصل), the term ''Mosul'' (or rather ''Mawsil'') means "linking point", or, loosely, "Junction City". On the city's eastern side are the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, and Assyrians still call the entire city ''Nineveh'' (or ''Ninweh'').<ref name = Dalley/>

An early settlement, possibly on the site of the current city of Mosul, was first mentioned by [[Xenophon]] in his expeditionary logs of [[Achaemenid Assyria]] in 401 BC, during the reign of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]]. There, he notes a small Assyrian town of "Mépsila" ({{langx|grc|Μέψιλα}}) on the Tigris, near where Mosul is today (''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'', III.iv.10). It may be safer to identify Xenophon's ''Mépsila'' with the site of Iski Mosul, or "Old Mosul," about {{convert|30|km|abbr=on}} north of modern Mosul, where six centuries after Xenophon's report, the [[Sasanian Empire]]'s center of [[Budh-Ardhashir]] was built.

Mosul is also nicknamed ''al-Faiha'' ("the Paradise"), ''al-Khaḍrah'' ("the Green"), and ''al-Hadbah'' ("the Humped"). It is sometimes called "The Pearl of the North"<ref name="AtlasTours">{{cite web |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120415094145/http://www.atlastours.net/iraq/mosul.html|url = http://www.atlastours.net/iraq/mosul.html|title =Mosul, Iraq |website = AtlasTours.net |archive-date = 15 April 2012 }}</ref> and "the city of a million soldiers."<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 April 2015 |title=The war against Islamic State (2): Mosul beckons |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21648055-it-will-not-be-easy-retake-iraqs-second-city-mosul-beckons |access-date=22 April 2015}}</ref>

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Ancient era and early Middle Ages===
{{see also|Mesopotamia|Assyria}}
[[File:Saint Elijah's Monastery 1.JPG|300px|thumb|[[Dair Mar Elia]] south of Mosul, Iraq's oldest monastery of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], dating from the 6th century. It was destroyed by [[Islamic State|IS]] in 2014|left]]
The area where Mosul lies was an integral part of [[Assyria]] from as early as the 25th century BC. After the [[Akkadian Empire]] (2335–2154 BC), which united all the peoples of [[Mesopotamia]] under one rule, Mosul again became a continuous part of Assyria proper from circa 2050 BC through the fall of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] between 612 and 599 BC. Mosul remained within the [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] province of Assyria for another 13 centuries (as a part of [[Achaemenid Assyria]], [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]], [[Assyria (Roman province)|Roman Assyria]] and Sasanian [[Asōristān]]) until the [[early Muslim conquests]] of the mid-7th century. After the Muslim conquests, the region saw a gradual influx of Muslim Arab, Kurdish, and Turkic peoples, although indigenous Assyrians continued to use the name ''Athura'' for the ecclesiastical province.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Nineveh was one of the oldest and most significant cities in antiquity and was settled as early as 6000 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nineveh |date=9 July 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nineveh-ancient-city-Iraq |first=Max|last= Mallowan|website = Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> The city is mentioned in the [[Old Assyrian Empire]] (2025–1750 BC) and during the reign of [[Shamshi-Adad I]] (1809–1776 BC) it was listed as a center of worship of the goddess [[Ishtar]], remaining so during the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]] (1365–1056 BC). During the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–605 BC), Nineveh grew in size and importance, particularly from the reigns of [[Tukulti-Ninurta II]] and [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (883–859 BC) onward; he chose the city of Kalhu (the Biblical ''Calah'', modern [[Nimrud]]) as his capital in place of the ancient traditional capital of [[Assur|Aššur]] ([[Assur|Ashur]]), {{convert|30|km|abbr=on}} from present-day Mosul.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Thereafter, successive Assyrian emperor-monarchs, such as [[Shalmaneser III]], [[Adad-nirari III]], [[Tiglath-Pileser III]], [[Shalmaneser V]] and [[Sargon II]], continued to expand the city. Around 700 BC, King [[Sennacherib]] made [[Nineveh]] Assyria's new capital. Immense building work was undertaken, and Nineveh eclipsed [[Babylon]], Kalhu and Aššur in size and importance, making it the largest city in the world. Many scholars believe the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] were at Nineveh.<ref>Dalley, Stephanie, (2013) The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon: an elusive World Wonder traced, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-966226-5}}</ref>

The mound of Kuyunjik in Mosul is the site of the palaces of King [[Sennacherib]] and his successors [[Esarhaddon]], [[Ashurbanipal]], (who established the [[Library of Ashurbanipal]]), [[Ashur-etil-ilani]], [[Sin-shumu-lishir]] and [[Sin-shar-ishkun]]. The Assyrian Empire began to unravel in 626 BC, being consumed by a decade of brutal internal civil wars, significantly weakening it. A war-ravaged Assyria was attacked in 616 BC by a vast coalition of its former subjects, most notably their [[Babylonia]]n relations from southern Mesopotamia, together with the [[Medes]], [[Persians]], [[Chaldea]]ns, [[Scythians]], [[Cimmerians]], and [[Sagartians]]. Nineveh fell after [[Battle of Nineveh (612 BC)|a siege and bitter house-to-house fighting]] in 612 BC during the reign of [[Sin-shar-ishkun]], who was killed defending his capital. His successor, [[Ashur-uballit II]], fought his way out of Nineveh and formed a new Assyrian capital at [[Harran]] (now in southeastern Turkey).{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Mosul (then the Assyrian town of Mepsila, founded by the former inhabitants out of the ruins of their former capital) later succeeded Nineveh as the Tigris bridgehead of the road that linked Assyria and [[Anatolia]] with the short-lived [[Medes|Median Empire]] and succeeding [[Achaemenid Empire]] (546–332 BC), where it was a part of the geopolitical province of [[Athura]] (Assyria), where the region, and Assyria in general, saw a significant economic revival.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Mosul became part of the [[Seleucid Empire]] after [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s conquests in 332 BC. While little is known of the city from the Hellenistic period, Mosul likely belonged to the Seleucid satrapy of ''Syria'', the Greek term for ''Assyria'' ("Syria" originally meaning Assyria rather than the modern nation of [[Syria]]), which the [[Parthian Empire]] conquered circa 150 BC.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Mosul changed hands again with the rise of the Sasanian Empire in 225 and became a part of the Sasanian province of [[Asōristān]]. Christianity was present among the indigenous [[Assyrian people]] in Mosul as early as the 1st century, although the [[ancient Mesopotamian religion]] remained strong until the 4th century. It became an episcopal seat of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] in the 6th century.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 637 (other sources say 641), during the period of the Caliph [[Umar]], Mosul was annexed to the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] by [[Utba ibn Farqad al-Sulami]] during the early Arab Muslim invasions and conquests, after which Assyria dissolved as a geopolitical entity.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

===9th century to 1535===
[[File:Siège de Mossoul (1261-1262).jpeg|thumb|upright=1.1|A [[Persian miniature]] depicting the siege of Mosul in 1261–63 from: {{Citation |last=Hamadani |first=Rashid-al-Din |title=[[Jami' al-tawarikh]] |author-mask=Rashid-al-Din Hamadani |publisher=Bibliothèque Nationale de France}}]]

In the late 9th century the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] dynasts [[Ishaq ibn Kundaj]] and his son [[Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Kundaj|Muhammad]] seized control over Mosul, but in 893 Mosul came once again under the direct control of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]]. In the early 10th century Mosul came under the control of the native Arab [[Hamdanid dynasty]]. From Mosul, the Hamdanids under Abdallah ibn Hamdan and his son [[Nasir al-Dawla]] expanded their control over [[Upper Mesopotamia]] for several decades, first as governors of the Abbassids and later as ''de facto'' independent rulers. A century later they were supplanted by the [[Uqaylid dynasty]].<ref name = bosworth>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Edmund |title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=9789047423836 |pages=414}}</ref>

Mosul was conquered by the [[Seljuk Empire]] in the 11th century. After a period under semi-independent [[atabeg]] such as [[Mawdud]], in 1127 it became the centre of power of the [[Zengid dynasty]]. [[Saladin]] besieged the city of Mosul unsuccessfully in 1182 After his conquest of [[Aleppo]] in 1183, ending Zengid rule in Syria, Saladin made a last offensive against Mosul in late 1185, hoping for an easy victory over the presumably demoralized Zengid Emir of Mosul [[Izz al-Din Mas'ud|Mas'ud]], but failed due to the city's unexpectedly stiff resistance and a serious illness which caused Saladin to withdraw to [[Harran]]. Upon Abbasid encouragement, Saladin and Mas'ud negotiated a treaty in March 1186 that left the Zengids in control of Mosul, but under the obligation to supply the Ayyubids with military support when requested.<ref name="BosworthDonzelHeinrichsPellat781">{{harvnb|Humphreys|1991|p=781}}</ref> The city remained in control of the Zengids, until [[Badr al-Din Lu'lu']] took over from 1234 to 1259.

During the final stages of the [[Mongol invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia]], in 1258, while about 80 years old, Badr al-Din Lu'lu' went in person to [[Maragheh|Meraga]] to offer his submission to the Mongol invader [[Hulagu]].<ref name="EB122">{{cite book |last1=Bretschneider |first1=E. |title=Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century: Volume II |date=5 November 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-38056-3 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQT_AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |language=en}}</ref> Badr al-Din helped the Khan in his following campaigns in Syria. Mosul was spared destruction, but Badr al-Din died shortly thereafter in 1259.<ref name="EB122"/> Badr al-Din's son continued in his father's steps, but after the Mongol defeat in the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] (1260) against the [[Mamluk]]s, he sided with the latter and revolted against the Mongols. Hulagu then besieged the city of Mosul for nine month, and destroyed it in 1262.<ref name="EB122"/><ref>Kreyenbroek and Rashow, p. 4</ref><ref>Bloom and Blair (eds.), pp. 249, 499</ref>

Later Mosul regained some importance but never recovered its original splendor. Mosul was thenceforth ruled by the Mongol [[Ilkhanate]] and [[Jalairid Sultanate]] and escaped [[Timur]]'s destructions. In 1165, [[Benjamin of Tudela]] passed through Mosul. He wrote about a [[Jewish]] community of about 7,000 people led by Rabbi Zakkai, presumed to be a scion of the [[Davidic line]]. In 1288–89, when the [[Exilarch]] was in Mosul, he signed a supporting paper for [[Maimonides]].<ref name="jews_of_musul_1981">עזרא לניאדו, יהודי מוצל, מגלות שומרון עד מבצע עזרא ונחמיה, המכון לחקר יהדות מוצל, טירת-כרמל: ה'תשמ"א.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Herbert A. |title=Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-19-517321-X |location=New York |page=560}}</ref> In the early 16th century, Mosul was under the Turkmen federation of the [[Ağ Qoyunlu]], but in 1508 it was conquered by the [[Safavid dynasty]] of Iran.

=== Metalworking hub ===
{{Undue weight|section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:The Blacas ewer from Mosul.png|thumb|left|The [[Blacas ewer]], made by Shuja' ibn Man'a in Mosul in 1232, is one of the most famous brass pieces from Mosul|252x252px]]
In the 13th century, Mosul had a flourishing industry making luxury brass items that were ornately [[inlay|inlaid]] with silver.<ref name="Rice 1957">{{cite journal |last1=Rice |first1=D.S. |title=Inlaid Brasses from the Workshop of Aḥmad al-Dhakī al-Mawṣilī |journal=Ars Orientalis |date=1957 |volume=2 |pages=283–326 |jstor=4629040 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629040 |access-date=17 November 2022}}</ref>{{rp|283–6}} Many of these items survive today; in fact, of all medieval Islamic artifacts, Mosul brasswork has the most [[epigraphy|epigraphic]] inscriptions.<ref name="Raby 2012">{{cite book |last1=Raby |first1=Julian |editor1-last=Porter |editor1-first=Venetia |editor2-last=Rosser-Owen |editor2-first=Mariam |title=Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World |date=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85773-343-6 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/19550/fsg_Julian%20Raby_%202012%20Mosul_watermarked.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=18 November 2022 |chapter=The Principle of Parsimony and the Problem of the 'Mosul School of Metalwork' |pages=11–85}}</ref>{{rp|12}} However, the only reference to this industry in contemporary sources is the account of [[Ibn Sa'id]], an Andalusian geographer who traveled through the region around 1250.<ref name="Rice 1957"/>{{rp|283–4}} He wrote that "there are many crafts in the city, especially inlaid brass vessels which are exported (and presented) to rulers".<ref name="Rice 1957"/>{{rp|284}} These were expensive items that only the wealthiest could afford, and it wasn't until the early 1200s that Mosul had the demand for large-scale production of them.<ref name="Rice 1957"/>{{rp|285}} Mosul was then a wealthy, prosperous capital city, first for the Zengids and then for Badr al-Din Lu'lu'.<ref name="Rice 1957"/>{{rp|285}}

The origins of Mosul's inlaid brasswork industry are uncertain.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|52}} The city had an iron industry in the late 10th century, when [[al-Muqaddasi]] recorded that it exported iron and iron goods like buckets, knives and chains.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|52}} However, no surviving metal objects from Mosul are known before the early 13th century.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|52}} Inlaid metalworking in the Islamic world was first developed in [[Khurasan]] in the 12th century by silversmiths facing a shortage of silver.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|52–3}} By the mid-12th century, [[Herat]] in particular had gained a reputation for its high-quality inlaid metalwork.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|53}} The practice of inlaying "required relatively few tools" and the technique spread westward, perhaps by Khurasani artisans moving to other cities.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|53}}

By the turn of the 13th century, the silver-inlaid-brass technique had reached Mosul.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|53}} A pair of engraved brass ''[[flabella]]'' found in Egypt and possibly made in Mosul are dated by a Syriac inscription to the year 1202, which would make them the earliest known Mosul brasses with a definite date (although they are not inlaid with anything).<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|49–50}} One extant item may be even older: an inlaid ewer by the master craftsman [[Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya]] is of an unknown date, but D.S. Rice estimated that it was made around 1200.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|53}} Production of inlaid brasswork in Mosul may have already begun before the turn of the century.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|53–4}}

The body of Mosul metalwork significantly expands in the 1220s – several signed and dated items are known from this decade, which according to Julian Raby "probably reflects the craft's growing status and production."<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|54}} In the two decades from roughly 1220 to 1240, the Mosul brass industry saw "rapid innovations in technique, decoration, and composition".<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|54}} Artisans were inspired by miniature paintings produced in the Mosul area.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|54}} Mosul seems to have become predominant among Muslim centers of metalwork in the early 13th century.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|53}} Evidence is partial and indirect – relatively few objects which directly state where they were made exist, and in the rest of cases it depends on ''[[nisba (onomastics)|nisbah]]''s.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|53}} However, al-Mawsili is by far the most common ''nisbah''; only two others are attested: al-Is'irdi (referring to someone from [[Siirt]]) and al-Baghdadi.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|53}} There are, however, some scientific instruments inlaid with silver that were made in Syria during this period, with the earliest being 1222/3 (619 AH).<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|53}} Instability after the death of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' in 1259, and especially the Mongol siege and capture of Mosul in July 1262, probably caused a decline in Mosul's metalworking industry.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|54}} There is a relative lack of known metalwork from the Jazira in the late 1200s; meanwhile, an abundance of metalwork from [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] Syria and Egypt is attested from this same period.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|54}} This doesn't necessarily mean that production in Mosul ended, though, and some extant objects from this period may have been made in Mosul.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|54–5}}

[[File:Ewer from Mosul, 1246-1247 CE.jpg|thumb|Ewer from Mosul, 1246–1247 CE<ref>{{cite web |title=Ewer The Walters Art Museum |url=https://art.thewalters.org/detail/22888/ewer-4/ |website=Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs – MetPublications – The Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=2016 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=Page 138, item 68 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Court_and_Cosmos |language=en}}</ref>|249x249px]]
[[File:Homberg ewer. Inlaid Brass with Christian Iconography. probably Mosul, dated 1242–43.jpg|thumb|Homberg ewer. Inlaid Brass with Christian Iconography. probably Mosul, dated 1242–43<ref>{{cite book|title=Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs – MetPublications – The Metropolitan Museum of Art|date=2016|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|page=265|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Court_and_Cosmos|language=en}}</ref>|left|296x296px]]
The earliest definite evidence of Mawsili craftsmen emigrating westward to Mamluk Syria and Egypt dates from the 1250s.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|23, 54}} Extant Mawsili works from these regions seem to be the result of one particular family setting up workshops in [[Damascus]] and then [[Cairo]] rather than a mass movement of Mosul artisans to those cities.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|37}} Five Mawsili craftsmen are known from these two cities in the late 13th century, of which 3 or 4 are members of this same family.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|37}} The first is [[Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mawsili]], who produced the earliest known silver-inlaid work from Damascus in the late 1250s.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|39}} His presumed son, [[Ali ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mawsili]], was active in Cairo several decades later.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|37–9}} However, the earliest known silver-inlaid brasswork from Cairo belongs to another presumed member of this family, Muhammad ibn Hasan.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|37–9}} His one known work, a candlestick dated to 1269, has an inscription which suggests he died before it was completed.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|39}} The "key figure" for early Mamluk metalwork in Cairo, however, was Ali ibn Husayn.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|39}} His works from the 1280s both show Mosul influence as well as a different "early Mamluk" style.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|39}}

A final member was Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Husayn, a grandson of Husayn ibn Muhammad, who was active at the turn of the 14th century and made "a major work" for the [[Rasulid dynasty|Rasulid]] sultan [[al-Mu'ayyad Hizabr al-Din Dawud ibn Yusuf]].<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|42–4}} This family appears to have initiated "two of the most characteristic features of 14th-century Mamluk metalwork: large-scale inspirational candlesticks, and large multi-lobed medallions with a wide border that eventually became filled with flying ducks".<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|42}} Mosul metalwork eventually influenced a tradition of metal inlay in [[Fars province|Fars]] and elsewhere in western Iran in the 14th century.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|55}} The Ilkhanids rounding up artisans and gathering them in their capital of [[Tabriz]] for centralized royal production may have played a role in this transmission.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|55}} Only two items are definitively known to have been produced in Mosul.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|23}} The first is the [[Blacas ewer]], made by Shuja' ibn Man'a in 1232, and the second is a silver-inlaid pen box made by Ali ibn Yahya in 1255/6 (653 AH).<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|12, 23}} No other works by either craftsman are known.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|23}} They form part of the broader Mosul work which consists of 35 known surviving brasses made by artisans with the ''nisbah'' al-Mawsili, by some 27 different makers.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|22}} 80% of them are from the years 1220 to 1275, and the remaining 20% are from 1275 to about 1325.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|23}}

Modern western scholarship has termed this body of metalwork attributed to Mosul the "[[Mosul School]]", although the validity of this grouping is disputed.<ref name="Rice 1957"/>{{rp|283}} The "indiscriminate" attribution of silver-inlaid brasses to Mosul,<ref name="Rice 1957"/>{{rp|283}} particularly by [[Gaston Migeon]] at the turn of the 20th century, led to a reaction against the term.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|13}} Later scholars such as [[Max van Berchem]], [[Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu]], and D.S. Rice all took a more skeptical view; van Berchem in particular argued that only six known items could be definitely attributed to Mosul, and others were likely made elsewhere.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|13–5}} [[Souren Melikian|Souren Melikian-Chirvani]] remarked in 1973 that Mosul had been famous in the west for a century for metalwork it did not make.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|11}} However, Julian Raby has defended the concept of the Mosul School, arguing that the city did have a distinct metalworking tradition with its own techniques, styles and motifs, and sense of community.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|11–2}} He compared Mosul's metalwork to [[Kashan]]'s pottery and wrote that "Mawsili metalworkers displayed a conscious sense of community and tradition and, at least in the early years, a proud acknowledgement of tradition" and that the city's metalwork gained a wide reputation or "[[brand]] value" lasting for over a century.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|57}}

Part of Raby's argument was that many items shared one or two recurring symbols that "served no practical purpose" and may have been meant as a "brand", "workshop mark", a "[[guild]] emblem", or "perhaps as a mark of master craftsmanship".<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|12, 31, 33, 56}} The first one is an octagon filled with complex geometric patterns, which appears on at least 13 items over the course of three decades: the 1220s through the 1240s.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|30–2}} Several of the most important Mosul artists from what Raby terms the "second generation of Mosul metalwork" all used this symbol: [[Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili|Ahmad al-Dhaki]], Ibn Jaldak, Shuja' ibn Man'a, Dawud ibn Salama, and Yunus ibn Yusuf.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|32}} A notable absence is Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya, a member of the first generation.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|32}} The octagon disappears after about 1250, and is also not used by workers known to have been outside Mosul.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|32}}

Another recurring symbol is a rosette with either 10 or 12 leaves found at the bottom of the item – either the base of a [[ewer]] or the bottom of the shaft of a candlestick.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|33}} This is not normally visible, and perhaps because it served no practical purpose, it was eventually abandoned around the middle of the century.<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|33}} The last example of this rosette is the bottom of a candlestick made by Dawud ibn Salama in 1248/9 (646 AH).<ref name="Raby 2012"/>{{rp|33}} Raby suggested that Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya "may have been a seminal figure" in the Mosul brasswork industry.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|33}} The particular phrasing of the "benedictory inscriptions" on his objects, bestowing good luck on their owners, is repeated in several works by other Mosul craftsmen.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|33}} Two assistants of Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya's are known: his ''tilmidh'' (apprentice) Isma'il ibn Ward, and his ''ghulam'' Qasim ibn Ali.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|24}} Ahmad al-Dhaki's workshop was possibly also "intimately connected to others in Mosul".<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|35}}

The Mosul metalwork is the only example in the Muslim world where metalworkers recorded their relationships between masters and apprentices (''tilmidh'') and hirelings (''ajir'').<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|56}} This was apparently a point of pride for Mosul artisans.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|56}} Julian Raby speculated that two elaborate but impractically tiny Mosuli objects, a tiny 6x4&nbsp;cm box made by Isma'il ibn Ward and an anonymous 8-cm-tall bucket, were made as "credential work" by apprentice or journeyman metalworkers as part of a test to be accepted into a craftsman's guild.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|56–7}} According to Raby, the Mosul metalwork may have been part of the gifts that Badr al-Din Lu'lu' gave to other rulers to appease them as part of his ''[[realpolitik]]'' diplomacy.<ref name="Raby 2012" />{{rp|29}} Another notable item tentatively attributed to Mosul metalworkers is the [[Courtauld bag]], which is believed to be the world's oldest surviving [[handbag]].<!-- Brown 2014 --> It was likely made for a noblewomen of the [[Ilkhanate]] during the early 1300s.<!-- Brown 2014 --><ref name="Brown 2014">{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Mark |title=A handbag? Courtauld Gallery opens up identity of 700-year-old treasure |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/feb/19/handbag-courtauld-gallery-identity-treasure-fashion |access-date=8 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=19 February 2014}}</ref>

===Ottoman period===
[[File:Conquest of Mosul by Mustafa Pasha in 1631, a Turkish soldier in the foreground holding a severed head.jpg|alt=|thumb|Conquest of Mosul (Nineveh) by Mustafa Pasha in 1631, a Turkish soldier in the foreground holding a severed head. L., C. (Stecher) 1631 -1650]]
What started as irregular attacks in 1517 were finalized in 1538, when [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Sultan]] [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55)|added Mosul]] to his empire by capturing it from his archival, [[Safavid Persia]].{{sfn|Rothman|2015|page=236}} Thenceforth Mosul was governed by a [[pasha]]. Mosul was celebrated for its line of walls, comprising seven gates with large towers, a renowned hospital (''maristan'') and a covered market (''qaysariyya''), and its fabrics and flourishing trades.

[[Mesopotamia]] had been acquired by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1555 by the [[Peace of Amasya]], but until the [[Treaty of Zuhab]] in 1639 Ottoman control over Mesopotamia was not decisive.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Stanford J. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofottoman00stan/page/199 |title=History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280–1808 |last2=Shaw |first2=Ezel Kural |date=1976 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29163-7 |location=Cambridge |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofottoman00stan/page/199 199]}}</ref> After the Peace of Amasya, the Safavids recaptured most of Mesopotamia one more time during the reign of king [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] (r. 1588–1629). Among the newly appointed Safavid governors of Mesopotamia during those years was [[Qasem Sultan Afshar]], who was appointed governor of Mosul in 1622.{{sfn|Nasiri|Floor|2008|page=248}}{{sfn|Oberling|1984|pages=582–586}} Before 1638, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] considered Mosul "still a mere fortress, important for its strategic position as an offensive platform for Ottoman campaigns into Iraq, as well as a defensive stronghold and staging post guarding the approaches to [[Anatolia]] and to the Syrian coast. Then, with the Ottoman reconquest of Baghdad (1638), the [[Liwa (Arabic)|liwa]] of Mosul became an independent [[Wilayah|wilaya]]."<ref name="Kemp1983">{{Cite journal |last=Kemp |first=Percy |year=1983 |title=Power and Knowledge in Jalili Mosul |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=201–12 |doi=10.1080/00263208308700543}}</ref>{{rp|202}}[[File:Niebuhr1778bd2 Mosul.jpg|thumb|Map of Mosul in 1778, by [[Carsten Niebuhr]]|left|241x241px]]Despite being a part of the Ottoman Empire, during the four centuries of Ottoman rule Mosul was considered "the most independent district" within the Middle East, following the Roman model of indirect rule through local notables.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Al-Tikriti |first=Nabil |year=2007 |title=Ottoman Iraq |journal=Journal of the Historical Society |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=201–11 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5923.2007.00214.x}}</ref>{{rp|203–204}} "Mosuli culture developed less along Ottoman–Turkish lines than along Iraqi–Arab lines; and Turkish, the official language of the State, was certainly not the dominant language in the province."<ref name="Kemp1983" />{{rp|203}}

In line with its status as a politically stable trade route between the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] and the [[Persian Gulf]], Mosul developed considerably during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Like the development of the [[Mamluk]] dynasty in Baghdad, during this time "the [[Al-Jalili family|Jalili family]] was establishing itself as the undisputed master of Mosul" and "helping to connect Mosul with a pre-Ottoman, pre-[[Aq Qoyunlu|Turcoman]], pre-[[Mongol Empire|Mongol]], Arab cultural heritage that was to put the town on its way to recapturing some of the prestige and prominence it had enjoyed under the golden reign of [[Badr al-Din Lu'lu'|Badr ad-Din Lu'lu']]."<ref name="Kemp1983" />{{rp|203}} Along with the [[al-Omari|al-Umari]] and Tasin al-Mufti families, the Jalilis formed an "urban-based small and medium gentry and a new landed elite", which proceeded to displace the control of previous rural tribes.<ref>{{Citation |last=Khoury |first=Dina Rizk |title=State and Provincial Society in the Ottoman Empire. Mosul, 1540–1834 |page=19 |year=1997 |series=Studies in Islamic Civilization |publisher=Cambridge}}</ref> Such families establish themselves through private enterprise, solidifying their influence and assets through rents on land and taxes on manufacturing.

As well as by elected officials, Mosul's social architecture was highly influenced by the [[Dominican Order|Dominican fathers]] who arrived in Mosul in 1750, sent by [[Pope Benedict XIV]] (Mosul had a large Christian population, predominantly indigenous [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]).<ref name="Woods 2006">{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=Richard |year=2006 |title=Iraq Perspectives: Catholics and Dominicans in Iraq |url=http://www.domlife.org/Justice/Iraq/PerspectivesJanuary06.htm |access-date=13 September 2009 |publisher=Dominican Life}}</ref> In 1873 they were followed by the Dominican nuns, who established schools, health clinics, a printing press, an orphanage, and workshops to teach girls sewing and embroidery.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rasam |first=Suha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYC93sfHXAEC&pg=PA138 |title=Christianity in Iraq: Its Origins and Development to the Present Day |publisher=Gracewing |year=2005 |isbn=9780852446331 |access-date=13 September 2009}}</ref> A congregation of Dominican sisters founded in the 19th century still had its motherhouse in Mosul in the early 21st century. Over 120 Assyrian Iraqi Sisters belonged to this congregation.<ref name="Woods 2006" />

In the 19th century the Ottoman government started to reclaim central control over its outlying provinces. Their aim was to "restore Ottoman law, and rejuvenate the military" and to revive "a secure tax base for the government".<ref name="Shields2000">{{Cite book |last=Shields |first=Sarah D. |title=Mosul Before Iraq: Like Bees Making Five-Sided Cells |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-7914-4487-2 |location=Albanay}}</ref>{{rp|24–26}} In order to reestablish rule, in 1834 the sultan abolished public elections for governor, and began "neutraliz[ing] local families such as the [[Al-Jalili family|Jalilis]] and their class"<ref name="Shields2000" />{{rp|28–29}} and appointing new, non-Maslawi governors directly. In line with its reintegration within central government rule, Mosul was required to conform to new Ottoman reform legislation, including the standardization of [[tariff]] rates, the consolidation of internal taxes and the integration of the administrative apparatus with the central government.<ref name="Shields2000" />{{rp|26}}

This process started in 1834 with the appointment of [[Bayraktar (surname)|Bayraktar]] Mehmed Pasha, who was to rule Mosul for the next four years. After his reign, the Ottoman government (wishing still to restrain the influence of powerful local families) appointed a series of governors in rapid succession, ruling "for only a brief period before being sent somewhere else to govern, making it impossible for any of them to achieve a substantial local power base."<ref name="Shields2000" />{{rp|29}} Mosul's importance as a trading center declined after the opening of the [[Suez Canal]], which enabled goods to travel to and from India by sea rather than by land through Mosul. Mosul was the capital of [[Mosul Vilayet]], one of the three [[vilayet]]s ([[province]]s) of [[Ottoman Iraq]], with a brief break in 1623, when [[Persia]] seized the city.

===1918 to 1990s===
At the end of World War I in October 1918, after the [[Armistice of Mudros]], British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and surrounding area became part of the British-occupied Iraq (1918–1920) and then [[Mandatory Iraq]] (1920–1932). This mandate [[Mosul Question|was contested]] by Turkey, which continued to claim the area on the grounds that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice. In the [[Treaty of Lausanne]], the dispute over Mosul was left for future resolution by the [[League of Nations]]. In 1926, Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the [[League of Nations#Mosul|League of Nations]]' brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain. Former Ottoman [[Mosul Vilayet]] became the [[Nineveh Governorate]] of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital.

Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, many Ottoman buildings were demolished—first under the British Mandate and later under King Faisal.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Intern |first=MERIP |date=13 October 2018 |title="Mosul Will Never Be the Same" |url=https://merip.org/2018/10/mosul-will-never-be-the-same/ |access-date=13 March 2025 |website=MERIP |language=en-US}}</ref> This destruction became a pattern. Every new government tried to hide or demolish what was left by the former government.<ref name=":6"/> After 1958, the new republican government of [[Abdul-Karim Qasim]] destroyed symbols of British and Hashemite royals in Mosul.<ref name=":6"/> When the Baath Party came to power in 1968, they wanted to demolish symbols of the royal and republican regimes.<ref name=":6"/> Mosul was also site of uprisings by Arab nationalists against Qasim in 1959 by Colonel [[Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi]], which was violently suppressed and al-Saadi was executed.

Until the 1950s the Mosul plain was an important center for Chaldaean community. Like the Assyrians, many moved southwards after the 1933 massacre in [[Simele]], which resulted death of approximately 6,000 Assyrians. In 1932 70% of the Christians lived in and around Mosul, by 1957 only 47% remained there. In 1972, the recognized cultural rights for Iraqi Christians and Assyrians. Mosul was home to a large Ba'ath Party headquarters and was an important military center. By some estimates, under Saddam Hussein, Mosul and the surrounding areas contributed over 300,000 residents to the military, security and intelligence services. Some of the high-profile leaders such as [[Tariq Aziz]], an ethnic Assyrian and [[Taha Yassin Ramadan]], a Kurdish Shi'a were from Mosul.

Mosul's fortunes revived with the discovery of [[Petroleum|oil]] in the area, from the late 1920s onward.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=28 January 1935 |title=IRAK: Oil From Mosul |url=https://time.com/archive/6895580/irak-oil-from-mosul/ |access-date=13 March 2025 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> It became a nexus for the movement of oil via truck and pipeline to Turkey and Syria.<ref name=":3" /> Qyuarrah Refinery was built within about an hour's drive from the city and was used to process tar for road-building projects.<ref name=":3" /> The opening of the [[University of Mosul]] in 1967 enabled the education of many in the city and surrounding area.<ref name=":3" /> The Ba'athist government nationalized oil in 1972 and used oil revenues for the city's infrastructure development and diversification of economy.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=18 October 2016 |title=Mosul: Iraq's beleaguered second city |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37676731 |access-date=13 March 2025 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Mosul benefited considerably from the development of oilfields in the region.<ref name=":4" /> It also became a hub for cement, textile and sugar industries.<ref name=":4" /> However, the city's infrastructure was damaged but not destroyed during the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref name=":4" />

After the [[1991 Iraqi uprisings|1991 uprisings]], Mosul was included in the northern [[Iraqi no-fly zones|no-fly zone]] imposed and patrolled by the United States and the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2003.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Tharoor |first=Ishaan |last2=Karklis |first2=Laris |date=21 October 2016 |title=Analysis {{!}} The history of Mosul, in five maps |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/10/21/the-history-of-mosul-in-five-maps/ |access-date=13 March 2025 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Although this prevented [[Saddam]]'s forces from mounting large-scale military operations again in the region, it did not stop his regime from implementing a steady policy of "[[Arabisation]]" by which the demography of some areas of Nineveh Governorate were gradually changed.<ref name=":5" /> Despite this program, Mosul and its surrounding towns and villages remained home to a mixture of [[Arabs]], [[Kurds]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Armenians]], [[Turkmens]], [[Shabaks]], a few [[Jews]], and isolated populations of [[Yazidi]]s, [[Mandaeans|Mandean]]s, [[Kawliya]] and [[Circassians]].<ref name=":5" /> Saddam was able to garrison portions of the 5th Army within Mosul, had [[Mosul International Airport]] under military control, and recruited heavily from Mosul for his military's officer corps.<ref name=":5" /> This may have been because most of the Iraqi Army officers and generals were from Mosul long before the Saddam regime.<ref name=":5" />

In the 1990s, under Saddam Hussein's government, the Faith Campaign was initiated to strengthen the regime's power by aligning with Salafi Islam under [[Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri]].<ref name=":6"/> This campaign aimed to foster support for the regime through a more visible embrace of conservative Islamic ideologies.<ref name=":6" /> Northwest Mosul became a significant base for Salafism during this period, and other regions south of Mosul also saw rapid growth of Salafi, Wahhabi, and extremist ideologies, creating an environment conducive to their spread.<ref name=":6" /> Saddam's government empowered tribal sheikhs from these areas, granting them significant influence in Mosul's urban population.<ref name=":6" /> These sheikhs, with their newfound authority, helped in introduce and promote extremist views within the city.<ref name=":6" /> Large mosques such as [[Mosul Grand Mosque]] were built.<ref name=":6" />

Over time, this contributed to Mosul becoming a more tribal society, where traditional legal systems were often bypassed in favor of tribal reconciliations led by sheikhs.<ref name=":6" /> Historically, the city had been known for its conservative religious beliefs, primarily rooted in Sufism, which was considered moderate and non-extremist.<ref name=":6" /> The coexistence of diverse religious and ethnic groups—such as Christians, Yazidis, Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs, Kurds, and women with varying degrees of religious observance—was a hallmark of the city's social fabric.<ref name=":6" /> However, as Salafism grew stronger in Mosul, the city's identity shifted.<ref name=":6" /> The once diverse and tolerant atmosphere became increasingly conservative and Salafi, fundamentally changing the city's character.<ref name=":6" /> This would fuel the rise of IS in the upcoming war.<ref name=":6" /><gallery mode="packed" caption="Mosul in modern era (1918–2003)">
File:Mosul.jpg|A coffee house in Mosul, 1914
File:Hadba-16200v.jpg|The leaning minaret of [[Great Mosque of al-Nuri (Mosul)|Great Mosque of al-Nuri]] gave Mosul its nickname "the hunchback" (الحدباء al-Ḥadbāˈ)
File:Mosul, Iraq, 1968.jpg|[[:File:Mosul, 1968.jpg|Mosul, 1968]]
File:Women in Mosul Spring Festival - 1977.jpg|Women in Mosul Spring Festival - 1977
File:Latin Church, Mosul 1980s-1.jpg|Latin Church, Mosul 1980s
</gallery>

=== 21st century ===
{{main|Islamic State occupation of Mosul|date = June 2021}}
When the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] was being planned, the United States had originally intended to base troops in Turkey and mount a thrust into northern Iraq to capture Mosul, but the Turkish parliament refused to grant permission for the operation. When the [[Iraq War]] broke out in March 2003, U.S. military activity in the area was confined to strategic bombing with [[airdrop]]ped [[special forces]] in the vicinity. Mosul fell on 11 April 2003, when the Iraqi Army 5th Corps, loyal to Saddam, abandoned the city and surrendered two days after the fall of Baghdad. U.S. Army Special Forces with Kurdish fighters quickly took civil control of the city. Thereafter began widespread looting before an agreement was reached to cede overall control to U.S. forces.[[File:Iraqi police, U.S. Soldiers patrol neighborhood in Mosul DVIDS40282.jpg|thumb|Iraqi police, U.S. soldiers patrol neighborhood in Mosul, 19 March 2007|left]] [[File:Defense.gov News Photo 030722-A-3450H-043.jpg|thumb|Saddam Hussein's sons [[Qusay Hussein|Qusay]] and [[Uday Hussein|Uday]] were killed in a gun battle in Mosul on 22 July 2003|left]]On 22 July, Saddam Hussein's sons, [[Uday Hussein]] and [[Qusay Hussein]], were killed in a gun battle with Coalition forces in Mosul after a failed attempt at their capture.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/22/sprj.irq.sons/index.html Pentagon: Saddam's sons killed in raid ]. CNN.com (22 July 2003). Retrieved on 2011-07-02.</ref> Mosul also served as the operational base for the [[United States Army|US Army]]'s [[101st Airborne Division]] during the occupational phase of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Operation Iraqi Freedom]]. During its tenure, the 101st Airborne Division was able to extensively survey the city and, advised by the 431st [[United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command#Civil Affairs Units|Civil Affairs]] Battalion, non-governmental organizations, and the people of Mosul, began reconstruction work by employing the people of Mosul in security, electricity, local governance, drinking water, wastewater, trash disposal, roads, bridges, and environmental concerns.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sheridan |first1=Mary Beth |title=For Help in Rebuilding Mosul, U.S. Turns to Its Former Foes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/04/25/for-help-in-rebuilding-mosul-us-turns-to-its-former-foes/ca1a1ff0-f5b3-421f-97a5-0c8a49f43364/ |access-date=27 September 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=25 April 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Coalition helps rebuild more than 800 schools in northern Iraq – Iraq {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/coalition-helps-rebuild-more-800-schools-northern-iraq |access-date=27 September 2023 |work=reliefweb.int |agency=US Department of State |date=11 October 2003 |language=en}}</ref> Other U.S. Army units also occupied the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=Würzburg hospital team is home from Iraq – News – Stripes |url=https://www.stripes.com/news/w%C3%BCrzburg-hospital-team-is-home-from-iraq-1.28212 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019221649/https://www.stripes.com/news/w%C3%BCrzburg-hospital-team-is-home-from-iraq-1.28212 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |website=stripes.com}}</ref>

On [[2004 Mosul bombings|24 June 2004]], a coordinated series of car bombs killed 62 people, many of them policemen. On 21 December 14 American soldiers, four American employees of [[Halliburton]], and four Iraqi soldiers [[2004 Forward Operating Base Marez bombing|were killed in a suicide attack]] on a dining hall at the [[Forward Operating Base]] (FOB) Marez next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul. [[The Pentagon]] reported that 72 other personnel were injured in the attack, carried out by a [[suicide bomber]] wearing an explosive vest and the uniform of the Iraqi security services. The [[Islamism|Islamist]] group [[Army of Ansar al-Sunna]] (partly evolved from [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]]) took responsibility for the attack in an online statement.

In December 2007, [[Mosul International Airport]] was reopened. An [[Iraqi Airways]] flight carried 152 [[Hajj]] pilgrims to Baghdad, the first commercial flight since U.S. forces declared a no-fly zone in 1993, though further commercial flight remained prohibited.<ref name="Forbes.com">{{Cite web |title=Iraq reopens Mosul airport after 14 years – US military |website=[[Forbes]]|url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2007/12/04/afx4401017.html}}{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> On 23 January 2008, an explosion in an apartment building killed 36 people. The next day, a suicide bomber dressed as a police officer assassinated the local police chief, Brigadier General Salah Mohammed al-Jubouri, the director of police for Nineveh province, as he toured the site of the blast.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gamel |first=Kim |date=25 January 2008 |title=Provincial Police Chief Killed in Mosul |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2008Jan24/0,4675,Iraq,00.html}}</ref>

In May 2008, US-backed Iraqi Army Forces led by Major General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, the commander of military operations in Mosul, launched a military offensive of the [[Ninawa campaign]] in hopes of bringing stability and security to the city.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 May 2008 |title=Sadrists and Iraqi Government Reach Truce Deal |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html}}</ref> The representatives of Mosul in the [[Iraqi Parliament]], the intellectuals of the city, and other concerned humanitarian groups agreed on the pressing need for a solution to the city's unbearable conditions, but still believed the solution was political and administrative. They also questioned whether such a large-scale military offensive would spare the lives of innocent people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://almosul.org/Action4Mosul/Almosul_Dirk.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011204327/http://almosul.org/Action4Mosul/Almosul_Dirk.pdf |archive-date=11 October 2013 |access-date=12 March 2009}}</ref> All these factors deprived the city of its historical, scientific and intellectual foundations between 2003 and 2008, when many scientists, professors, academics, doctors, health professionals, engineers, lawyers, journalists, religious clergy (both Muslim and Christian), historians, as well as professionals and artists, were either killed or forced to leave the city under the threat of being shot, exactly as happened elsewhere in Iraq in those years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plight of Iraqi Academics |url=http://www.iraqis.org.uk/Contents/HR/pia_ppp_605.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515183228/http://www.iraqis.org.uk/Contents/HR/pia_ppp_605.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2006 |access-date=10 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Rights in Iraq |url=http://almosul.org/Contents/HR/0_FP_HR.htm |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629172718/http://almosul.org/Contents/HR/0_FP_HR.htm |archive-date=29 June 2006 |access-date=12 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Iraq's deadly brain drain |publisher=France 24 |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20080510-iraqs-deadly-brain-drain-iraq |url-status=dead |access-date=2 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521200915/http://www.france24.com/en/20080510-iraqs-deadly-brain-drain-iraq |archive-date=21 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=16 October 2004 |title=Losing Mosul? |magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,725055,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041019000438/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,725055,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 October 2004 |access-date=13 May 2010}}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1            = Humvee down after isis attack.jpg
| caption1          = Humvee down after Islamic State attack in 2014
| image2            = ISOF APC on the street of Mosul, Northern Iraq, Western Asia. 16 November, 2016.jpg
| caption2          = [[Iraqi Special Operations Forces|ISOF]] on the street of Mosul, 16 November 2016. The city was liberated in 2017
| direction         = vertical
}}

In 2008, many [[Assyrian Christians]] (about 12,000) fled the city, following [[2008 attacks on Christians in Mosul|a wave of murders and threats]] against their community. The murder of a dozen Assyrians, threats that others would be murdered unless they converted to Islam, and the destruction of their houses sparked a rapid exodus of the Christian population. Some fled to Syria and Turkey; others were given shelter in churches and monasteries. Accusations were exchanged between Sunni fundamentalists and some Kurdish groups of being behind this new exodus. Some claims linked it to the provincial elections of January 2009, and the related Assyrian Christians' demands for broader representation in the provincial councils.<ref>Muir, Jim. (28 October 2008) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7696242.stm "Iraqi Christians' fear of exile"]. BBC News. Retrieved on 2011-07-02.</ref><ref>"[http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.violence/index.html Christians flee Iraqi city after killings, threats, officials say] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012122918/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.violence/index.html |date=2008-10-12 }}." [[CNN]]. 11 October 2008.</ref>

Mosul was attacked on 4 June 2014. After six days of fighting, on 10 June the [[Islamic State]] [[Fall of Mosul|took over the city]] during the [[Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)|June 2014 Northern Iraq offensive]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abdulrahim |first=Raja |date=5 October 2014 |title=Iraqi Kurdish forces moving toward complex battle in Mosul |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iraq-mosul-front-20141005-story.html |access-date=21 December 2014 |work=The [[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Doucet |first=Lyse |date=6 October 2014 |title=Iraq's battles need sense of resolve |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29516539 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Iraq, Islamic State, Baghdad, War |date=Sep 2014 |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/iraq-islamic-state-baghdad-war.html |access-date=19 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019181057/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/iraq-islamic-state-baghdad-war.html |archive-date=19 October 2014 |url-status=dead |publisher=Al monitor}}</ref> By August, the city's new IS administration was dysfunctional, with frequent power cuts, a tainted water supply, collapse of infrastructure, and failing health care.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Laila Ahmed |date=29 August 2014 |title=Since Islamic State swept into Mosul, we live encircled by its dark fear |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/29/islamic-state-isis-mosul-encircled-fear-trapped-in-dark-ages |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

On 10 June 2014, the [[Islamic State]] [[Fall of Mosul|captured Mosul]], after the Iraqi troops stationed there withdrew.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 June 2014 |title=How can militants take over Iraqi cities? |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25588623}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 2014 |title=Recording: ISIS promises more fighting in more Iraqi cities |publisher=CNN|url= https://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/11/world/meast/iraq-violence/|first1 = Jim |last1=Sciutto|first2= Nic|last2= Robertson |first3= Laura|last3= Smith-Spark}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera.net">{{Cite web|title=قائد عسكري سابق: المالكي أمر بسحب القوات من الموصل|url=https://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2015/6/20/قائد-عسكري-سابق-المالكي-أمر-بسحب |access-date=9 February 2022 |publisher= Al Jazeera |language=ar}}</ref> Troop shortages and infighting among top officers and Iraqi political leaders played into IS's hands and fueled panic that led to the city's abandonment.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 October 2014 |title=How Mosul fell – An Iraqi general disputes Baghdad's story |agency= Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-gharawi-special-report-idUSKCN0I30Z820141014}}</ref> Half a million people escaped on foot or by car during the next two days.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |date=29 August 2014 |title=Since Islamic State swept into Mosul, we live encircled by its dark fear |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/29/islamic-state-isis-mosul-encircled-fear-trapped-in-dark-ages}}</ref> According to western and pro-Iraqi government press, Mosul residents were de facto prisoners,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Loveday morris |date=19 October 2015 |title=Isis in Iraq: Mosul residents are paying traffickers and risking their lives to escape cruel grip of Islamic State |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-in-iraq-mosul-residents-are-paying-traffickers-and-risking-their-lives-to-escape-cruel-grip-of-a6700441.html}}</ref> forbidden to leave the city unless they left IS a significant collateral of family members, personal wealth and property. They could then leave after paying a significant "departure tax"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinan Salaheddin |date=13 March 2015 |title=ISIS Blocks Trapped Residents From Leaving Iraq's Mosul |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/13/isis-mosul-residents-trapped_n_6862898.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825111019/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/13/isis-mosul-residents-trapped_n_6862898.html |archive-date=25 August 2015 |website=Huffington Post}}</ref> for a three-day pass (for a higher fee they could surrender their home, pay the fee and leave for good) and if those with a three-day pass failed to return within that time, their assets would be seized and their family killed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abdelhak Mamoun |date=11 March 2015 |title=ISIS warns people of Mosul not to leave city |publisher=Iraqi News |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/islamic-state-introduces-new-restrictions-to-prevent-mosul-residents-from-fleeing-city/article23443591/}}</ref>

Ali Ghaidan, a former commander of the Iraqi ground forces, accused [[Nouri al-Maliki|al-Maliki]] of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city.<ref name="aljazeera.net"/> A short period of time after, [[Nouri al-Maliki|Al-Maliki]] called for a national [[state of emergency]] on 10 June following the attack on Mosul, which had been seized overnight. Despite the security crisis, [[Council of Representatives of Iraq|Iraq's parliament]] did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers, since his reign has been described as sectarian by both Iraqis and western analysts, as well allegations of corruption, with hundreds of billions of dollars allegedly vanishing from government coffers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Obama's Iraq dilemma: Fighting ISIL puts US and Iran on the same side|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/13/obamaa-s-iraq-dilemmafightingisilputsusandiranonthesameside.html|access-date=9 February 2022|website=america.aljazeera.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Alzalzalee|first=Assad|title=Iraq's Troubled School Building Lesson|url=https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/iraqs-troubled-school-building-lesson|access-date=9 February 2022|website=OCCRP|language=en}}</ref>

After more than two years of occupation of Mosul, [[Iraqi Armed Forces|Iraqi forces]], with the help of American and French forces, launched a joint offensive to recapture it on 16 October 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 October 2016 |title=Battle for Mosul: Iraq and Kurdish troops make gains |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37679325 |access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Blau |first1=Max |last2=Park |first2=Madison |last3=McLaughlin |first3=Eliott C. |date=17 October 2016 |title=Battle for Mosul: Iraqi forces close in |publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/17/middleeast/mosul-isis-operation-begins-iraq/index.html |access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> The [[Battle of Mosul (2016–17)|battle]] was considered key in the [[War against the Islamic State|military intervention against IS]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Yan |first1=Holly |last2=Muaddi |first2=Nadeem |date=17 October 2016 |title=Why the battle for Mosul matters in the fight against ISIS |publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/17/middleeast/battle-for-mosul/ |access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Santing |first=Kiki |date=1 November 2024 |title=Pro-Iranian militias in Mosul: Between stability and destabilization |url=https://kritarab.hypotheses.org/636 |access-date=28 December 2024 |website=Krit:Arab |language=}}</ref> A military offensive to retake the city was the largest deployment of Iraqi forces since the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|2003 invasion]] by U.S. and coalition forces<ref>{{Cite journal |date=11 August 2017 |title=In 'liberated' Mosul, ISIS still imperils the path to city's revival |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2017/0811/In-liberated-Mosul-ISIS-still-imperils-the-path-to-city-s-revival |journal=The Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> On 9 July 2017, Prime Minister [[Haider Al-Abadi]] arrived in preparation to announce the full liberation and reclamation of Mosul after three years of IS control.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-40549333 Mosul: Iraq PM to celebrate victory over IS in the city] BBC, 9 July 2017</ref> A formal declaration was made on the next day.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 July 2017 |title=Battle for Mosul: Iraq PM Abadi formally declares victory |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40558836 |access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> The battle continued for another couple of weeks in the Old City before Iraqi forces regained full control of Mosul on 21 July 2017.<ref name="last ISIS stronghold">{{Cite web |last=Ivor Prickett |date=1 August 2017 |title=In Mosul, Revealing the Last ISIS Stronghold |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/world/middleeast/mosul-isis-survivors-rights.html |access-date=5 November 2017 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="residual">{{Cite web |date=21 July 2017 |title=Civilians return to Mosul as Iraqi forces mop up residual ISIS fighters |url=https://www.stripes.com/news/civilians-return-to-mosul-as-iraqi-forces-mop-up-residual-isis-fighters-1.479136 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721230747/https://www.stripes.com/news/civilians-return-to-mosul-as-iraqi-forces-mop-up-residual-isis-fighters-1.479136 |archive-date=21 July 2017 |access-date=22 July 2017 |website=Stars and Stripes}}</ref> According to [[Asayish (Kurdistan Region)|Kurdish intelligence]], tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the battle, and most of the city was destroyed by Coalition airstrikes and Iraqi shelling.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mosul-massacre-battle-isis-iraq-city-civilian-casualties-killed-deaths-fighting-forces-islamic-state-a7848781.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719234812/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mosul-massacre-battle-isis-iraq-city-civilian-casualties-killed-deaths-fighting-forces-islamic-state-a7848781.html|url-status=dead|title=True civilian death toll in Mosul feared to be 40,000 – eight times higher than previous estimates|date=19 July 2017|archive-date=19 July 2017|website=The Independent}}</ref> Subsequently, Iranian-sponsored predominantly [[Shia Islam|Shiite]] militias from the [[Popular Mobilization Forces|Popular Mobilization Units]], which fought against IS, gained a foothold in the city.<ref name=":1" />

==Demographics==
[[File:Crowded marketplace (Mosul, 1932).jpg|right|thumb|A [[souk]] (traditional market) in Mosul, 1932]]

According to Salahuddin Khuda Bakhsh, the Arab geographer [[Ibn Hawqal]] was at Mosul in 969 AD (358 AH) He called it a "fine town with excellent markets, surrounded by fertile districts of which the most celebrated was that round Nineveh where the [[Jonah|Prophet Jonah]] was buried. In the tenth century, the population consisted of [[Kurds]] and [[Arabs]], and the numerous districts round Mosul, occupying all [[Diyar Rabi'a]], are carefully enumerated by Ibn Hawkal."<ref name="bosworth" /><ref name="Bakhsh">{{cite book|author=Salahuddin Khuda Bakhsh|title=A History of the Islamic Peoples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ot1RzQEACAAJ|year=1914|publisher=University of Calcutta}}</ref>

In the 20th century, Mosul was indicative of Iraq's mingling ethnic and religious cultures, with a Kurdish majority.<ref>{{cite news |title=17,000 Jews in Mosul is British Estimate |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/17000-jews-in-mosul-is-british-estimate |access-date=10 October 2024 |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=24 January 1923 |quote="In 1923, British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon, estimated the 'actual population' of the Mosul district to be 786,000.  Among these, he said, there are 186,000 Arabs, 459,000 Kurds, 66,000 Turks, 62,000 Christians and 17,000 Jews."}}</ref>

Today Mosul has a [[Sunni]] [[Arab people|Arab]] majority in urban areas, such as downtown Mosul west of the [[Tigris]]; across the Tigris and further north in the suburban areas, thousands of [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Kurds]], [[Iraqi Turkmen|Turkmens]], [[Shabak people|Shabaks]], [[Yazidis]], [[Armenians]] and [[Mandeans]] made up the rest of Mosul's population.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Mosul.html Mosul|Encyclopedia.com: Facts, Pictures, Information]. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 2 July 2011.</ref> [[Shabak people|Shabaks]] were concentrated on the city's eastern outskirts.

===Religion===
[[File:SyriacChurch-Mosul.jpg|thumb|300px|upright|Celebration at the Syriac Orthodox Monastery in Mosul, early 20th century]]
Mosul has a predominantly [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] Muslim population. The city also had an ancient [[Jewish]] population. Like their counterparts elsewhere in Iraq, most were forced out in 1950–51. Most [[Iraqi Jews]] have moved to Israel, and some to the United States.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0014_0_14308.html Mosul]. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved on 2 July 2011.</ref> In 2003, during the [[Iraq War]], a rabbi in the American army found an abandoned, dilapidated synagogue in Mosul dating to the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last= Huerta |first=Carlos |title=Jewish Mosul Revisited: Jewish heartbreak and hope in Nineveh |url=http://www.almosul.org/History/MosulHistory/MosulJews_HuertaCC.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101119025208/http://www.almosul.org/History/MosulHistory/MosulJews_HuertaCC.htm |archive-date=19 November 2010 |publisher=almosul.org}}</ref>

During IS's occupation, religious minorities were targeted to convert to Islam, pay tribute (''[[jizya]]'') money, leave, or be killed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=19 July 2014 |title=Iraq: ISIS Abducting, Killing, Expelling Minorities |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/19/iraq-isis-abducting-killing-expelling-minorities |access-date=20 October 2016 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> The persecution of Christians in Mosul and the surrounding Nineveh Plains removed a Christian community that had been present in the region since the 1st century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Logan |first=Lara |date=22 March 2015 |title=Iraq's Christians persecuted by ISIS |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-christians-persecuted-by-isis-60-minutes/ |access-date=20 October 2016 |publisher=CBS News}}</ref>

==Infrastructure==
[[File:منطقة غابات الموصل.JPG|thumb|View of the [[Tigris]] river in Mosul]]
[[File:Views around Mosul in 2019 during summer 01.jpg|thumb|Mosul at night|left]]
The [[Mosul Dam]] was built in the 1980s to supply Mosul with hydroelectricity and water. Despite this, water supply cuts are still common.<ref>{{Cite news |title=In Mosul, Water, Electricity Shortages, And Warnings of Disease |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/mosul-disease-water-electricity-shortage/26650210.html |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=22 October 2014 }}</ref>

Five bridges cross the Tigris in Mosul, known from north to south as:<ref name="BBCbridges">{{Cite news |date=27 December 2016 |title=Mosul battle: Last bridge 'disabled by air strike' |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38442811 |access-date=2 March 2017}}</ref>
* Al Shohada Bridge (or "Third Bridge")
* [[Fifth Bridge]]
* Old Bridge (or "Iron Bridge", or "First Bridge")
* Al Huriya Bridge (literally "Freedom Bridge", also known as "Second Bridge"): located about 1&nbsp;km north of the 4th bridge and 0.8&nbsp;km south of the 1st bridge, the al-Huriya Bridge connects the neighborhoods of Bab at-Tawb on the west bank and al-Faisaliyyah on the east bank.<ref name="2nd Bridge">{{cite book |last1=Harith |first1=Mustafa |last2=Khalil-Slim |first2=Linda |title=Site Specific Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (Limited ESIA) for the Rehabilitation of Al-Mosul Second Bridge (Al-Huriya Bridge) in Nineveh Governorate |date=2018 |publisher=Republic of Iraq Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities, and Public Works – Roads and Bridges Directorate |url=https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/136081544683943554/pdf/AL-MOSUL-SECOND-BRIDGE-ALHURIYA-IN-NINEVEH-GOVERNORATE-FINAL-ESIA-DOCUMENT-ilovepdf-compressed-1.pdf |access-date=13 March 2023}}</ref>{{rp|8, 20}} It was built between 1955 and 1958 by German, French, and Dutch companies.<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|4}} Made of steel with concrete supports, the bridge has 6 spans and is 340&nbsp;m long.<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|4}} A two-way street with one lane in each direction goes across the bridge, and there is also a sidewalk on both sides.<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|4}} Before the bridge's destruction in 2016, an estimated 10,495 vehicles crossed the bridge per day, for a total of some 3.8 million vehicles per year.<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|17–8}} In October 2016, a US airstrike destroyed the bridge's first span (starting from the left) along with the left-bank approach.<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|4}} Later, bombings by the Islamic State destroyed three more spans (the 4th, 5th, and 6th) and damaged the last two (2nd and 3rd spans).<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|4}} In the aftermath, Iraqi Army forces installed a temporary pontoon bridge 0.2&nbsp;km north of the al-Huriya Bridge to provide an alternate route for commuters.<ref name="2nd Bridge"/>{{rp|18}}
* Fourth Bridge
During the [[Battle of Mosul (2016–17)]] between [[Islamic State|IS]] and the Iraqi Army supported by an [[Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve|international coalition]], two bridges were 'damaged' by coalition airstrikes in October 2016, two others in November, and the Old Bridge was 'disabled' in early December.<ref name="BBCbridges" /> According to the BBC, in late December the bridges were targeted to disrupt the resupply of IS forces in East Mosul from West Mosul.<ref name="BBCbridges" /> In January 2017, CNN reported that IS itself had 'destroyed' all bridges to slow the Iraqi ground troops' advance, citing Iraqi commander Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rasheed Yarallah.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mohammed Tawfeeq |date=13 January 2017 |title=ISIS destroys Mosul bridges as troops advance |publisher=CNN|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/13/middleeast/iraq-mosul-troops-advance/ |access-date=2 March 2017}}</ref>

Mosul is served by [[Mosul International Airport]].

== Economy ==
[[File:Bab Sinjar Sign Mosul.jpg|left|thumb|Bab Sinjar in downtown Mosul]]
Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, was historically one of the country's most important industrial hubs, contributing significantly to the national economy.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=ERROR |url=https://www.rudaw.net/notfound.html |access-date=16 March 2025 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref> It was once one of Iraq's most important industrial cities, rich in natural resources and a key contributor to the [[Economy of Iraq|national economy]].<ref name=":7" /> Before 2014, Mosul and the surrounding [[Nineveh Governorate|Nineveh province]] were rich in natural resources, making the region a key player in Iraq's industrial and agricultural sectors.<ref name=":7" /> Mosul was once a prominent commercial center, with its economy based on a mix of oil, agriculture, industrial products, and minerals.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=19 December 2016 |title=City profile of Mosul, Iraq: Multi-sector assessment of a city under siege - October 2016 - Iraq {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/city-profile-mosul-iraq-multi-sector-assessment-city-under-siege-october-2016 |access-date=16 March 2025 |website=reliefweb.int |language=en}}</ref> The city was a key player in Iraq's economy, exporting oil as well as agricultural, industrial, and mineral products.<ref name=":8" /> Its strategic location and rich natural resources made it one of the country's most important cities before the rise of conflict.<ref name=":8" />
[[File:نصب عامل النظافة في الموصل.jpg|left|thumb|Downtown Mosul at night]]
The city was known for its sulfur reserves, particularly from the Meshraq Sulfur Plant, which had an annual production capacity of one million tons of sulfur. Sulfur, a versatile mineral used in various industries including the production of military ammunition, was a major resource for Mosul.<ref name=":7" /> During the IS occupation, large reserves of sulfur from the plant fell under the militants' control and were damaged during coalition airstrikes.<ref name=":7" /> Despite the city's wealth in natural resources, Mosul's economy suffered immensely during the IS occupation, and many of these industries have yet to fully recover.<ref name=":7" /> The Kurdistan Region has historically been a major importer of Mosul's natural resources, forming a close economic relationship between the two regions, especially prior to the IS occupation.<ref name=":7" /> The economic structure of Mosul and Nineveh was heavily disrupted by the conflict, and it will take time for the region to recover fully.<ref name=":7" />
[[File:معمل السكر الموصل.jpg|thumb|Old Sugar factory, south of the Ghazlani district]]
Mosul was also a hub for cement production, with over 1,000 factories manufacturing cement and [[Concrete Masonry Unit|concrete masonry units]] (CMU).<ref name=":7" /> These materials were used for local construction and also supplied to other parts of Iraq prior to the IS occupation.<ref name=":7" /> Additionally, the city was home to one of Iraq's largest sugar plants, fed by sugarcane grown in the region. This plant was a vital part of the city's industrial output.<ref name=":7" /> The city also had a growing oil and gas sector, with a number of wells in and around Mosul.<ref name=":7" /> However, following the IS takeover, these resources were largely abandoned or damaged, leading to a severe decline in the city's economic output.<ref name=":7" /> Agriculturally, Mosul contributed significantly to Iraq's wheat supply. The fertile lands around the city were historically important for wheat production, contributing a substantial portion of the country's wheat before the conflict disrupted agriculture.<ref name=":7" />

Years before IS took control of Mosul, extremist groups like Al-Qaeda and their allies had already started to gain influence over the city's administration and economy, laying the groundwork for the economic instability that would follow.<ref name=":8" /> When IS seized Mosul in June 2014, they looted the city's central bank, destroyed local businesses, and forcibly extracted money from business owners and farmers to fund their operations.<ref name=":8" /> As a result, the city's economy collapsed. Many businesses were forced to close, leading to skyrocketing unemployment and increasing poverty levels.<ref name=":8" />

The oil fields, refineries, gas factories, and fuel stations in the region came under IS control.<ref name=":8" /> The group monopolized the sale of oil within their territory, severely disrupting local and national markets.<ref name=":8" /> Agricultural production also fell under IS control, with the group seizing government loans and agricultural equipment, particularly from local farmers and displaced minorities.<ref name=":8" /> Farmers were often forced to sell their produce at significantly reduced rates.<ref name=":8" /> The combination of reduced financial returns and a volatile security situation caused many farmers to abandon their fields, further exacerbating the economic collapse.<ref name=":8" />

During the last stages of the battle to retake Mosul, [[Lise Grande]] stated that per an initial assessment, basic infrastructure repair would cost over 1 billion [[USD]]. She stated that while stabilization in east Mosul could be achieved in two months, in some districts of Mosul it might take years, with six out of 44 districts almost completely destroyed. Every district of Mosul received light or moderate damage.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2017 |title=Basic infrastructure repair in Mosul will cost over $1 billion: U.N. |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN19Q28F |access-date=10 July 2017 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Per the [[United Nations]], 15 of the 54 residential districts in the western half of Mosul were heavily damaged while at least 23 were moderately damaged.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 July 2017 |title=Mosul: US commander says Iraq must stop Islamic State 2.0 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40564159 |access-date=11 July 2017 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Reconstruction has since become a multi-million dollar industry. To this day, large parts of the city are either being rebuilt or remain in ruins.<ref name=":1" />

== Geography ==

Mosul stands 223 meters above sea level in the [[Upper Mesopotamia]] region of the Middle East. To the south west of Mosul is the [[Syrian Desert]] and to the East is the [[Zagros Mountains]]. It is surrounded by the [[Nineveh Plains]]

=== Climate ===
Mosul has a [[Semi-arid climate#Hot semi-arid climates|hot semi-arid climate]] (''BSh''), verging on the [[Mediterranean climate]] (''Csa''), with extremely hot, prolonged, dry summers, brief mild shoulder seasons, and moderately wet (and occasionally snowy), relatively cool winters.

{{Weather box
| width = auto
| location = Mosul (1991–2020)
| metric first = Y
| single line = Y

| Jan record high C = 21.2
| Feb record high C = 26.9
| Mar record high C = 31.8
| Apr record high C = 36.5
| May record high C = 43.2
| Jun record high C = 47.4
| Jul record high C = 49.4
| Aug record high C = 49.3
| Sep record high C = 46.5
| Oct record high C = 42.2
| Nov record high C = 32.5
| Dec record high C = 28.4

| Jan high C = 13.1
| Feb high C = 15.4
| Mar high C = 20.0
| Apr high C = 25.9
| May high C = 33.2
| Jun high C = 39.8
| Jul high C = 43.4
| Aug high C = 43.3
| Sep high C = 38.5
| Oct high C = 31.9
| Nov high C = 21.6
| Dec high C = 15.1

|Jan mean C =  7.4
|Feb mean C =  9.3
|Mar mean C = 13.3
|Apr mean C = 18.5
|May mean C = 25.1
|Jun mean C = 31.5
|Jul mean C = 34.8
|Aug mean C = 34.1
|Sep mean C = 28.8
|Oct mean C = 22.2
|Nov mean C = 14.8
|Dec mean C = 9.6

| Jan low C =  2.6
| Feb low C =  3.8
| Mar low C =  7.5
| Apr low C = 11.5
| May low C = 16.6
| Jun low C = 21.7
| Jul low C = 25.4
| Aug low C = 24.8
| Sep low C = 20.0
| Oct low C = 14.6
| Nov low C =  7.9
| Dec low C =  4.1

| Jan record low C = -17.6
| Feb record low C = -12.3
| Mar record low C =  -5.8
| Apr record low C =  -4.0
| May record low C =   1.8
| Jun record low C =   6.8
| Jul record low C =  11.6
| Aug record low C =  12.9
| Sep record low C =   8.9
| Oct record low C =  -2.6
| Nov record low C =  -6.1
| Dec record low C = -15.4

| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 61.6
| Feb precipitation mm = 53.9
| Mar precipitation mm = 59.4
| Apr precipitation mm = 46.1
| May precipitation mm = 17.5
| Jun precipitation mm =  1.2
| Jul precipitation mm =  0.2
| Aug precipitation mm =  0.0
| Sep precipitation mm =  0.6
| Oct precipitation mm = 12.7
| Nov precipitation mm = 41.7
| Dec precipitation mm = 61.9

| Jan precipitation days = 11
| Feb precipitation days = 11
| Mar precipitation days = 12
| Apr precipitation days =  9
| May precipitation days =  6
| Jun precipitation days =  0
| Jul precipitation days =  0
| Aug precipitation days =  0
| Sep precipitation days =  0
| Oct precipitation days =  5
| Nov precipitation days =  7
| Dec precipitation days = 10

| Jan humidity = 79.0
| Feb humidity = 73.0
| Mar humidity = 66.3
| Apr humidity = 62.1
| May humidity = 44.2
| Jun humidity = 29.3
| Jul humidity = 26.2
| Aug humidity = 27.4
| Sep humidity = 32.0
| Oct humidity = 43.8
| Nov humidity = 63.1
| Dec humidity = 76.5

|Jan sun = 158
|Feb sun = 165
|Mar sun = 192
|Apr sun = 210
|May sun = 310
|Jun sun = 363
|Jul sun = 384
|Aug sun = 369
|Sep sun = 321
|Oct sun = 267
|Nov sun = 189
|Dec sun = 155

| source 1 = [[World Meteorological Organisation]] (precipitation days 1976–2008)<ref name="WMO">{{Cite web |title=World Weather Information Service – Mosul |url=http://worldweather.wmo.int/154/c01467.htm |access-date=1 January 2011 |publisher=United Nations |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522101915/http://worldweather.wmo.int/154/c01467.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Iraq/CSV/MOSUL_40608.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Mosul |format=CSV
| publisher = [[NOAA|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = 2 August 2023}}</ref>
| source 2 = ''Weatherbase'' (extremes only),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mosul, Iraq Travel Weather Averages |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=80604 |access-date=19 December 2012 |publisher=Weatherbase}}</ref> Meteomanz(extremes since 2009)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mosul – Weather data by month |url=http://www.meteomanz.com/sy3?l=1&cou=2050&ind=40608&m1=01&y1=2000&m2=06&y2=2024 |access-date=28 June 2024 |publisher=Meteomanz}}</ref>
| date     = October 2014}}

==Historical and religious buildings==
Mosul is rich in old historical places and ancient buildings: [[mosques]], [[castles]], [[church (building)|churches]], [[monasteries]], and [[schools]], many of which have [[architectural]] features and [[decorative]] work of significance. The town centre is dominated by a maze of streets and 19th-century houses. The markets are known for the mixture of people who jostle there: [[Arabs]], [[Kurds]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Iraqi Jews]], [[Iraqi Turkmens]], [[Armenians]], [[Yazidi]], [[Mandeans]], [[Romani people|Romani]] and [[Shabaks]].{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The [[Mosul Museum]] contains many finds from the ancient sites of the old Assyrian capital cities Nineveh and [[Nimrud]]. It is laid-out around a courtyard and with a façade of Mosul marble containing displays of Mosul life depicted in tableau form.{{clarify|date=November 2014}} On 26 February 2015, IS militants [[Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL|destroyed]] the museum's ancient Assyrian artifacts.

The English writer [[Agatha Christie]] lived in Mosul while her second husband, [[Max Mallowan]], an archaeologist, was involved in the excavation in [[Nimrud]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180527032031/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-agathachristie/in-the-ruins-of-an-iraqi-city-memories-of-agatha-christie-idUKKBN1AK1GW Reuters]</ref>

===Mosques and shrines===
{{Main|Islamic sites of Mosul}}
[[File:Grand mosque of Mosul .jpg|thumb|260x260px|[[Mosul Grand Mosque]]]]
* Umayyad Mosque: The first ever in the city, built in 640 AD by Utba bin Farqad al-Salami after he conquered Mosul in the reign of Caliph [[Umar ibn al-Khattab]]. The only original part extant to recent times was the remarkably elaborate brickwork 52m high [[minaret]] that leans like the [[Leaning Tower of Pisa]], called Al-Hadba (The Humped). It was largely destroyed during the Battle of Mosul.{{which|date=September 2021}}
* [[The Great (Nuriddin) Mosque]]: Built by Nuriddin [[Nur ad-Din Zangi|Zangi]] in 1172 AD next door to the Umayyad Mosque. [[Ibn Battuta]] (the great Moroccan traveller) found a marble fountain there and a mihrab (the niche that indicates the direction of [[Mecca]]) with a Kufic inscription. It was destroyed during the Battle of Mosul.{{which|date=September 2021}}
* Mujahidi Mosque: The mosque dates back to 12th century AD, and is distinguished for its shen{{clarify|date=October 2014}} dome and elaborately wrought [[mihrab]].
* Prophet Younis Mosque and Shrine: Located east of the city, and included the tomb of [[Prophet Younis]] ([[Jonah]]), dating back to the 8th century BC, with a tooth of the whale that swallowed and later released him. It was completely demolished by IS in July 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 July 2014 |title=ISIS destroys 'Jonah's tomb' in Mosul |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/07/25/ISIS-destroys-tombs-of-two-prophets-in-Mosul.html |publisher=Al Arabiya}}</ref>
* Prophet Jirjis Mosque and Shrine: The late 14th century mosque and shrine honoring Prophet [[Jirjis]] (George) was built over the Quraysh cemetery. It was destroyed by IS in July 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2014 |title=Islamic State destroys ancient Mosul mosque, the third in a week |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/islamic-state-destroys-ancient-mosul-mosque |website=The Guardian |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
* Prophet Daniel Shrine: A Tomb attributed to [[Prophet Daniel]] was destroyed by IS in July 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Heather |date=27 July 2014 |title=Muslim Militants Blow Up Tombs of Biblical Jonah, Daniel in Iraq |url=http://christiannews.net/2014/07/27/muslim-militants-blow-up-tombs-of-biblical-jonah-daniel-in-iraq/ |access-date=28 July 2014 |publisher=Christian News Network |quote=Al-Sumaria News also reported on Thursday that local Mosul official Zuhair al-Chalabi told the outlet that ISIS likewise "implanted explosives around Prophet Daniel's tomb in Mosul and blasted it, leading to its destruction."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hafiz |first=Yasmine |title=ISIS Destroys Jonah's Tomb in Mosul, Iraq, As Militant Violence Continues |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/isis-jonah-tomb_n_5620520.html |access-date=28 July 2014 |website=[[Huffington Post]]|date=25 July 2014 |quote=The tomb of Daniel, a man revered by Muslims as a prophet though unlike Jonah, he is not mentioned in the Quran, has also been reportedly destroyed. Al-Arabiya reports that Zuhair al-Chalabi, a local Mosul official, told Al-Samaria News that "ISIS implanted explosives around Prophet Daniel's tomb in Mosul and blasted it, leading to its destruction."}}</ref>
* Hamou Qado (Hema Kado) Mosque: An [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-era mosque in the central Maydan area built in 1881, and officially named Mosque of Abdulla Ibn Chalabi Ibn Abdul-Qadi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISIS destroys beloved mosque in central Mosul |url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/060320151 |publisher=Rudaw}}</ref> It was destroyed by IS in March 2015 because it contained a [[tomb]] that was revered and visited by local Muslims on Thursdays and Fridays.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gianluca Mezzofiore |title=Iraq: Isis destroys 19th century Ottoman mosque in central Mosul |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-isis-destroys-19th-century-ottoman-mosque-central-mosul-1490786 |website=International Business Times|date=6 March 2015 }}</ref>

===Churches and monasteries===
{{Main|List of churches and monasteries in Nineveh}}
[[File:Mor-mattai.png|thumb|[[Mar Mattai Monastery]] of the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]]]]
[[File:Church St. Thomas in Mosul.jpg|thumb|[[Church of Saint Thomas, Mosul]]]]
Mosul had the highest proportion of Assyrian Christians of all the Iraqi cities outside of the Kurdish region, and contains several interesting old churches, some of which originally date back to the early centuries of Christianity. Its ancient Assyrian churches are often hidden and their entrances in thick walls are not easy to find. Some of them have suffered from excessive restoration.
* Shamoun Al-Safa (St. Peter, Mar Petros): This church dates from the 13th century is and named after Shamoun Al-Safa or St. Peter (Mar Petros in Assyrian Aramaic). Earlier it had the name of the two Apostles, Peter and Paul, and was inhabited by the nuns of the Sacred Hearts.
* [[Syriac Church of Mosul|Church of St. Thomas]] (Mar Touma in Assyrian Aramaic): One of the oldest historical churches, named after St. Thomas the Apostle who preached the Gospel in the East, including India. The exact time of its foundation is unknown, but it was before 770 AD, since Al-Mahdi, the Abbasid Caliph, is mentioned as listening to a grievance concerning this church on his trip to Mosul.
* Mar Petion Church: Mar Petion, educated by his cousin in a monastery, was martyred in 446 AD. It is the first Chaldean Catholic church in Mosul, after the union of many Assyrians with Rome in the 17th century. It dates back to the 10th century, and lies 3 m below street level. This church suffered destruction, and it has been reconstructed many times. A hall was built on one of its three parts in 1942. As a result, most of its artistic features have been severely damaged.
* Ancient Tahira Church (The Immaculate): Near Bash Tapia, considered one of the most ancient churches in Mosul. No evidence helps to determine its exact area. It could be either the remnants of the church of the Upper Monastery or the ruined Mar Zena Church. Al-Tahira Church dates back to the 7th century, and it lies 3 m below street level. Reconstructed last in 1743.
* [[Al-Tahera Church, Mosul|Al-Tahera Church]]: [[Syriac Catholic Church]] completed in 1862.
* Mar Hudeni Church: It was named after Mar [[Ahudemmeh]] (Hudeni) Maphrian of Tikrit who was martyred in 575 AD. Mar Hudeni is an old church of the Tikritans in Mosul. It dates back to the 10th century, lies 7 m below street level and was first reconstructed in 1970. People can get mineral water from the well in its yard. The chain, fixed in the wall, is thought to cure epileptics.
* St. George's Monastery (Mar Gurguis): One of the oldest churches in Mosul, named after St. George, located to the north of Mosul, was probably built late in the 17th century. Pilgrims from different parts of the North{{clarify|date=October 2014}} visit it yearly in the spring, when many people also go out to its whereabouts on holiday.{{clarify|date=October 2014}} It is about 6 m below street level. A modern church was built over the old one in 1931, abolishing much of its archeological significance. The only monuments left are a marble door-frame decorated with a carved Estrangelo (Syriac) inscription, and two niches, which date back to the 13th or 14th century.
* [[Mar Matte]]: This monastery is situated about {{convert|20|km|abbr=on}} east of Mosul on the top of a high mountain (Mount Maqloub). It was built by Mar Matte, a monk who fled with several other monks in 362 AD from the Monastery of Zuknin near the City of Amid ([[Diyarbakir]]) in the southern part of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and the north of Iraq during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate (361–363 AD). It has a precious library containing Syrianic scriptures.
* [[Monastery of Mar Behnam]]: Also called Deir Al-Jubb (The Cistern Monastery) and built in the 12th or 13th century, it lies in the Nineveh Plain near Nimrud about {{convert|32|km|abbr=on}} southwest of Mosul. The monastery, a great fort-like building, rises next to the tomb of Mar Behnam, a prince who was killed by the [[Sassania]]ns, perhaps during the 4th century AD. A legend made him a son of an Assyrian king.
* [[Dair Mar Elia (Saint Elijah's Monastery)|St. Elijah's Monastery]] (Dair Mar Elia): Dating from the 6th century, it was the oldest Christian Monastery in Iraq, until its destruction by [[ISIS|IS]] in January 2016.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16493810 Chaplains Struggle to Protect Monastery in Iraq]. NPR's ''Morning Edition'', 21 November 2007. Retrieved on 2 July 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/only-ap-oldest-christian-monastery-072331055.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122120037/https://news.yahoo.com/only-ap-oldest-christian-monastery-072331055.html | archive-date=22 January 2016 |title=Only on AP: Islamic State razing of Iraq monastery condemned |website=news.yahoo.com |access-date=19 January 2016}}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}</ref>

Other Christian historical buildings:
* The Roman Catholic Church (built by the Dominican Fathers in Nineveh Street in 1893)
* Mar Michael
* Mar Elias
* Mar Oraha
* [[Rabban Hormizd Monastery]], the monastery of Notre-Dame des Semences, near the Assyrian town of [[Alqosh]]

===Other sites===
* [[Bash Tapia Castle]]: A ruined castle rising high over the Tigris, which was one of the few remnants of Mosul's old walls until it was blown up by IS in 2015.
* [[Qara Saray]] (The Black Palace): The remnants of the 13th-century palace of Sultan Badruddin Lu'lu'.
* [[Ashur Mall]] is the largest mall of Mosul, based on [[Assyrian architecture]]

===Painting===
[[File:احد البيوت التراثية في مدينة الموصل.jpg|thumb|Old house in Mosul|227x227px]]
The so-called Mosul School of Painting refers to a style of miniature painting that developed in northern Iraq in the late 12th to early 13th century under the patronage of the [[Zangid]] dynasty (1127–1222). In technique and style the Mosul school was similar to the painting of the [[Great Seljuq Empire|Seljuq]] Turks, who controlled Iraq at that time, but the Mosul artists had a sharper sense of realism based on the subject matter and degree of detail in the painting rather than on representation in three dimensions, which did not occur. Most of the Mosul iconography was Seljuq—for example, the use of figures seated cross-legged in a frontal position. Certain symbolic elements, however, such as the crescent and serpents, were derived from the classical Mesopotamian repertory.

Most Mosul paintings were manuscript illustrations—mainly scientific works, animal books, and lyric poetry. A [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] painting, now held in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque nationale]], Paris, dating from a late 12th century copy of [[Galen]]'s medical treatise, the Kitab al-diriyak ("Book of Antidotes"), is a good example of the earlier work of the Mosul school. It depicts four figures surrounding a central, seated figure who holds a crescent-shaped halo. The painting is in a variety of whole hues; reds, blues, greens, and gold. The [[Kufic|Küfic]] lettering is blue. The total effect is best described as majestic.

Another mid-13th century frontispiece held in the [[Austrian National Library|Nationalbibliothek]], Vienna, to another copy of the same text suggests the quality of later Mosul painting. There is realism in its depiction of the preparation of a ruler's meal and of horsemen engaged in various activities, and the painting is as many hued as that of the early Mosul school, yet it is somehow less spirited. The composition is more elaborate but less successful. By this time the Baghdad school, which combined the styles of the Syrian and early Mosul schools, had begun to dominate. With the invasion of the Mongols in the mid-13th century the Mosul school came to an end, but its achievements were influential in both the Mamluk and the Mongol schools of miniature painting.

==Education==
[[File:المكتبة المتنقلة الموصل - الداخل.jpg|thumb|A [[mobile library]] in Mosul]]
The [[University of Mosul]] is the largest university in Mosul.<ref>{{Cite news|date=21 November 2018|title=Iraqi university rebuilds after IS 'dark age'|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46208714|access-date=17 March 2021}}</ref> Other schools of higher education include Ninevah University, Al-Hadbaa University College, and the Northern Technical University.

Mosul also has multiple high schools some of which are coeducational while others are gender segregated. These include but are not limited to:
* Al-Hafsah School<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 February 2020|title=Responding to Iraq's learning crisis|url=https://blogs.unicef.org/blog/responding-iraq-learning-crisis/|access-date=17 March 2021|website=UNICEF Connect|language=en-US}}</ref>
* Al-Haj Secondary School for Girls<ref>{{Cite web|title="Education will help us build a future." – Iraq|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/education-will-help-us-build-future|access-date=17 March 2021|website=ReliefWeb|date=26 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
* Kourtoba High School for Girls
* Al-Mouhobeen Secondary School for Boys and Girls
* Al-Mustaqbal High School for Boys
* Al-Mutamaizat High School for Girls
* Al-Mutamaizeen High School for Boys
* Al-Resalah Al-Islamia (Al-Resalah) High School for Boys
* Al-Sharqiya High School for Boys

==Sport==
The city has one [[football (soccer)|football]] team capable of competing in the top-flight of Iraqi football – [[Mosul FC]].

Al Mosul University Stadium is the home stadium to Mosul FC and can hold up to 20,000 people.
[[File:ملعب جامعة الموصل.jpg|thumb|Mosul university Stadium]]

The University of Mosul contains a College of Physical Education and Sports Science which teaches undergraduate and graduate students and performs research in three scientific departments.<ref>{{Cite web|title=College of Physical Education and Sport Science|url=https://www.uomosul.edu.iq/en/physicalEducation|access-date=22 August 2021|publisher=University of Mosul}}</ref>

==Media==
[[File:Views in May of 2019 at Mosul's OneFM Radio Cafe 05.jpg|thumb|Mosul's OneFM Radio Cafe 05]]

===Newspapers===
* ''[[Ash-Shabibah]]'', a defunct daily newspaper<ref>{{cite book|author=Yitzhak Oron|title=Middle East Record Volume 1, 1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LooyExir7EC&pg=PA243|year=1960|publisher=The Moshe Dayan Center|page=243|id=GGKEY:3KXGTYPACX2}}</ref>

==Notable people==

<!-- Alphabetical order please -->
* [[Abdulahad AbdulNour]] (1888–1948), physician and humanitarian
* [[Thabit AbdulNour]] (1890–1957), Iraqi Politician, Government Administrator, and Diplomat<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Basri |first=Mir |title=Notable Iraqi Personalities in the New Iraq |year=2004 |location=London |language=Arabic}}</ref>
* [[Zaha Hadid]], noted architect and first woman to win the Pritzker award. Was named "dame" by Queen Elizabeth II.
* [[Jalili dynasty|Al Jalili, Hussein Pasha]], raised and led army to defend Mosul against Persian Shah Nadir Shah, 1743.
* [[Jalili dynasty|Al Jalili, Ismael]], Eye doctor who discovered and researched the [[Jalili syndrome]].
* [[Sayyar Jamil|Al Jamil, Sayyar]], Historian and political analyst.
* [[Behnam Abu Alsoof|Abu Al Soof, Behnam]] (1931–2012), Archeologist, anthropologist, historian and writer of Christian ancestry.
* [[Tariq Aziz]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] Deputy Prime Minister 1979–2003 (real name Michael Youkhanna) (from [[Tel Keppe]])
* [[Munir Bashir]] (1930–1997), Assyrian musician who had several successes in the Mideast during the 20th century
* [[Asenath Barzani]], first [[Jewish]] female rabbi
* [[Vian Dakhil]] (born 1971), [[Yazidi]] member of the [[Iraqi parliament]].
* [[Hawar Mulla Mohammed]] (born 1971), [[Kurds|Kurdish]] Iraqi soccer player for the national team
* [[Paulos Faraj Rahho]] (1942–2008), Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, assassinated 2008
* [[Taha Yassin Ramadan]] (1938–2007), Former Vice President of Iraq
* [[Hormuzd Rassam]] (1826–1910), Assyrian Archaeologist and diplomat of the 19th century
* [[Kathem Al Saher]] (born 1957), Arab Iraqi pop singer, songwriter, actor, and musician
* [[Adnan Koucher]], Iraqi scholar
* [[Salah al-Din al-Sabbagh]] (1889–1945), Arab Iraqi Army officer
* Salah Salim Ali, Norwegian Iraqi Writer and translator, author of Ibsen i Arabia.
* [[Ignatius Gabriel I Tappouni]] (1879–1968), Assyrian Patriarch of Antioch and all east for the [[Syriac Catholic Church]] between 1929 and 1968, Church Father of the [[Second Vatican Council]] and the first [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Rite]] [[prelate]] to be raised to the [[College of Cardinals]] since the reign of [[Pope Pius IX]]
* [[Behnam Afas]] (born 1934), Iraqi-New Zealander author and researcher into the role of Christian scholars and missionaries
* [[Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer]] (born 1958), Arab Interim President of Iraq during 2004–05
* [[Ignatius Zakka I]] (1931–2014), Assyrian Patriarch of Antioch and all east for the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]]
* [[Omar Mohammed]] (born 1986), historian and citizen journalist, creator of the [[Mosul Eye]] news blog.
* [[Loris Ohannes Chobanian]] (1933–2023), Armenian-American composer and professor at [[Baldwin Wallace University]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Iraq}}
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[List of largest cities of Iraq]]
* [[List of rulers of Mosul]]
* [[University of Mosul]]
* [[Iraq]]
* [[Nineveh Governorate]]
* [[Mosul District]]
* [[Assyrian homeland]]
* Asteroid [[22292 Mosul]] named after the city in 2018
* [[Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)]]
* [[Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul]]
* [[Mosul question]]
* [[Nineveh Plains]]{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{See also|Timeline of Mosul#Bibliography|l1=Bibliography of the history of Mosul}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Nasiri |first1=Ali Naqi |title=Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration |last2=Floor |first2=Willem M. |date=2008 |publisher=Mage Publishers |isbn=978-1933823232 |page=309}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1984 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 6 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afsar-one-of-the-twenty-four-original-guz-turkic-tribes-t |last=Oberling |first=P. |pages=582–586 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429162916/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afsar-one-of-the-twenty-four-original-guz-turkic-tribes-t |archive-date=29 April 2011 |article=AFŠĀR |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rothman |first=E. Nathalie |title=Brokering Empire: Trans-Imperial Subjects between Venice and Istanbul |date=2015 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0801463129 }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Mosul}}
{{wikivoyage|Mosul}}
* [https://archive.today/20121216094525/http://www.iraqimage.com/pages/browse/Mosul.html Iraq Image – Mosul Satellite Observation]
* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/mosul_2003.jpg Detailed map of Mosul] by the [[National Imagery and Mapping Agency]], from lib.utexas.edu
* {{Cite web |last=ArchNet.org |title=Mosul |url=http://archnet.org/library/places/one-place.jsp?place_id=1944 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210073507/http://archnet.org/library/places/one-place.jsp?place_id=1944 |archive-date=10 December 2012 |access-date=15 April 2013 |publisher=MIT School of Architecture and Planning |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts, US}}

{{Tigris}}
{{Districts of Iraq}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mosul| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Iraq]]
[[Category:District capitals of Iraq]]
[[Category:Populated places in Nineveh Governorate]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Tigris River]]
[[Category:Assyrian communities in Iraq]]
[[Category:Turkmen communities in Iraq]]
[[Category:Shabak communities]]
[[Category:Historic Jewish communities in Iraq]]