Amedi

Amedi solves defence by geology: the town sits whole on a flat-topped mountain, its houses rimming the mesa's edge above valleys of vineyards and poplars, reached by a road that climbs to what was for millennia a gate-controlled world. History stacked deep here - Assyrian roots, the medieval Badinan emirate whose carved gate survives, minarets and shrine traditions layered through the lanes - and legend gives the town a cameo as home of the Magi. The visit is a rim walk: valley panoramas at every gap, tea with views, and the pleasant vertigo of streets that end in sky.

History

Ibn al-Athir derived the Arabic name al-Amadiyya from Imad al-Din Zengi, who built a citadel here in 1142 on the site of an earlier fortification, and the scholar Jeffrey Szuchman suggests the town is of Hurrian or Urartian origin. The region came under the control of the Mitanni in the 16th century BC (Wikipedia, Amedi).

The main sights

• The mesa town - houses rimming the flat summit's edge.
• The Badinan gate - the emirate's carved medieval entrance.
• The minaret - the old skyline's slender marker.
• The valley panoramas - vineyards and ranges from the rim.

When to go

April to June greens the valleys; September-October gilds them. Evenings on the rim are the town's gift.

Before you go

In town: lanes are steep and parking rim-side scarce on holidays; courtesy in a living, conservative town is the dress code.

Nearby

Duhok, the Sapna valley and the mountain monasteries.

Key facts