Amedi

The last stop on last weekend's trip was Amedi. Like the reliefs at Halamata, the history of this city goes back 3000 years. I would really like to share with you pictures and stories of the Assyrian ruins located there... I think there are ruins of a citadel, a synagogue, a church, a Koran school and a very old gate. I don't really know because the kids were tired and hungry and we couldn't find a place to have tea! I guess this means I will have to take another trip to Amedi so that I can explore at more leisure.
After not finding a chaikhana, we left Amedi (which is build on a kind of natural citadel) to find a restaurant. At the restaurant, we asked someone to point out the gate. If you look at the rocks in the photo above, you will see a hole in the rocks. This is the gate I plan to visit next time.
And this final photo shows a friendly woman from Zakho who allowed us to take her picture. After taking the photo, her brother (also wearing traditional clothing) pointed out the gate to us in perfect English. It turns out he was visiting family in Kurdistan, but actually lives in London, Ontario!

Saddam's Palace

On the way to Amedi, our driver got a little lost. After backtracking a few times, Tf confirmed that we were on the right path as he recognized a wall and a road leading up to one of Saddam's former palaces. Our driver was loathe to go, but curiosity got the better of us and we climbed the hill. This first picture is of Tiziana with a view of Zawita (?) in the background. I am not really sure where we are because there are a couple of destroyed palaces in the region; both somewhere near Amedi. The one below is the one NOT on the top of a mountain that had to be accessed by helicopter. The other pictures are various views of the palace itself. What a beautiful setting and how horrible for the Kurds living below this place.





Is it possible this is the palace in this article that was blown up while the media watched as a political gesture?