Nil (Iraq)



an-Nīl was a city of medieval Iraq, located at the modern site of Niliyah. It was founded by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Umayyad governor of Iraq, on the canal known as the Shatt en-Nil, which was named after the Nile river. Both the canal and the city were built as part of a land reclamation project intended to increase the population of the area.

In the late 10th century, the Christian bishopric of Nippur, 50 km to the southeast, was relocated to Nīl.

Nīl survived the Mongol conquest of Iraq in 1258 and continued to flourish for nearly a century thereafter, even while most other settlements in the area declined. It appears to have been abandoned around 1350.

The ruins at Niliyah show that medieval Nīl was a large city, with settlement on both sides of the Shatt en-Nil for over 1 km. A bridge made of baked bricks, identified as the Qanṭara al-Māsī, joined the two sides. To the southeast were a brick factory and a small square tomb.