volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Early History of MSsul. 31
Al-Mawsil, or Mosul, as a fine large town, with good
markets, and surrounded with beautiful gardens. Soon
after the Arabs became masters of Mosul they joined it
by means of a bridge of boats to the town which had
sprung up about the ruins of Nineveh on the eastern
bank, and the town greatly prospered. Its houses were
strong, and built of the grey alabaster which is brought
from quarries in Jabal Maklub, and it was said to be about
one-third of the size of Al-Basrah. The Mosque built on
the river bank by Marwan II (about 749 ?) was a fine and
decorative building, and the strong " square " Castle
(Al-Murabba'ah) which stood on a slight elevation gave
dignity as well as protection to the town. Benjamin of
Tudela, who was in Mosul about 1173, says of it : "This
city, which is mentioned in Scripture as 'Ashur the
Great,' is situated on the confines of Persia, and is of
great extent and very ancient. It stands on the banks
of the Tigris, and is united by a bridge with Nineveh.
There are 7,000 Jews in it. Although Nineveh hes in
ruins, there are numerous inhabited villages and small
townships on its site. Nineveh is distant one parasang
from the town of Arbil, and stands on the Tigris. Mosul
contains the synagogues of Obadiah, of Jonah ben Amithai,
and of Nahum, the Elkoshite."* At this time the town
was protected by high walls, and a very deep moat,
and its suburbs were populous, and possessed many
mosques and religious houses of the Christians and was
famous for its hospital.
Ibn Batutah visited Mosul in the middle of the fourteenth
century, and he says that it was " ancient and
rich." Its Castle was then called "Al-Hadba," i.e., the
"humpbacked," because it was built on a rounded rise
in the ground, and it was said to be impregnable by
reason of its massive wall, flanked with towers. A large
wide street ran between the government buildings and
the town, and joined Upper and Lower Mosul. The town
had two very thick, strong walls, with towers at frequent
' Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin, ed. Asher, London, 1840, p. 91.