Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
No.16, Spring  2008


 

  Dr. Zvi Yehuda:

TOMBS OF SAINTS IN BABYLONIA

 

The tomb of prophet Ezekiel

 

Although there have been Jews in Assyria and Babylonia since the beginning of the eighth century BCE, no report concerning venerated tombs and associated pilgrimage rites dates from before the Muslim conquest of Iraq in the seventh century CE. Traditions and customs relating to the holy tombs of Babylonian Jewry would thus appear to have evolved under the influence of Muslim saint worship, which included in its veneration the tombs of Jewish saints as well. Some of the latter tombs are identified by both Jews and Muslims as belonging to one and the same person, while others are considered by each religion to belong to a different man.

During the thousand years and more, of the customs of veneration, associated with holy tombs under Muslim rule in Iraq there have been cases of Jewish saints whose tombs have been relegated to Muslim control. The reverse has also occurred: saints’ tombs previously under Muslim control that came into the hands of the Jews.

At the beginning of the period in question Babylonian Jews would go on pilgrimage (ziyara – literally: visit) to the tombs of saints during the High Holidays. But in the sixteenth century this changed. The favored time of pilgrimage became the Feast of Pentecost, which the Jews of Iraq called id al-ziyara – the holiday of visiting. The pilgrimage season lasted for about a month. Jews would come from all over Iraq, from the neighboring countries, and even from distant lands, to prostrate on the tombs, hold feasts, make requests, pay off vows, give to charity, and hold mass festivities involving prayer, singing and feasting. How frequently a site was visited and by how many pilgrims would depend on the saint’s religious and national importance as on the political and security situation, and on how easy or difficult it was to gain access to the tomb in question.

The tombs of saints which Babylonian Jews used to visit until the mass exodus from the country which occurred in the mid-twentieth century were: The tomb of prophet Ezekiel in the town of al-Kifil, the tomb of Ezra the Scribe in al-Uzayr, the tomb of Joshua The High Priest in Baghdad, the tomb of Shaykh Ishaq Gaon also in Baghdad, the tombs of the prophet Daniel and his companions in Kirkuk, the tomb of the prophet Jonah near Mosul, the tomb of the prophet Nahum in Elkosh.

  As long as considerable numbers of Jews lived in Iraq they took care of the tombs which they venerated, and raised the funds needed for their upkeep. However, this stopped when the Jews of Iraq left. The Iraqi authorities have neglected these tombs, except for that of the tomb of the prophet Jonah which is located inside a mosque, just as they have let synagogues, schools and other Jewish communal institutions to fall into ruin. Everything they owned was looted, some of the structures fell into ruin and others are in a state of decay, as we discovered from photographic evidence that has recently come into our possession.

 

[Excerpt from the article: Tombs of Saints in Babylonia – a Historical Survey, in: Z. Yehuda (ed.), Tombs of Saints and Synagogues in Babylonia, Studies and Documentation, Or-Yehuda 2006, pp. 9-15.]