Heritage of Iraq's remaining Jewish community at risk - in pictures

The country's community was once one of the largest in the Middle East

A view of the dilapidated Sasson synagogue in Iraq's northern city of Mosul. Iraq's Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East but outside of the autonomous Kurdistan region it has dwindled to a handful. All photos by AFP

A Jewish prayer book at the site believed to be the tomb of the Prophet Nahum at a synagogue bearing his name in the northern Iraqi town of Al Qosh, about 50 kilometres north of Mosul.

A relief in Hebrew at the Prophet Nahum synagogue. Iraq's Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East but has dwindled to a handful. Their heritage, including the synagogue, is threatened in a country torn apart by decades of war and corruption.

A boy stands outside the dilapidated Ezekiel synagogue in the northern Iraqi village of Shush, about 100km east the city of Dohuk.

The interior of the Prophet Nahum synagogue, which dates in its present form to the year 1796. While historical treasures ruined by extremists are being restored in Iraq, rare international efforts at saving the country's Jewish heritage have not been enough.

Joseph Elias Yalda, director of the Heritage Museum of Al Qosh, points to old photographs of the Prophet Nahum synagogue.

The Prophet Nahum synagogue in northern Iraq.

A view of a pottery jar from the Prophet Nahum synagogue. It believed to be more than a thousand years old, according to the synagogue's director of maintenance.

A man walks outside the Prophet Nahum synagogue (dating in its present form to the year 1796), with the Mar Gorgis Chaldean Church seen in the background, in Iraq's northern town of al-Qosh, some 50 kilometres north of Mosul, on February 3, 2022. - Iraq's Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East but has dwindled to a handful, outside of the autonomous Kurdistan region. Their precious heritage, including the synagogue, is threatened in a country torn apart by decades of war, corruption, and armed groups extorting whatever they want. While historical treasures ruined by jihadists are being restored in Iraq, rare international efforts at saving the Jewish heritage have not been enough. (Photo by Ismael ADNAN / AFP)

The interior of the dilapidated Sasson synagogue in Iraq's northern city of Mosul. Iraq's Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East but has dwindled to a handful.

Baghdad's Meir Tweig synagogue. The Jewish community's heritage, including the synagogue, is threatened in a country torn apart by decades of war and corruption.

Sefer Torah scrolls inside Baghdad's Meir Tweig synagogue.

Baghdad's Meir Tweig synagogue.

Baghdad's Meir Tweig synagogue. Iraq's Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East but has dwindled to a handful.

A close-up view of a relief in Hebrew at the entrance of the dilapidated Sasson synagogue in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

A view of the exterior of the Prophet Nahum synagogue, about 50 kilometres north of Mosul.

Framed scriptures and images in a Baghdad synagogue.

The dilapidated Sasson synagogue in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

The Sasson synagogue in Mosul.

The Prophet Nahum synagogue in the northern Iraqi town of Al Qosh.

Baghdad's Meir Tweig synagogue.

A boy walks inside the dilapidated Ezekiel synagogue, in Shush, northern Iraq.

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