Tikrit

Tikrit (Arabic: تِكْرِيت, romanized: Tikrīt [ˈtɪkriːt]) is a city in Iraq, located 140 kilometers (87 mi) northwest of Baghdad and 220 kilometers (140 mi) southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Tikrit is widely regarded as the cultural capital of Iraqi Sunni Arabs, with control of the city carrying symbolic weight due to its former prestige.

Originally created as a fort during the Assyrian empire, Tikrit became the birthplace of Muslim military leader Saladin. Saddam Hussein's birthplace was in a modest village (13 km) south of Tikrit, which is called "Al-Awja"; for that, Saddam bore the surname al-Tikriti. The inhabitants of this village were farmers. Many individuals from Saladin Governorate, especially from Tikrit, were government officials during the Ba'athist period until the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Following the invasion, the city has been a site of insurgency by Sunni militants, including the Islamic State who captured the city in June 2014. During the Second Battle of Tikrit from March to April 2015, which resulted in the displacement of 28,000 civilians, Iraqi government forces regained control of the city, with the city at peace since then.

As a fort along the Tigris (Akkadian: Idiqlat), the city is first mentioned in the Fall of Assyria Chronicle as being a refuge for the Babylonian king Nabopolassar after his failed assault on the city of Assur in 615 BC.

Tikrit is usually identified as the Hellenistic settlement Birtha.

Until the 6th century, Christianity within the Sasanian Empire was predominantly dyophysite under the Church of the East, however, as a result of Miaphysite missionary work, Tikrit became a major Miaphysite (Orthodox Christian) center under its first bishop, Ahudemmeh, in 559. Under Marutha of Tikrit, the bishopric was elevated into a maphrianate and the city's ecclesiastical jurisdiction extended as far as Central Asia.

The city remained predominantly Syriac Orthodox Christian in the early centuries of Islamic rule and gained fame as an important center of Syriac and Christian Arab literature. Some famous Christians from the city include its bishop Quriaqos of Tagrit who ascended to become the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, theologians Abu Zakariya Denha and Abu Raita, and translator Yahya ibn Adi.

From the ninth century Christians of Tikrit began to migrate northwards due to restrictive measures taken by some Muslim governors. Many settled in Mosul and villages in the Nineveh Plains, especially Bakhdida, as well as Tur Abdin. The Christian community received a setback when the governor ordered the destruction of the main cathedral known popularly as the "Green Church" in 1089. The maphrian and some of the Christians of Tikrit had to relocate to the Mor Mattai Monastery, where a village named Merki was established in the valley below the monastery. A later governor permitted the reconstruction of the cathedral. However, instability returned and the maphrian moved indefinitely to Mosul in 1156.

Regardless, the city remained an important center of the Syriac Orthodox Church until its destruction by Timur in the late 14th century. A Christian presence has not existed in the city since the 17th century.