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Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-

(Encyclopedia)Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-, nom de guerre of Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, 1971–2019, Iraqi jihadist leader. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he helped found a Sunni militia. Arres...

Nineveh

(Encyclopedia)Nineveh nĭnˈəvə [key], ancient city, capital of the Assyrian Empire, on the Tigris River opposite the site of modern Mosul, Iraq. A shaft dug at Nineveh has yielded a pottery sequence that can be ...

Tigris

(Encyclopedia)Tigris tīˈgrĭs [key], river of SW Asia, c.1,150 mi (1,850 km) long, rising in the Taurus Mts., E Turkey, and flowing SE through Iraq to join the Euphrates River, with which it forms the Shatt al Ar...

Saladin

(Encyclopedia)Saladin sălˈədĭn [key], Arabic Salah ad-Din, 1137?–1193, Muslim warrior and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, the great opponent of the Crusaders, b. Mesopotamia, of Kurdish descent. He lived for 10 year...

Kurds

(Encyclopedia)Kurds kûrds, ko͝ords [key], a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area, c.74,000 sq mi (191,660 sq km), in SW A...

Iraq

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Iraq or Irak both: ēräkˈ, ĭrăkˈ [key], officially Republic of Iraq, republic (2005 est. pop. 26,075,000), 167,924 sq mi (434,924 sq km), SW Asia. Iraq is bordered on the south by Kuwait, ...