an-Nīl was a city of medieval Iraq, located at the modern site of Niliyah.[1] [2] It was founded by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the Umayyad governor of Iraq, on the canal known as the Shatt en-Nil, which was named after the Nile river.[3] Both the canal and the city were built as part of a land reclamation project intended to increase the population of the area.[4]
In the late 10th century, the Christian bishopric of Nippur, 50 km to the southeast, was relocated to Nīl.[5]
Nīl survived the Mongol conquest of Iraq in 1258 and continued to flourish for nearly a century thereafter, even while most other settlements in the area declined. It appears to have been abandoned around 1350.[6]
The ruins at Niliyah show that medieval Nīl was a large city, with settlement on both sides of the Shatt en-Nil for over 1 km. A bridge made of baked bricks, identified as the Qanṭara al-Māsī, joined the two sides. To the southeast were a brick factory and a small square tomb.[7]