12th Century Prayer Room Found under Mosque in Iraq’s Mosul

Excavations around the Al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul, which was heavily damaged by ISIS in 2017. (AFP)
Excavations around the Al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul, which was heavily damaged by ISIS in 2017. (AFP)
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12th Century Prayer Room Found under Mosque in Iraq’s Mosul

Excavations around the Al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul, which was heavily damaged by ISIS in 2017. (AFP)
Excavations around the Al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul, which was heavily damaged by ISIS in 2017. (AFP)

The foundations of a prayer hall from the 12th century have been discovered under the Al-Nuri mosque -- where the ISIS group once proclaimed their so-called "caliphate" -- in Iraq's Mosul, site managers said Tuesday.

The mosque, which along with its iconic leaning minaret was severely damaged by ISIS during the battle to dislodge the jihadists from Mosul in 2017, has been undergoing reconstruction.

The prayer room was found during excavation underneath the mosque, according to Khaireddine Nasser, director of the department of antiquities and heritage in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.

Four additional rooms for the performance of ablutions were also discovered under the prayer room, Nasser said.

Those rooms "are interconnected and built of stone and plaster".

The discovery allows for "better knowledge of the surface of Al-Nuri mosque and this ancient prayer room, but also the ablution basins" found there.

Each ablution room measures three meters (almost 10 feet) in height and 3.5 meters in width, Nasser said.

"They are about six meters underground," he added.

He said the discovery "amplifies the importance of this historical and archaeological site".

The excavation was carried out by his department, with support from UNESCO and funding from the United Arab Emirates.

"The foundations of the old prayer hall are more extensive than those of the prayer hall built in the 1940s", he added.

The mosque was constructed in 1172, but much of it was destroyed and reconstructed in 1942, with the exception of its minaret, which endured.

UNESCO raised more than $100 million in 2019 as part of its initiative to "revive the spirit of Mosul". About half of the funds were pledged by the UAE.

Reconstruction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.



US Tourist Arrested for Landing on Forbidden Indian Tribal Island

People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)
People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)
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US Tourist Arrested for Landing on Forbidden Indian Tribal Island

People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)
People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)

Indian police said on Thursday they had arrested a US tourist who sneaked onto a highly restricted island carrying a coconut and a can of Diet Coke to a tribe untouched by the modern world.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel -- part of India's Andaman Islands -- in a bid to meet the Sentinelese people, who are believed to number only around 150.

All outsiders, Indians and foreigners alike, are banned from travelling within five kilometers (three miles) of the island to protect the Indigenous people from outside diseases and to preserve their way of life.

"The American citizen was presented before the local court after his arrest and is now on a three-day remand for further interrogation," Andaman and Nicobar Islands police chief HGS Dhaliwal told AFP.

Satellite photographs show a coral reef-fringed island -- stretching to some 10 kilometers (six miles) at its widest point -- with thick forest and white sand beaches.

The Sentinelese last made international headlines in 2018 after they killed John Allen Chau, 27, an American missionary who landed illegally on their beach.

Chau's body was not recovered and there were no investigations over his death because of the Indian law prohibiting anyone from going to the island.

India sees the wider Andaman and Nicobar Islands as strategically sited on key global shipping lanes. They are closer to Myanmar than mainland India.

New Delhi plans to invest at least $9 billion to expand naval and air bases, troop accommodations, the port and the main city in the region.

Dhaliwal said Polyakov kept blowing a whistle off the shore of North Sentinel Island for about an hour to attract the tribe's attention before he went ashore.

"He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video before returning to his boat," Dhaliwal said.

"A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island."

Police said Polyakov was arrested late on Monday, about two days after he went ashore, and had visited the region twice in recent months.

He first used an inflatable kayak in October 2024 but was stopped by hotel staff, police said on Thursday. Polyakov made another unsuccessful attempt during a visit in January 2025.

This time Polyakov used another inflatable boat with a motor to travel the roughly 35 kilometers (22 miles) of open sea from the main archipelago.

The Sentinelese, whose language and customs remain a mystery to outsiders, shun all contact and have a record of hostility to anyone who tries to get close.

A photograph issued by the Indian Coast Guard and Survival International two decades ago showed a Sentinelese man aiming a bow and arrow at a passing helicopter.

Indian authorities have prosecuted any locals who have aided attempts to enter the island and are trying to identify anyone who may have helped Polyakov.

The Andamans are also home to the 400-strong Jarawa tribe, who activists say are also threatened by contact from outsiders. Tourists have previously bribed local officials in a bid to spend time with the Jarawa.