Restoring Qubahan, the 500-Year-Old 'Oxford of Kurdistan'

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - At the foot of Amedi's towering limestone plateau, where centuries of history have accumulated beneath the walls of one of Kurdistan's oldest continuously inhabited settlements, craftsmen are carefully restoring a building that once stood among the region's foremost centers of learning. Known today as the Qubahan School, and remembered by generations of historians as the "Oxford of Kurdistan," the five-century-old institution is being revived through a conservation effort that seeks not only to preserve stone and mortar, but also to reconnect modern Kurdistan with one of the defining chapters of its intellectual history.

The restoration reaches far beyond architectural conservation. It represents an effort to revive the memory of a scholarly tradition that shaped religious thought, science and literature across a wide region, while ensuring that future generations can engage with a place where knowledge once flourished.

It also reflects the Kurdistan Region Government's broader strategy of safeguarding historic landmarks, strengthening cultural identity and encouraging sustainable heritage tourism through the preservation of sites that embody the Region's diverse past.

Few places illustrate that ambition more clearly than Amedi.

Perched atop a dramatic rocky plateau roughly 70 kilometers northeast of Duhok, the historic town has remained inhabited for more than two millennia. Its striking geography, surrounded by steep cliffs with limited room for expansion, has helped preserve its distinctive urban character while allowing successive civilizations to leave their mark.

Today, Amedi continues to attract visitors drawn not only by its natural beauty but increasingly by its archaeological, religious and historical significance.

Among its most treasured landmarks, none carries greater academic prestige than Qubahan.

Founded in the early sixteenth century during the Bahdinan Emirate, the institution was established under the patronage of Sultan Hussein Wali, whose reign coincided with a flourishing period of scholarship in the region.

Its name derives from the Arabic word qubba, meaning dome, a reference to the elegant domed architecture that once distinguished the complex.

Yet Qubahan was never simply a religious school.

For centuries it functioned as one of Kurdistan's principal centers of higher learning, attracting students and scholars from across Kurdistan, Persia, Anatolia and the Arab world. Within its classrooms, theological instruction existed alongside disciplines that reflected the breadth of medieval scholarship.

Students studied Quranic interpretation, Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence while also pursuing astronomy, medicine, philosophy, literature and linguistics.

Such intellectual diversity helped establish the institution's enduring reputation. While comparisons with renowned universities should be understood as symbolic rather than literal, historians have long regarded Qubahan as one of the most influential educational institutions in Kurdish history because of its regional reach and scholarly influence.

Its reputation rested not only on teaching but also on its remarkable library.

Historical accounts describe collections containing thousands of manuscripts covering theology, science, philosophy and literature. Many of those works disappeared during successive conflicts, invasions and fires that gradually diminished one of the region's richest repositories of knowledge. Although much of that written heritage has been lost, the surviving structure remains an irreplaceable witness to a period when Amedi occupied an important place on the intellectual map of the Middle East.

That historical significance explains why restoration has become such a priority.

According to Kurdistan24 reporting, conservation teams are working to preserve the building's original architectural character while reinforcing its structural integrity. Bekas Brifkani, Director of Duhok Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, has said weather conditions, including unusually heavy rainfall earlier this year, slowed progress, but restoration remains on course for completion later this year.

The work forms part of a broader partnership between the Kurdistan Region Government and France aimed at conserving some of the Region's most important historical monuments. Rather than replacing original features, specialists are focused on maintaining architectural authenticity while protecting fragile structures from further deterioration.

Qubahan is only one element of that wider preservation initiative.

Across Amedi, restoration projects are also underway at the historic mosque and its centuries-old minaret, the Chaldean Church, the ancient synagogue and the Pir Hazban shrine. Together, these landmarks tell the story of a town where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived alongside one another for generations, creating a rich religious landscape that continues to shape Amedi's identity.

Their preservation reinforces a broader historical narrative. Protecting individual monuments is important, but conserving them collectively allows visitors to better understand the cultural mosaic that has characterized the town for centuries.

Brifkani has emphasized that the long-term objective extends beyond conservation itself. Restored archaeological sites are expected to strengthen historical and cultural tourism while introducing visitors to Amedi's architectural heritage and tradition of peaceful coexistence.

That vision aligns with broader efforts across the Kurdistan Region to preserve places that reflect its diverse religious and cultural history.

From the sacred valley of Lalish, the spiritual heart of the Yazidi faith, to historic churches, mosques and shrines across Duhok, Erbil, Sulaimani and beyond, restoration projects increasingly serve both educational and cultural purposes. They help safeguard historic monuments while creating opportunities for responsible tourism that encourages visitors to engage with the Region's history rather than simply observe its landscapes.

Unlike conventional tourism centered primarily on scenery, heritage tourism invites deeper exploration of the communities, beliefs and institutions that shaped a society over centuries. In places like Amedi, that means understanding not only ancient walls and monuments but also the ideas that once flourished within them.

Qubahan embodies that connection between place and memory.

Although its classrooms fell silent generations ago, the institution continues to symbolize a period when scholarship crossed political and geographic boundaries, drawing students in pursuit of knowledge from across the wider region. Preserving its remaining architecture therefore protects more than a historic building; it safeguards a tangible link to Kurdistan's intellectual heritage.

As restoration nears completion, the renewed Qubahan School will stand not as a reconstruction of the past, but as a bridge between history and the future. Its restored walls will remind visitors that the strength of a civilization is measured not only by the monuments it builds, but also by the knowledge it preserves.

For the Kurdistan Region, ensuring that places like Qubahan endure is an investment in cultural memory, one that allows future generations to encounter the ideas, traditions and scholarship that helped define Kurdish history while reaffirming the enduring value of protecting a shared heritage.

Kurdistan24 journalist Kawa Jam contributed to this report.