Sacred mountain · Sinjar (Shingal)
Mount Sinjar Çiyayê Şingalê
The sacred massif above the Sinjar plain, dotted with shrines and a place of refuge during the 2014 siege.
Overview
About Mount Sinjar
Mount Sinjar is a long limestone massif rising above the surrounding plain, its slopes marked by shrines and villages. In Yazidi tradition the mountain itself is a sacred landscape, bound up with the community's identity and survival.
In August 2014 tens of thousands of Yazidis fled onto the mountain to escape ISIS, and the siege that followed became one of the defining episodes of the genocide. The mountain's role in that event is treated in the Genocide, Displacement & Justice section.
A sacred landscape is bound up with the community that lives on and around it. Its religious meaning and its recent history are treated separately and with care.
Locate & verify
Coordinates and external references
Coordinates are approximate and provided for orientation. They should be re-checked against an authoritative gazetteer before any operational use.
Source note
References for this place
This entry is an editorial synthesis of the references below, chosen for the place type. It reproduces no restricted or copyrighted text and should be expanded only after specialist review.
The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion
Bloomsbury, 2014. Anchor reference for Yazidi sacred sites, shrines, architecture, and material culture, including Lalish and the shrines of Sinjar and Sheikhan.
The Yezidi Oral Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan
Routledge, 2001. Reference for place, community, and identity in the Iraqi Yazidi heartland of Sheikhan and Sinjar.
“Yazidis i. General,” Encyclopaedia Iranica
Specialist overview of Yazidi history, geography, community, and identity across the homeland, the Caucasus, and the diaspora.