A general view shows the front entrance of a mosque at the Jewish shrine of Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel, referred to as Dhu al-Kifl in two Koranic verses and said to have raised the dead. A 14th-century brick minaret tilts outside the entrance to the shrine, but the inside the mosque is shaped like a synagogue, with old wooden cabinets that used to hold Torah scrolls and block-like Hebrew script running along the old stone walls beneath a Turkish-style dome with medieval Islamic floral designs.
An Iraqi security guard stands at the entrance of a mosque at the Jewish shrine of Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel, referred to as Dhu al-Kifl in two Koranic verses and said to have raised the dead. A 14th-century brick minaret tilts outside the entrance to the shrine, but the inside the mosque is shaped like a synagogue, with old wooden cabinets that used to hold Torah scrolls and block-like Hebrew script running along the old stone walls beneath a Turkish-style dome with medieval Islamic floral designs. Arabic writing at the mosque's entrance (R) reads: "The tomb of the prophet Dhu al-Kifl."
A Muslim woman kisses one of the tombs belonging to the four companions of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel at his tomb, today a mosque, in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29 2009. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. Christian, Muslim and Jewish pilgrims in the Middle East have for centuries travelled long distances to visit each other's shrines to pray for health, well-being and fertility, a custom that goes back to pagan times.
A Muslim man prays at a mosque housing the tombs of the four companions of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel at his shrine, today a mosque, in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29 2009. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. Christian, Muslim and Jewish pilgrims in the Middle East have for centuries travelled long distances to visit each other's shrines to pray for health, well-being and fertility, a custom that goes back to pagan times.
A Muslim girl kisses one of the tombs of the four companions of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel at his shrine, today a mosque, in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29 2009. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. Christian, Muslim and Jewish pilgrims in the Middle East have for centuries travelled long distances to visit each other's shrines to pray for health, well-being and fertility, a custom that goes back to pagan times
KRAUSS Muslim men walk around the wooden clad tomb of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel at his shrine, now a mosque, in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29 2009. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites
A Muslim man sits praying in one of the alcoves at the shrine of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel, now a mosque, in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29, 2009. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites
KRAUSS A Muslim man leaves after praying at a mosque housing the tombs of the four companions of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29, 2009.
A Muslim woman kisses the tomb of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel at his shrine, now a mosque, in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29 2009. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites
KRAUSS Hebrew script is seen on the walls of a mosque built at the site of the shrine of Ezekiel -- the Jewish prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the little town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 29, 2009. Nearly everyone who could read the Hebrew verses carved into the walls of Ezekiel's tomb left Iraq almost 60 years ago, but their memory is preserved in what is today a revered Muslim shrine. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites
The tomb of the prophet Daniel is covered in a green cloth at a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 225 kms north of Baghdad, on April 22, 2009. Jews would hike up the city's 4,600-year-old citadel to seek blessings at the -- likely apocryphal -- tomb of the prophet Daniel, now a Muslim shrine decked with Islam's green banners. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites.
KRAUSS Tomb guardian Faruq Mohammed Saleh recites a prayer as he walk up to the tomb of the prophet Daniel at a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 225 kms north of Baghdad, on April 22, 2009. Jews would hike up the city's 4,600-year-old citadel to seek blessings at the -- likely apocryphal -- tomb of the prophet Daniel, now a Muslim shrine decked with Islam's green banners. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites.
Tomb guardian Faruq Mohammed Saleh lifts the green cover placed over the tomb of the prophet Hananiah, or Shadrach in Hebrew, at a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 225 kms north of Baghdad, on April 22, 2009.
KRAUSS An Iraqi man washes down the pathway leading to the tomb of the prophet Daniel at a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 225 kms north of Baghdad, on April 22, 2009. Jews would hike up the city's 4,600-year-old citadel to seek blessings at the -- likely apocryphal -- tomb of the prophet Daniel, now a Muslim shrine decked with Islam's green banners. Between 1948 and 1951 nearly all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community fled amid a region-wide outbreak of nationalist violence, but today Iraq's Muslims and Christians still visit its most important holy sites
An Iraqi Muslim man stands inside a mosque, with Hebrew script inscribed on its entrance arch, at the shrine of Ezekiel -- the Jewish prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad, on April 21 2009.
The 14th-century brick minaret of the Dhu al-Kifl mosque tilts outside the entrance to the Jewish shrine of Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel, referred to as Dhu al-Kifl in two Koranic verses and said to have raised the dead
An Iraqi man walks past the 14th-century brick minaret of the Dhu al-Kifl mosque outside the entrance to the Jewish shrine of Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad
An Iraqi man leaves an indoor market as he walks towards the 14th-century brick minaret of the Dhu al-Kifl mosque at the site of the Jewish shrine of Ezekiel -- the prophet who followed the Judeans into the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC -- in the Iraqi town of Kifl, south of Baghdad. Muslims revere nearly all the central religious figures from Judaism and Christianity, including Ezekiel, referred to as Dhu al-Kifl in two Koranic verses and said to have raised the dead. The interior of the mosque is shaped like a synagogue, with old wooden cabinets that used to hold Torah scrolls and block-like Hebrew script running along the old stone walls beneath a Turkish-style dome with medieval Islamic floral designs
