Bronze Age to Hellenistic period As a fort along the
Tigris (
Akkadian:
Idiqlat), the city is first mentioned in the
Fall of Assyria Chronicle as being a refuge for the
Babylonian king
Nabopolassar after his failed assault on the city of
Assur in 615 BC. Tikrit is usually identified as the
Hellenistic settlement
Birtha.
Christian presence Until the
6th century, Christianity within the
Sasanian Empire was predominantly
dyophysite under the
Church of the East, however, as a result of
Miaphysite missionary work, Tikrit became a major Miaphysite (Oriental Orthodox Christian) center under its first bishop,
Ahudemmeh, in 559. Under
Marutha of Tikrit, the bishopric was elevated into a
maphrianate and the city's ecclesiastical jurisdiction extended as far as Central Asia. The city remained predominantly
Syriac Orthodox Christian in the early centuries of
Islamic rule and gained fame as an important center of
Syriac and
Christian Arab literature. Some famous Christians from the city include its
bishop Quriaqos of Tagrit who ascended to become the patriarch of the
Syriac Orthodox Church, theologians Abu Zakariya Denha and
Abu Raita, and translator
Yahya ibn Adi. The Christian community received a setback when the governor ordered the destruction of the main cathedral known popularly as the "
Green Church" in 1089. The maphrian and some of the Christians of Tikrit had to relocate to the
Mor Mattai Monastery, where a village named
Merki was established in the valley below the monastery. A later governor permitted the reconstruction of the cathedral. However, instability returned and the maphrian moved indefinitely to Mosul in 1156. Tikrit was briefly controlled by the
Nizari Ismailis. After a failed
Seljuk campaign against it, the Nizaris handed it over to the local Shia Arabs there. The Arab
Uqaylid dynasty took hold of Tikrit in 1036.
Saladin was born there around 1138. The modern province of which Tikrit is the capital is named after him. The city was devastated in 1393 by
Timur. During the
Ottoman period Tikrit existed as a small settlement that belonged to the
Rakka Eyalet; its population never exceeded 4,000–5,000. Hussein was buried near Tikrit in his hometown of
Al-Awja following his hanging on 30 December 2006.
Iraq War of 2003 and aftermath 's palace in Tikrit in 2003, after it was abandoned In the opening weeks of the
2003 US-led invasion, many observers speculated that Hussein would return to Tikrit as his "last stronghold". The city was subjected to intense aerial bombardment meant to throw Hussein's elite Republican Guard troops out of the city. On 13 April 2003, several thousand
U.S. Marines and other coalition members aboard 300 armored vehicles converged on the town, meeting little or no resistance. With the fall of Tikrit, U.S. Army Major General
Stanley McChrystal said, "I would anticipate that the major combat operations are over." However, during the subsequent
occupation, Tikrit became the scene of a number of
resistance attacks against
Coalition forces. It is commonly regarded as being the northern angle of the "
Sunni Triangle" within which the resistance was at its most intense. In June 2003,
Abid Hamid Mahmud, Hussein's Presidential Secretary and the Ace of Diamonds on the
most wanted 'Deck of Cards,' was captured in a joint raid by U.S. Special Operations Forces and the 1st Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment of 1st Brigade,
4th Infantry Division. After the fall of
Baghdad, Hussein was in and around Tikrit. He was hidden by relatives and supporters for about six months. During his final period in hiding, he lived in a small hole just outside the town of
ad-Dawr, 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Tikrit on the eastern bank of the Tigris, a few kilometers southeast of Al-Awja (although the story of having been found in a hole specifically has come into question as being a piece of war-time propaganda). The missions which resulted in Hussein's capture were assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Teams of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Colonel
James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division. The U.S. Army finally captured Saddam Hussein on December 13, 2003 during
Operation Red Dawn. During the 2003 invasion,
AFN Iraq ("Freedom Radio") broadcast news and entertainment within Tikrit, among other locations. On 22 November 2005, HHC
42nd Infantry Division New York Army National Guard, handed over control of Hussein's primary palace complex in Tikrit to the governor of Saladin Province, who represented the Iraqi government, discontinuing the existence of what once was FOB Danger. The palace complex had served as a headquarter for
U.S. 4th Infantry Division,
U.S. 1st Infantry Division, and
42nd Infantry Division. The palace complex now serves several purposes for the Iraqi police and army, including headquarters and jails. The U.S. military subsequently moved their operations to al Sahra Airfield, later known as
Camp Speicher, northwest of Tikrit. Hussein's primary palace complex contained his own palace, one built for his mother and his sons and also included a man-made lake, all enclosed with a wall and towers. Plans for the palace grounds when originally returned to the Iraqi people included turning it into an exclusive and lush resort. However, within weeks of turning over the palace, it was ravaged, and its contents, (furniture, columns, even light switches), were stolen and sold on the streets of Tikrit. The 402nd Civil Affairs Detachment of the U.S. Army, and the government of Salah ad Din province, began plans to improve local economic conditions. One of the many projects they are working on is building an industrial vocational school in the Tikrit area. The school will teach local people skills in different fields of technology, which will help to build and improve Iraq's economic stability. The curriculum will educate men and women in multiple occupational fields such as the production of high-tech products, plastic production technology, masonry, carpentry, petroleum equipment maintenance and repair, farm machinery and automotive repair. This self-supporting educational institution owns a textile mill where many of the graduates will work producing uniforms. The mill is scheduled to begin producing and selling products within the year, with the profits from the mill going to fund the school. The vocational school's operation, support and funding are modeled after a system South Korea used in another part of Iraq.
ISIL insurgence (2011-15) The
Islamic State of Iraq launched
an attack on 29 March 2011 that killed 65 people and wounded over 100. Reuters news agency included the attack in its list of deadliest attacks in 2011.), site of the
Camp Speicher massacre by the
Islamic State On 11 June 2014, during the
Northern Iraq offensive, the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (IS)
took control of the city. Hours later, the Iraqi Army made an attempt to recapture the city, which resulted in heavy fighting. On 12 June,
IS executed at least 1,566
Iraqi Air Force cadets from
Camp Speicher at Tikrit. At the time of the attack there were between 4,000 and 11,000 unarmed cadets in the camp. The
Iraqi government blamed the massacre on both IS and members of the
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region. By July 2014, government forces had withdrawn from Tikrit. On 25 September 2014,
Islamist militants destroyed the
Assyrian Church there that dated back to 700 AD. The historic
Al-Arba'een Mosque was detonated as well, damaging the cemetery surrounding it. In March 2015, the
Iraqi Army along with the
Hashd Shaabi popular forces launched
an operation to retake Tikrit from IS. On 31 March, the Iraqi government claimed the city had been recaptured by the Iraqi Army with the help of
Shia militias. ==Notable people==