Al-Shaheed Monument

알샤히드 기념비

The Al-Shaheed Monument, also called the Martyr's Memorial, is a large memorial in Baghdad, Iraq. It was built to honour Iraqi soldiers killed in the Iran–Iraq War, and today it is generally seen as a memorial to all Iraqi martyrs.

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At a glance

Country: Iraq
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Built: 1983
Height: 40 m
Type: Monument

Quick answers

Where is Al-Shaheed Monument?

Al-Shaheed Monument is in Baghdad, Iraq.

When was Al-Shaheed Monument built?

Al-Shaheed Monument was built in 1983.

How tall is Al-Shaheed Monument?

Al-Shaheed Monument is about 40 m tall.

Baghdad's memorial to the dead of the Iran–Iraq War: a turquoise dome split in two halves around an eternal flame.

It was designed by the Iraqi sculptor Ismail Fatah al-Turk and built with the architect Saman Kamal and the Baghdad Architecture Group between 1981 and 1983. The monument stands on a circular platform 190 metres across, in the middle of an artificial lake. On the platform sits a 40-metre turquoise dome split into two halves, with an eternal flame burning between them. It is on the al-Rusafa side of Baghdad.

Why was it built?

The monument was part of a broader government programme in the 1980s to build public works that would beautify Baghdad and create national pride. It was commissioned at a time when the government of Saddam Hussein was spending a lot of money on new monuments and statues, and it also served the aim of glorifying his image as a leader.

One of three monuments

Al-Shaheed is one of three monuments built to remember the suffering of the eight-year war. The first was the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in 1982, followed by Al-Shaheed in 1983 and then the Victory Arch in 1989. Together they form a visual and symbolic unit. The split turquoise dome resembles the domes of the Abbasid era, and its two halves are offset. Under the dome, an underground museum lies beneath a flagpole.