The Monastery of Saint Elijah, or Dair Mar Elia (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܐܝܠܝܐ; Arabic: دير مار إيليا), was located in Mosul, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq.
In 1743, the Persian leader Tahmaz Nadir Shah damaged the monastery and killed the 150 monks who lived there, after they refused to convert to Islam.
[citation needed] The structure, along with its neighboring reservoir and natural mineral water springs, were cared for by the Chaldean Catholic Church, and Christian pilgrims continued to visit the ruins.
[7] During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the monastery was damaged by Iraqi tank units, which trashed rooms and filled a cistern with garbage.
American soldiers vandalized the monastery by inscribing graffiti on the walls and by whitewashing the chapel, destroying its 600-year-old murals in the process.
The journalist James Foley, who was later beheaded by ISIL, wrote that the site was being saved "for future generations of Iraqis who will hopefully soon have the security to appreciate it.