Al-Athir lived a scholarly life in Mosul, often visited Baghdad and for a time traveled with Saladin's army in Syria.
Ibn al-Athir died in 1232/1233, and was buried in a cemetery in Mosul, at the district of Bab Sinjar.
[13] His tomb was built in the 20th century and was located in the middle of a road, after the cemetery was cleared for modernization.
[16][17] His tomb was also regarded in local Yazidi folklore as being the grave of a girl who married the Emir of Mosul but died of poisoning.
[18] The tomb of Ibn al-Athir was bulldozed by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in June 2014.