Wadi Al-Salam: Magnificent Ancient Cemetery in Iraq is Largest in the World

Wadi Al-Salam, meaning Valley of Peace in Arabic, is an ancient Islamic cemetery located near the holy city of Najaf, Iraq.  From an aerial view, it looks like a sprawling city.  However, its residents are not from the land of the living. This record-breaking cemetery contains approximately five millions bodies, making it the largest graveyard on earth.  With graves stretching as far as the eye can see, there are more tombs here than the population of most cities.  Ancient prophets, imams, kings, scientists, and civilians have been buried at this cemetery for close to 1,500 years and it is estimated that 500,000 bodies continue to be placed at the site each year, many of the more recent additions being soliders and militants killed in fighting Daesh.

Enormous City of the Dead

While Najaf is one of Iraq’s biggest cities, with a population close to 600,000, the adjoining “city of the dead” has a population of millions. The enormous cemetery covers an area of 1485.5 acres, which is about the size of a small town in the U.S.  It contains the remains of millions of ordinary citizens as well as hundreds of revered Islamic religious figures, clerics and political and social leaders.  The site is also located close to the holy shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib.  Because of this, nearly all of Iraq’s Shi’a Muslim population requests to be buried here.

Wadi Al-Salam cemetery at night (Wikimedia Commons)