Levels of Support
Courtyard Level – $20
Enter the courtyard of the shrine, and a flood of images washes over you. Those rooms along the wall – that was the school. You can almost still hear the voices of the children reciting their lessons. And during the Shavuot holiday, hundreds of families from all parts of Iraq would have filled the courtyard, spilling out into the town square at the end of the ceremony to feast and dance together with the locals. “If you have not been to the shrine of Nahum, you have not known true joy,” the saying went.
Help refurbish the courtyard and bring joy back to Alqosh with your donation of twenty dollars.
Arches Level – $50
The arches in the shrine are really special, and they contain mysteries we are still working to solve. Some of them are decorated with faded inscriptions in a variety of languages and alphabets, waiting to be cleaned, studied and decoded. Too, they are supported by columns in a variety of styles, which is unusual. Some of them were on the extreme verge of collapsing, and now have been propped up by wooden supports awaiting their structural repair. Which you can help us achieve with your donation of fifty dollars.
Guardian of the Keys Level – $100
When the last Jewish residents left Nineveh Province for Israel, they entrusted the keys to the shrine to a friendly family that lived next door. And they have taken that trust seriously, passing the keys down from one generation to the next. If you visit Alqosh you will meet the current custodian: and the next generation, his two young children who love to help him unlock the door for visitors. For a donation of 100 dollars, you can join our virtual group of guardians, helping ensure that future visitors can safely visit the shrine.
Foundation Level – Contact us.
Our engineers discovered why the anterior columns were leaning so hazardously – later additions to the ancient shrine, their 18th century builders had neglected to connect them to a foundation. Essentially, they were just set upon the ground. We will need to dismantle them, connect them to the foundation, then put them back together.
Nothing survives without a strong foundation – and that can be you. Please contact us for more information on how your larger donation can be acknowledged.
