Built by the Artuqid Turkmens in the mid-12th century, between about 1147 and 1167, and at the time its central arch was one of the largest in the world, if not the largest. The bridge was repaired by Ayyubid Kurdish and Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen rulers during the 14th and 15th centuries and appears to have eventually collapsed in the early or mid-17th century. The bridge's ruined piers still stand (two of them in the Tigris River), as does one arch. The ruins of the bridge are expected to be submerged.

I group many pictures taken of, at or from the bridge here.