In the city of Tuyserkan in western Iran stands a historic mausoleum that, according to longstanding tradition, marks the kever of the novi Chavakuk, one of the Trei Asar.

The site has been revered for generations by both the Jewish community of Persia and local Shiite Muslims, and is officially listed as monument number 969 on Iran’s national heritage registry.

Chavakuk lived during the time of the first Beis Hamikdash, in the days of King Menasheh ben Chizkiyahu of Yehudah. His nevuah grapples with a profound question: how ra and resha can prevail in the world of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

According to Persian tradition, Chavakuk served as a guardian of the Beis Hamikdash and was taken captive by the Babylonians following the destruction of Yerushalayim. That same tradition maintains that he later passed away in Persia and was buried in Tuyserkan.

The present structure dates back to the Seljuk period in the 13th century. However, local traditions indicate that the site had already been associated with his kever long before the rise of Islam.

The building is constructed of brick in an octagonal shape, standing 12 meters tall, and topped with a distinctive cone-shaped dome rising another seven meters. A striking and unusual feature is the presence of Magen Dovid designs engraved into the exterior walls, incorporated as part of the structure itself. The actual kever is located in an underground crypt beneath the dome.

In 1372, antiquities thieves broke into the compound and dug tunnels in search of valuables. During the investigation that followed, the underground crypt was uncovered. Local accounts relate that the body of the novi was found intact and preserved.

Over the years, the site has undergone multiple restorations, and in the 20th century it was formally designated as a national monument. In 1960, the Iranian government even issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring the site.

The exact location of the kever of Chavakuk remains a matter of dispute. Tanach does not specify where he was buried, and a number of differing traditions have developed. As early as the fourth century, Eusebius of Caesarea recorded that the kever was located 12 mil from Beit Guvrin, south of Beit Shemesh. Professor Zev Vilnai suggested this might refer to the village of Jaba in the Gush Etzion region, near ruins known as Lavik. However, Eusebius himself writes that the site was at a place called Ein Ke’ilah, identified today with Khirbet Qila near the Beit Guvrin–Chevron road.

This may correspond to the biblical Ke’ilah, the city that Dovid Hamelech saved from the Pelishtim, as described in Sefer Shmuel, and listed among the cities of the lowlands of Yehudah in Sefer Yehoshua. In the fifth century, the bishop of Beit Guvrin claimed to have discovered the remains of Chavakuk at that location.

In the 12th century, Peter the Deacon wrote that the kever was located at a place called Jakuk, also near Beit Guvrin.

At the same time, a strong mesorah among the Yidden of Eretz Yisroel places the kever in the Lower Galilee. That site is situated near Route 65, south of the Kadarim junction and west of the modern community of Chukok, whose name itself is derived from the biblical Chukok. The nearby Arab village of Yakuk preserved the ancient name as well.

As early as 1210, Rav Shmuel bar Shimshon wrote during his aliyah l’regel: “We found the kever of Chavakuk in the village of Chukok.” Many other travelers later recorded visiting the site, including Rav Yaakov Hashaliach, Rav Menachem HaChevroni, Rav Ehstori HaParchi in his sefer Kaftor VaFerach, and Rav Yitzchak ben Alfra.

From the 11th century onward, Jewish travelers frequently referenced Chukok in connection with the kever of Chavakuk, and Rav Ehstori HaParchi even identified remains of an ancient beis knesses there.

The current tziyun at that location is a stone structure topped with a blue dome, surrounded by ancient oak trees.

Until today, Iranian Jews  continue to travel to Tuyserkan to daven at the kever. The site stands as a powerful reminder of the long-standing presence of Yidden in Persia—dating back to Golus Bavel—a presence whose traces remain visible in the kivrei nevi’im, ancient batei knesses, and a small but steadfast kehilla holding on to its identity under the Islamic regime.