Middle East - Anthony Ham [185]
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KIRKUK
050 / pop 755,700
The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is a kaleidoscope of ethnic groups, and a tinderbox waiting to explode. Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen all lay claim to Kirkuk. Kurds consider it part of their historical homeland and are seeking to make it the capital of the Kurdish Regional Government. Arabs and most Turkomans want the city and its oil wealth to remain under central government control. Lawmakers have proposed a power-sharing plan, but at the time of writing, the ‘Kirkuk Question’ remained unanswered. A referendum asking Kirkuk residents whether they want to be part of Arab Iraq or Iraqi Kurdistan has been repeatedly delayed.
Apart from oil, Kirkuk has little to offer. Bombings and shootings are common, giving this dismal city a feeling of the old ‘Wild West.’
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THE BIG DIG
‘I think it’s true to say that Iraq, more than anywhere else, is the cradle of civilisation and the country is one vast archaeological site,’ says Dr John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum’s Middle East department. Just how many sites there are is impossible to quantify, he says. ‘With the exception of the desert, anywhere you dig in Iraq you will find an archaeological site. That reflects the fact that there have been continuous civilisations and settlements here for 8000 years and it was very prosperous in antiquity,’ says Curtis.
The most important archaeological sites in Iraq are Ashur, Babylon, Hatra, Khorsabad, Nimrud, Nineveh, Samarra and Ur. The three that follow are located in and around Mosul.
Nineveh
The ancient ruins of Nineveh are located on the outskirts of modern-day Mosul. Some historians now believe the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have been confused with gardens that actually did exist in Ninevah.
Nimrud
Nimrud, the second capital of Assyria, is 37km southeast of Mosul and contains several buildings, the most impressive being King Ashurnasirpal II’s palace and the Temple of Nabu, the God of Writing.
Hatra
Hatra, 110km southwest of Mosul, is one of the best preserved and youngest of Iraq’s archaeological sites, dating to the 1st century AD. A Unesco World Heritage site, it’s covered by dozens of temples, tombs and columns. If it looks familiar, it’s because Hatra was used in the opening scene of the 1973 film The Exorcist.
Iraqi archaeologists are undertaking a few small-scale excavations around the country, but since the 2003 war began, it has been too dangerous for foreign archaeologists to visit. Archaeological work in Iraq has mainly switched from research to protecting and preserving sites from looting and damage. The British Museum’s Iraq Project has been at the forefront of that mission. Dr Curtis and his colleagues have made several brief trips to Iraq to assess damage at several sites, including a 2004 visit to Babylon that led to a scathing report highly critical of coalition military activity around the ruins.
The international community including Unesco, the Global Heritage Fund and the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage in Iraq are working hard to save Iraq’s cultural heritage. Ashur and Samarra were recently added to Unesco’s list of World Heritage sites; Babylon is a candidate for future inclusion. Until then, archaeologists – and tourists – are waiting for the day when they can return to explore this rich history.
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MOSUL
pop 3 million
Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city, and its most ethnically diverse. It has the country’s largest number of Christians and significant numbers of Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans and Yazidis. Since 2003, thousands of minorities have fled the predominantly Arab city to escape violence and ethnic strife. As of late 2008, the area between Mosul and Tal Afar was one of the last strongholds for Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist groups, making it one