Iraq: A Journey from the Southern Marshes to the Ruins of Babylon

IraqBabylon, Nineveh, Baghdad, Ur, Mesopotamia, the death of Alexander the Great, the Arabian Desert, the Arabs of the wetlands, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Garden of Eden, the holy cities of Shiism... All this makes a trip through Iraq history today, when the first cities were founded, when the majestic ziggurats and walls of Babylon were built, when cuneiform writing was born and, in biblical terms, when Adam and Eve lived freely in the Garden of Eden.

The pity about Iraq is that in recent times the vision of the country has been conditioned by the American invasion in 2003, by the fall of the dictator Saddam Hussein (executed in 2006) and by the civil war that took place between 2014 and 2017. An unsafe country, but today the instability has spread to neighboring countries and it is worth traveling to Iraq in the company of Daniel González, a traveler who has been to that country sixteen times and who organizes trips with his agency, Baalbeck 7th Sky.

The Arabs of the wetlands

If we begin our journey to Iraq in the south of the country, in Basra we find a city of about two million inhabitants surrounded by desert and crossed by the Chat al-Arab (the river that flows from the confluence of the mythical Tigris and Euphrates). The wealth of oil wells and the fact that it has an exit port to the Persian Gulf make it an important city, where, in any case, it is difficult to find any trace of Sinbad the Sailor, the legendary character of Arabian NightsThe 40-degree temperature in May doesn't encourage people to go outside, but it's worth it, as this city, which was the seat of the Caliphate, still has some canals, old houses with latticed windows, notable mosques, an Armenian church, and an oriental bazaar.

If we must read a book when we go to Basra, it should be The Arabs of the Sea, where British explorer Wilfred Thesiger recalls his time spent between 1951 and 1958 in the marshes of southern Iraq, which then covered an area of fifteen thousand square kilometres.

Dictator Saddam Hussein destroyed a large part of these wetlands in the 1980s, but a restoration project began in 2003, and a large area is still preserved where the Mandians live, semi-nomadic people who build straw houses on floats. Sailing through the wetlands while watching water buffalo, birds and fishermen, and ending with a meal at a mudhif, one of the cathedral huts of the Mandians, is a pleasant experience that takes one back to the ancient times described in Thesiger's book.

The area, which is now threatened by salinization, is so fertile that it is no wonder that it is said that the Garden of Eden was in southern Iraq. In fact, there is a spot near the marshes where they claim this garden once extended, and even a withered tree that they say is the Adam's Tree. Nearby, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers join to overflow into the Persian Gulf.

The ziggurats of Ur and Uruk

The Ziggurat of Ur, a third-millennium site of worship for the moon goddess, stands out in the desert near Basra, amid the ruins of what was once the most important city in Sumer, a key element of early civilization.

The Sumerians say that the civilized world was created here, when the lands of freshwater joined those of saltwater. From there, the Sumerians built canals and created fertile lands and a trade that were the basis of their prosperity. But all this ended when the land dried up and the desert took over, so the river is now 17 kilometers from Ur.

Near the ziggurat, by the way, is the so-called House of Abraham, where they say the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived. The guide, Nazaraf, is proud to be the grandson of the man who accompanied British archaeologist Leonard Woolley in 1927, when the first excavations of the city were carried out and a treasure was found in the royal cemetery.

In the afternoon we visited Uruk, the ruins of a city even older than Ur. The ziggurat is more worn by the passage of time, but the remains of an ancient temple and the surrounding desert are impressive. A sign reminds us that it was here that cuneiform writing began, the first in history, used in its early days to count grain stocks.

Although the ground is littered with remains of ancient pottery, it's best not to pick anything up, as the Iraqi authorities are very critical of it. In 2022, a British tourist was caught at Baghdad airport with clothes in his luggage and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

The Walls of Babylon

The journey to northern Iraq continues with a stop in the town of Najaf to visit the tomb of Ali, considered the first imam of Shiism. Men and women enter separately, the women veiled from head to toe, all barefoot, and displaying great veneration in front of a tomb adorned with every kind of luxury. Surrounding the tomb is a large bazaar where you can find everything, including Barça shirts and children ready to sing the club's anthem.

Near the tomb is the vast Wadi us Salam cemetery (the Valley of Peace), said to be the largest in the world. Its expanse of more than 50 hectares is impressive. A walk among the tombs, under a blazing sun, reveals photographs of many of the buried. A poet curiously appears with a missile at his side. "Many devotees from other lands aspire to be buried here, to rise again alongside Imam Ali on the Day of Judgment," explains Daniel.

Kufa, along with Najaf, is along with Najaf, Samarra and Karbala One of the four holy cities of Shiism in Iraq and a center for Iraqi theologians. There is a large mosque filled with worshippers that demonstrates the relevance of Shiism in a country where 60% are Shia Muslims, 30% Sunni Muslims, and 1% Christians.

After this foray into Shiism, we continue the journey to Babylon, one of the highlights of the trip. We are fortunate to have air conditioning on the bus, as the heat rises steadily. Shortly before arriving in Babylon, we stop in front of a large stone portrait of the dictator Saddam Hussein, one of the few still remaining in Iraq. It is about five meters high and riddled with bullet holes, in memory of the US invasion and the civil war.

Entering Babylon through the reconstructed Ishtar Gate is thrilling. It's a shame the gate has been rebuilt on a smaller scale. A good part of the original walls are in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, where they were brought by German archaeologists, but within the ruins you have to use your imagination to try to reconstruct in memory what the great capital of the Babylonian Empire was like, where the legendary Alexander the Great died in 323 BC.

It's excessively hot in Babylon, an ancient city on the banks of the Euphrates River, as we walk through what remains of the avenue of processions and the ancient palaces, and the remains of a ziggurat. Not much remains of the ancient capital, but it's impressive to walk through its ancient streets, with a palm forest and the Euphrates River nearby. Images of the Lion of Babylon appear from time to time, and the signature of the mighty Nebuchadnezzar can be found on some walls.

Saddam Hussein rebuilt part of Babylon, and on the hill above it he built a palace that reflected his megalomania, which sought to link his government with that of ancient Babylon. However, after his fall, the palace was looted, and today anyone can enter to see the excellent views of Babylon and the Euphrates River, and the numerous graffiti that decorate its walls.

Baghdad

The legendary city of Baghdad is another highlight of a visit to Iraq. A few years ago, it was in the news for street fighting, the American invasion, bombs, the civil war... but today it's a vast city home to nine million people and six million cars. Consequently, there's almost constant traffic jams.

Our hotel, the Al-Rashid, is located in the so-called Green Zone, an oasis of safety within the chaotic capital. A boat ride on the Tigris River, or on foot through the bazaar and along Bookstore Street, with a monument to the poet Al-Munatabbi, gives you a glimpse into what Baghdad was like in the past, especially if you stop for tea at the Al-Shabandar café, which features photographs of historical figures like the orientalist Gertru.

Firdus Square, where the enormous statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 in images that went viral, seems missing today, perhaps because the memory of the war is still so vivid. Not far away, at the Palestine Hotel, the Spanish journalist José Couto was killed by the US military, and further away, Tahrir Square is still the scene of demonstrations.

If there's one must-see in Baghdad, it's the National Museum, an archaeological institution founded in 1926, of which archaeologist Gertrude Bell was its first director. It houses numerous treasures from the various civilizations of Mesopotamia, but it's hard to forget the looting it suffered beginning in 2003, during the US invasion. In 2021, the Americans announced they would return 17,000 stolen objects, including some large statues and a stone inscription with part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, but they're still missing.

On the way out, a visit to the Baghdad Hotel allows us to drink a cold beer, as the hotel is one of the few places in Iraq where the sale of alcohol is permitted.

Samarra and Hatra, the Palmyra of Iraq

A hundred kilometers north of Baghdad, after miles of desert, it's worth stopping in the ancient city of Samarra, located on the banks of the Tigris River, which was once the capital of the Caliphate. The mosque was destroyed by an attack during the war, but you can visit a spectacular minaret, with a spiral ramp leading up from the outside. The heat is extreme. A few kilometers away, there's a second minaret of the same style, which you can climb if you can overcome the vertigo and the force of the wind. However, little remains of the palaces and mosques of ancient Samarra. Only ruins in the middle of the desert.

Once on the road, several trucks loaded with oil, Iraq's main source of wealth, pass by. One is decorated with a large image of Che Guevara, holding a cigar that doesn't seem too suitable for the oil content.

Assur is another ruined city where you can climb a ziggurat worn down by the years. Islamic State fanatics destroyed a portico, but it has now been restored. The heat is still unbearable, but the proximity of the Tigris River and the view of the greenery help alleviate it.

The surprise comes a few kilometers further, in Hatra, a city in the middle of the desert, dedicated to the sun god, which some call "the Palmyra of Iraq" for its majesty. It is surrounded by a circular wall and for several years, between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, it was important on the caravan route. In 2015, the Islamic State occupied it and destroyed many statues, but they have been partially restored and the place remains impressive. The view of the desert from one of the towers is truly breathtaking when the sun sets. It's so beautiful that it's hard to leave.

The Old City of Mosul

Mosul, a city occupied by the Islamic State between 2014 and 2017, now looks clean and tidy in some neighborhoods. In fact, it's a testament to how Iraq has recovered in recent years. Near our hotel, on the banks of the Tigris, there are several modern buildings and crowded terraces, but there's also a ruined building from where, it's said, the Islamic State's popular juries used to throw those deemed guilty into the void.

Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Governorate, but little remains of the ancient Assyrian city: a reconstructed wall, remains of palaces, and what was the library of Ashurbanipal, where archaeologists found some ten thousand cuneiform tablets.

What's truly impressive about Mosul, however, are the much more recent ruins of the old city, destroyed in the clashes between the Islamic State and US troops in 2017. The old mosque has been rebuilt, with its leaning minaret (a symbol of many street corners) literally erased by bombs. You can enter some of the houses, where the SAFE sign hangs, but in many others, only traces of the destruction remain of a city that had been an important cultural center.

"The times of the Islamic State were terrible," recalls a resident, adding: "They spread terror and there was no food. Just think, we ended up eating cardboard."

Mosul's grand bazaar, thankfully, seems to have regained the life that the Battle of Mosul denied it years ago.

Iraqi Kurdistan. Irbil

The final leg of this trip through Iraq is in Irbil, now in Iraqi Kurdistan. At the border, they hold the bus for a while, probably to make it clear that Kurdistan has a broad autonomy within Iraq. The Kurdish flag flies, with a sun in the middle. Beyond, the landscape seems to shed its desert-like appearance and begins to fill with green, until the buildings of Irbil city emerge.

The Irbil citadel dominates from above a city with great economic vitality. Below, the grand bazaar extends through a maze of streets and offers all kinds of products. The large square is also a hub for activity, such as the two-story café at the entrance, where Kurds and the few tourists seem to be queuing for a tea or coffee at one of the privileged tables that offer a great view of the bustle around the bazaar and at the foot of the citadel.

"The citadel has been rebuilt, and the families who lived in the new part of the city have been moved. But only one family still lives there," someone tells me. "The government decided this so it's on record that Irbil is the oldest permanently inhabited city in the world."

And so, between the memory of times past and the vitality of the bazaar, time passes in Irbil.