Iraq; The Bradt Travel Guide

by Felicity Arbuthnot and Karen Dabrowska

• ISBN13: 9781841620275
• ISBN10: 1841620270
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides

Summary

Iraq today is synonymous in the minds of travelers with the past. Barely two hours from Baghdad, one can walk in the footsteps of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon or drive past Nineveh's pre-history ochre walls, with their caverns and winged lions.

Author Biography

Karen Dabrowska and Felicity Arbuthnot are both journalists living in London. Karen is a New Zealander who focuses on Islamic culture and conflicts. Felicity specialises in social and environmental issues and has visited Iraq 24 times since the Gulf War. She was Iraq researcher for John Pilger's award-winning documentary, Paying the Price - Killing the Children of Iraq, and has been nominated for several awards including the Millennium Peace Prize for Women.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
Introduction	vii
PART ONE GENERAL INFORMATION	1	(120)
Background	3	(10)
Historical sketch	3	(1)
Geography	4	(1)
Climate	5	(1)
Flora and fauna	6	(1)
Population	7	(1)
Government	7	(1)
Governorates	7	(2)
Major towns	9	(1)
Economy and sanctions	9	(1)
Ethnic groups and languages	10	(1)
Religions	11	(2)
The Ancient Kingdoms	13	(40)
Chronology	13	(1)
Early Mesopotamia	13	(3)
Before Sumer	16	(1)
The Sumerians	17	(6)
Babylon and Hammurabi	23	(2)
The Assyrians	25	(5)
Babylon revisited	30	(5)
Umayyads, Abbasids and Ottomans	35	(18)
Modern Iraq	53	(34)
Chronology	53	(1)
20th-century society	54	(4)
The British mandate	58	(5)
Independence: the first 26 years	63	(4)
The 1958 revolution and its aftermath	67	(3)
Saddam's Iraq	70	(7)
Life under sanctions	77	(10)
Practical Information	87	(34)
When to visit and how	87	(1)
Highlights/ suggested itineraries	88	(3)
Tour operators	91	(2)
Red tape	93	(1)
Getting there and away	94	(4)
Health	98	(2)
Safety	100	(1)
What to take	101	(3)
Money	104	(1)
Getting around	105	(1)
Accommodation	105	(1)
Eating and drinking	106	(1)
Public holidays and festivals	107	(1)
Shopping	108	(1)
Arts and entertainment	109	(5)
Photography	114	(1)
Media and communications	114	(1)
Business	115	(1)
Embassies	115	(1)
Cultural dos and don'ts	115	(1)
Interacting with local people	116	(1)
Giving something back	116	(5)
PART TWO THE GUIDE	121	(144)
Archaeological Sites	123	(28)
Early archaeology	124	(2)
Hints for travellers	126	(2)
A-Z of archaeological sites	128	(23)
Baghdad and Beyond	151	(40)
History	151	(19)
Baghdad today	170	(14)
Suggested one-day tours	184	(3)
Beyond Baghdad	187	(4)
The North (Iraqi Kurdistan)	191	(35)
Kurdish culture and society	191	(14)
The safe-haven	205	(4)
Visiting Iraqi Kurdistan	209	(1)
Towns, cities, sites, mountains resorts	210	(16)
The South	226	(39)
Historical background: the Shias and the holy cities	227	(10)
The holy cities	237	(7)
The marshlands	244	(14)
Visiting the marshlands	258	(1)
The cities of the south	258	(7)
Appendix 1 Language	265	(3)
Appendix 2 Further Reading	268	(7)
Index	275

Excerpts

"I went to Ur with a dedicated group of anti-sanctions campaigners from Sheffield. Failing to find the turn-off, we returned to an army checkpoint to ask the way. A Shi'a officer said he would show us the way. We drove through a decimated area, bombed in the Gulf War, and with chilling evidence of more recent bombings too. The campaigners had brought a beautifully thought-out mission statement, in Arabic, to give where appropriate. The officer read it with great care, then turned to us, a group of nine from countries who had wrought such havoc on his country. 'Here, in the south, it is incumbent on us to offer hospitality to visitors. My home is simple, but I have five chickens; you will eat well.' It was the eve of Ramadan, which traditionally ends in joyous feast. He was offering us that feast. It encapsulated the dignity, culture and generosity of this extraordinary people¿"I remember going to interview a woman who had lost both her husband and seven-year-old son. She had sold everything she owned to try to get medication for them and when they died she did not even have enough for the shroud cloth. I talked to her in the huge, empty living room and, as we talked, the room filled with children. For these incredibly hospitable, isolated people, a stranger is a rare treat. When I left, dusk was falling and as I got into the battered car the children surrounded it - about 50 of them - waving, laughing and blowing kisses. It was February 21, 1998, the darkest night, the night we were all certain the UK and US were going to bomb again. I went back to my hotel, lay on the bed and cried and cried."

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Excerpted from Iraq by Felicity Arbuthnot, Karen Dabrowska
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.