Iraq Solidarity News

Remembering Amara and the soldiers of WW1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 07:51:00 +0000

Here are some fascinating pictures, that were taken on the 17/8/2017 at the Amara War Cemetery in Southern Iraq. As Hussein Al-alak explains, the monument lists the names of the British men who died in the Mesopotamia campaign during the First World War.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Amara contains 4,621 burials from World War One, more than 3,000 of whom were brought into the cemetery after Armistice, whilst 925 of the graves remain unidentified.

Who is buried in Amara?

One of the people buried at the Amara War Cemetery is Arthur Meadwell, who was born in Melton Mowbray and who worked as a tailor on West Road in Oakham before the war.

He was married to Charlotte, the daughter of the caretaker of the Oakham Institute, a well known organisation at the time. He served in the 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, part of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force and died on the 18th February 1917, aged 29.

Charles Albert Smith was born in 1871 in Bungay, Suffolk and died on 12th June 1916 . When WW1 started in 1914, Charles was 43 and his final resting place is also the Amara Cemetery.

By 1891, Charles had left home and by 1901, had taken a job in Beeston as a domestic groom. Charles was the eldest son of Harry and Matilda. In 1881, the family, which then included Charles’ younger siblings Elsie, Edmond and Beatrice, were living at 2 Julian Street, Beighton in Norwich.

Amara and the Greater Manchester Connection

Another person buried in the Amara Cemetery is Handel Kent, who was born along with his twin sister Hannah in Royton, Oldham in 1897 and died aged 19 on 09/01/1917.

According to the 1911 census, Handel Kents family were living at 186 West End Street, where a thirteen year old Handel was employed as a piecer at the Kent Mill in Chadderton. By 1916, Handel had progressed to being a joiner and on June 1st 1916, had joined the army.

Henry Dickinson was born in Newton Heath in Manchester in 1887 and was only 29 years of age when he died on the 08/05/1916.

Now buried in the Amara Cemetery, Henry’s parents were Thomas and Agnes Dickinson. Thomas had a job as a fireman at the Medlock Valley Bleachworks. Out of his eight siblings, Harry followed in his father’s footsteps and worked alongside him as a Fireman at the bleachworks.

Campaigners rally to save Agatha Christie's Iraq home

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 18:26:00 +0000

Locals and activists in Iraq's capital of Baghdad have called for authorities to protect and preserve the historic home where renowned English author, Agatha Christie, once lived for around 13 years.

"It's [the home] beautiful, but the upper level is collapsing. It's dangerous," a resident and activist told The New Arab.

The home, now dilapidated, has been in a dire state for months. In May, local media reported that the impressive Ottoman-era structure was at risk of collapse.

Currently, the two-story home is unliveable, with the ceiling having largely fallen through, the arched windows in ruin, and the wooden balcony falling apart. The home has been graffitied with Arabic signs reading "warning" and "risk of collapse".

Christie, who authored 66 novels and 14 short story collections, had fond memories in both Iraq and Syria. She even spent time in Cairo in 1910, where she would attend parties and was briefly engaged.

Christie's time spent in Iraq was with the British archaeological mission in Nineveh, while some biographers say that her experience in the country had a significant influence on her work.

Christie's husband, Sir Max Mallowan, lived in the home with her during their tours around the Middle East in the mid-20th century. One of the author's books, titled "They Came to Baghdad," contains references to the home.

Agatha Christie’s historic Baghdad house in danger of collapsing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 07:54:00 +0000

The historic house on the banks of the Tigris River in Iraq’s capital Baghdad, where classic British crime writer Agatha Christie lived for many years, is rich in history, but badly in need of repair, Anadolu reports.

The walls of the vintage house in the Karadat Maryam district of the capital bear now the warning: “Caution! Danger of collapse.”

Despite the risk of collapse, the house, which holds Agatha Christie’s memories of Baghdad, continues to bear witness to the deep history of the region.

Iraqi historian Adil Ardavi told Anadolu that Agatha Christie lived in Iraq for about 13 years.

“Many of the artifacts her husband, an expert in historical artifacts, found here are now in museums. Agatha Christie was an ambitious woman who also traveled to neighboring countries from Iraq,” Ardavi said.

Ardavi said that when Christie wanted to live in Baghdad, she chose a house on the banks of the Tigris that symbolized the architecture of old Baghdad, adding that he believes the view of the famed river from the house inspired her in her acclaimed writing.

He said that before the “Queen of Crime” lived there, it was rumored that Ali, the brother of Iraq’s King Faisal I (who reigned in 1921-1933), lived in the house.

“Agatha Christie has many writings and novels about Baghdad. Her novel Murder on the Orient Express has parts in Baghdad. At that time, there was a train in Baghdad that people could take to Türkiye and Europe. Agatha Christie loved Iraqis very much because she lived in Baghdad for a long time and became a friend of Iraq.”

Though the house Christie lived in is now in ruins, if the British Embassy in Baghdad and Iraqi authorities cooperated, the house could be turned into a museum, Ardavi said.

Hamza Ebu Sali, a bookseller on Mutanabbi Street, a hub for used bookstores in Baghdad, also mentioned how Christie was in Iraq in the 1930s.

Ebu Sali said that Iraqis have a great interest in Christie’s novels and that the British crime writer’s books are always among the most sought-after books.

Rooftop garden brings Arab American culture to life in Dearborn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 07:54:00 +0000

Metro Detroit’s Arab American community is large and has been through several waves of immigration. Long ago, the attraction was the $5-a-day Ford jobs that brought so many people here. Each of those periods brought new families, culture, and heritage.

From Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen, Metro Detroit is home. But the places people emigrated from will always be known as their original home. Part of what makes a place feel like home are the sights, sounds, and smells of the world around us.

Part of feeling at home is the simpler things, like food—the taste of home. Eating together as a family or with certain dishes your parents grew up making. The Arab American National Museum in East Dearborn has been building up a taste of home on the building’s rooftop.

Run, walk or cheer for the children of Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 04:25:00 +0000

The Iraqi Children Foundation run three mobile schools called the Hope Buses. These deliver tutoring, healthcare and social support to orphans, street kids and displaced children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods across Baghdad.

In September, Hani Kampoori is running the London ‘Big Half’ marathon to support the Iraqi Children Foundation; an organisation committed to improving the lives of children in Iraq who have been affected by conflict and poverty.

Every step which Hani runs is for them and every donation will provide these children with education, medical care, and a safe environment to thrive in. We really hope you can support Hani and the Iraqi Children Foundation.

See another side of history with Osnat and Her Dove

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 04:25:00 +0000

Through the power of storytelling and vibrant illustrations, Osnat and Her Dove will pull young and old readers into Osnat’s world. Written by Sigal Samuel with artwork by Vali Mintzi, Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World’s First Female Rabbi is a fantastic illustrated children's book, which looks at the life of Osnat Barzani who lived from 1590 to 1670 in Mosul, Iraq.

Osnat was born five hundred years ago – at a time when almost everyone believed in miracles. But very few believed that girls should learn to read. Yet Osnat's father was a great scholar whose house was filled with books and she convinced him to teach her. She then grew up to teach others, becoming a wise scholar in her own right and the world's first female rabbi.

Some say Osnat performed miracles, like healing a dove who had been shot by a hunter and saving a congregation from a fire. But perhaps her greatest achievement was to be an inspiration for others and to show that any person who can learn, might find a path that none have walked before.

Osnat and Her Dove has been described as "an inspiring story of a young Jewish hero, filled with cultural, religious and historical detail". It’s also been described as "a testament to the power of knowledge." This remarkable story conveys Osnat’s life and the truth about women’s potential. As the Jewish Book Council have stated; "When encouraged to flourish, Osnat and others like her can heal the world.”

Discover the Middle East with Agatha Christie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 04:25:00 +0000

Travel journalist Andrew Eames was in the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo when he met an elderly lady who had known Agatha Christie.

Fascinated by the exotic history of this quintessentially English crime writer, he decided to retrace the trip from London to Baghdad which she made in 1928.

It was a journey which was to change Agatha Christie completely and led to her other life as the wife of an archaeologist in the deserts of Syria and Iraq.

HarperCollins Publishers · Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie, Read by Anna Massey

Amy Leatheran had never felt the lure of the mysterious East, but when she travels to an ancient site deep in the Iraqi desert to nurse the wife of a celebrated archaeologist, events prove stranger than she could ever have imagined.

Her patient’s bizarre visions and nervous terror seem unfounded, but as the oppressive tension in the air thickens, events come to a terrible climax – in murder.

HarperCollins Publishers · They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie, read by Emilia Fox

Baghdad is the chosen location for a secret summit of superpowers, concerned but not convinced, about the development of an, as yet, unidentified and undescribed secret weapon.

As secrets that have been buried in the sands of time finally resurface, can the world-famous detective, Hercule Poirot, untangle the web of lies and solve another crime?

Following the sell-out tours of And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile reunites celebrated director Lucy Bailey, writer Ken Ludwig and Fiery Angel for the premiere of a brand-new adaptation of the globally celebrated Agatha Christie story.

The Wolf of Baghdad is a journey into Iraqi-Jewish history

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 04:24:00 +0000

In the 1940’s, a third of Baghdad’s population was Jewish. Within a decade nearly all of Iraq’s 150,000 Jews had fled. The Wolf of Baghdad is a graphic memoir of a lost homeland and a wordless narrative for a home never visited, with its own original soundtrack of Judeo-Arabic and Iraqi music recorded by the ground-breaking band 3yin.

The Wolf of Baghdad is a unique audio-visual journey through a Jewish family’s memories of their lost Iraqi homeland and speaks to audiences about the little-known story of Iraqi Jews. This music based and visual narrative is illuminated by the words and portraits of Carol Isaacs own family, whose stories provide a fascinating insight into the experiences of Baghdadi Jews.

The Wolf of Baghdad film is based on Carol Isaacs book of the same title, which was published by Myriad Editions. The Wolf of Baghdad was included in the Guardian's best graphic novels of 2020. Sandi Toksvig also described it as a book "where you actually fall inside the story. It's wonderful.'

One Iraqi mechanic’s revival of a bygone era

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 08:17:00 +0000

In Babylon’s Alexandria, mechanic Jaafar Abu Mohammed revives Iraq’s past by restoring vintage cars into pristine condition. As Kamaran Aziz reports for Kurdistan 24, his family-run workshop preserves national heritage on wheels, despite bureaucratic hurdles, offering Iraqis a nostalgic drive through history.

Amid the dust and din of Iraq's Babylon province, an unlikely cultural revival is roaring to life—engine by engine. In the town of Alexandria (Iskandariya), south of Baghdad, a growing community of mechanics and enthusiasts is breathing new life into the relics of Iraq’s automotive past. Their tools are not just instruments of repair—they are instruments of memory, craftsmanship, and cultural reclamation.

At the center of this revival is Jaafar Abu Mohammed, a 51-year-old vintage vehicle mechanic whose modest garage has become an unlikely archive of Iraqi history on wheels.

At dawn, the clang of tools cuts through the stillness of Iskandariyah like a heartbeat from the past. Beneath the soft hum of machinery and the scent of engine oil and worn leather, Jaafar polishes a curved chrome bumper with the meticulous care of a museum conservator—not for display, but for remembrance.

As detailed by Shafaq News, Jaafar is Iraq’s only known collector of 11 fully functioning classic cars, each lovingly restored by hand. His collection includes a 1936 Morris, a 1934 Rolls-Royce, a majestic 1932 Mercedes Benz, and a rare 1964 Oldsmobile, all on display at his garage as of May 27, 2025.

One of his most prized pieces is a 1955 Dodge believed to have belonged to King Faisal II, and a 1958 Jaguar he claims is the only one of its kind remaining in Iraq. He also preserves a rare seven-seater 1948 Dodge, reportedly gifted by King Farouk of Egypt to King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.

“These cars are not for sale. They are stories on wheels,” Jaafar told Shafaq. “Each one witnessed an era that is gone, and each one has a soul.”

His restoration process is a blend of mechanical precision and historical reverence. All work is done manually—from panel beating and paint restoration to importing original accessories from abroad, often the United States. “It takes patience, months of waiting, and dedication,” he said. “But it’s worth it because I’m saving pieces of our history.”

Photographs taken by AFP’s Karar Jabbar bring Jaafar’s passion to life. A recently restored 1940s DeSoto stands parked on the roadside as youths gather to photograph its gleaming silhouette. Locals pose proudly beside it, their expressions a mix of nostalgia and awe.

Other vehicles, including a vintage MG from 1964 and several more DeSotos, line the entrance to Jaafar’s workshop, a striking contrast to the town’s muted architecture.

But his efforts are not without challenges. While his cars are regularly invited to appear at national events such as Baghdad Day and Army Day, Jaafar faces institutional barriers. As reported by Shafaq, Iraq’s traffic authorities often restrict the movement of his vehicles, preventing broader public engagement with what he believes should be protected heritage assets.

“People want to see their heritage,” he lamented. “These cars stir beautiful memories, but we get no support. Not from the traffic police, not from any agency. We work with love, but the backing is zero.”

In response, Jaafar has called for the official recognition of heritage vehicle restoration as a legitimate cultural endeavor. He envisions a future where Iraq’s classic cars are not just preserved, but celebrated, supported, and integrated into the national narrative.

Fortunately, Jaafar is no longer working alone. His children have joined him in the workshop, making the garage a multigenerational space of historical memory and mechanical skill. “The first thing they do in the morning is shine the cars,” he said proudly. “This isn’t just a hobby anymore—it’s our family’s life.”

In a country often characterized by conflict and crisis, Jaafar Abu Mohammed’s garage is a quiet sanctuary of hope—where steel and memory are shaped together, and where Iraq’s past is not only remembered, but revived.

Will you join the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival 2025?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 08:26:00 +0000

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), the longest running annual festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, returns for its 23rd year this July as Culture Liverpool reports.

Founded in 1998, LAAF exists to support and champion creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora, in the belief that art and creativity have the power to express a shared humanity.

The festival also celebrates Liverpool’s unique identity; a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world and welcomes and accepts all who arrive within it.

This year’s festival theme is Nostalgia, which will be explored through a diverse range of disciplines, including music, theatre and performance, visual art, literature and film – with the programme culminating at the ever-popular LAAF Family Day.

Nostalgia evokes a longing for the past, both in individual and collective experiences. Whether rooted in childhood memories or recent defining moments, it often has an idealised or romanticised connotation.

Within the Arab world and its diaspora communities, you will find that nostalgia transcends mere sentimentality. Indeed, it translates the need to reclaim and preserve cultural identities, acting as a parallel resistance to the internal changes and surrounding shifts that shape them.

Increasingly, MENA artists use the culture of nostalgia to bridge between nations and generations, while unlocking connections of the past and present. Whether by revising treasured memories or revisiting historical narratives, it has become a powerful means for honouring, revival and continuity.

This is the journey LAAF would like to invite audiences on at this year’s festival. From one-person performances and family events to film screenings, a golden music era homage, authentic embroidery and cultural cuisine workshops, talks and literature events; the notion of nostalgia is woven throughout this year’s festival programme, it will undoubtedly resonate with the challenging context we witness today.

At a time when war and violence fill screens on a daily basis, LAAF believes passionately in the ability – and in the freedom – of artists who are documenting and narrating change.

Iraqi Jews save their last shrine in Baghdad

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 07:07:00 +0000

Once abandoned and filled with rubbish, the tomb of Rabbi Isaac Gaon — a prominent Jewish figure from the 7th century — is now being restored by Iraq’s dwindling Jewish community.

Here is a look at the restoration efforts, memories of violence and neglect, and the enduring legacy of Iraq’s Jewish population, which once made-up 40 percent of Baghdad’s population.

Facing the truth about the lasting scars of war

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 07:06:00 +0000

Until the First World War (1914-1918), most battle injuries were caused by small arms fire or sword cuts.

Facial injuries were often of little concern to survivors who were deemed lucky enough to have escaped with their lives.

Weapons used during the First World War like heavy artillery, machine guns and poison gas, created injuries of a severity and scale unseen before.

The circumstances of trench warfare, with men peering over parapets, caused a dramatic rise in the number of facial injuries sustained by soldiers.

Shells filled with shrapnel were to blame for many of these facial and head wounds, as they were specifically designed to cause maximum damage.

Hot flying metal could tear through flesh to create twisted, ragged wounds or even rip faces off entirely.

A pioneering surgeon

Harold Gillies was a New Zealand surgeon who had trained in England. Posted to France in 1915, he witnessed the rise in horrific facial wounds inflicted by this new style of warfare.

On his return to England, Gillies set up a special ward for facial wounds at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot.

Gillies knew that healthy tissue needed to be moved back to its normal position. After this, any gaps could be filled with tissue from elsewhere on the body.

By 1916, Gillies had persuaded his medical chiefs that a dedicated hospital for facial injuries was required to meet the demand.

The aim of The Queen’s Hospital was to reconstruct wounded men’s faces as fully as possible, so that they could hopefully lead a normal life.

The legacy of war’s injuries

Back in August 2003, the BBC reported how Iraqi civilians received treatment for burns at British hospitals at a cost of £20m, as the report below explained.

The government has given the cash to specialist NHS units at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, Wythenshawe hospital in Manchester and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Iraqi civilians have already received treatment in the UK with one woman presently recovering at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

The extra funding over two years is to stop extra pressure at the three units which could have meant local people being turned away.

The British government also needs to honour its Geneva Convention responsibilities for civilians under its control in southern Iraq.

The convention says any occupying force has to ensure civilians get any medical treatment they need. Len Fenwick, chief executive of Newcastle NHS Hospitals Trust, said:

“We are dealing with a special client group, to give good quality care and treatment. "We are an occupying power and under international conventions we have a duty of care to these patients.”

Iraq retrieves ancient artefacts from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 May 2025 06:44:00 +0000

For decades, three prized items told stories of ancient Mesopotamia from behind museum glass in foreign lands. As Sinan Mahmoud reports, they are now heading home to Iraq as part of a global push to retrieve antiquities that were looted and sold around the world over the centuries.

The Iraqi embassy in Washington announced it has recovered three rare artefacts dating back to the Sumer and Babylonian civilisations millennia ago. It hailed the transfer from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as a “new milestone in the country’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to protect its cultural heritage”.

Museum officials say the artefacts include a Sumerian container, depicting two rams, that is made of gypsum alabaster, a type of mineral and soft rock. The other items are Babylonian ceramic sculptures of the heads of a man and a woman. They date from the third to second millennium BC, a museum statement said.

The two rams sculpture originates from between 2600 BC and 2500 BC, while the carving of the woman's head dates from 2000 BC to 1600 BC. Both were given to the museum in 1989 by the Norbert Schimmel Trust. The head of the male, dating back to around 2000 BC to 1600 BC, was bought by the museum in 1972.

The male head and container with rams were previously sold by notorious British antiquities dealer Robin Symes, who in 2016 was accused by Italian authorities of being involved in an international criminal network trading in looted archaeological treasures. He died in October 2023.

Both the heads are thought to be from Isin, an archaeological site in southern Iraq, while the ram sculpture is not known to be associated with a particular area. The latter appeared on the Baghdad art market and was bought by Swiss dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis in 1956 before being acquired by Cecile de Rothschild.

The return to Iraq is part of the Met museum’s Cultural Property Initiative which was launched in 2023 and includes a review of works in its collection. Several artefacts have been returned to their places of origin in various countries since.

“The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and the shared stewardship of the world’s cultural heritage and has made significant investments in accelerating the proactive research of our collection,” said Max Hollein, museum director and chief executive.

“The museum is grateful for our ongoing conversations with Iraq regarding future collaborative endeavours, and we look forward to working together to advance our shared dedication to fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iraqi art and culture."

The Iraqi embassy said the return of the artefacts "is seen as a contribution to safeguarding Iraq’s historical memory and a reflection of both Iraqi and global pride in this unique human heritage".

Decades of war, instability, lack of security and mismanagement have taken their toll on Iraq’s heritage, art and culture.

After the 1991 Gulf War, when a US-led international coalition repelled Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and the UN imposed economic sanctions, illegal archaeological digs became widespread, mainly in remote areas that troops were unable to secure.

With the fall of Baghdad during a similar invasion that ended Saddam's regime in 2003, looters broke into the Iraqi National Museum and made off with priceless artefacts, only a few thousand of which have been recovered.

Looters continue to dig at unprotected archaeological sites in Iraq, leading to hundreds of artefacts showing up on the worldwide market. But with the help of the international community, Iraq has managed to retrieve thousands of items of stolen heritage from around the world in recent years, mainly from the US.

Spectacular find as monumental images discovered at Nineveh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 May 2025 07:14:00 +0000

2,700 years ago, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. Researchers from the University of Heidelberg have made a spectacular discovery in the palace of King Assurbanipal. As Christoph Debets reports, during excavations, they came across the first large-format depictions of two important Assyrian deities.

German archaeologists have made a spectacular discovery in Iraq. During excavations in the ancient metropolis of Nineveh, a team from Heidelberg University came across large parts of a monumental relief. It shows King Assurbanipal (668 to 627 BC), the last ruler of the Assyrian Empire, accompanied by two important deities and other figures.

The relief was unearthed in the throne room of the North Palace. It was carved on a massive stone slab measuring just over five metres in length and three metres in height and weighs around 12 tonnes.

The find is extraordinary for the scientists not only because of its size, but also in terms of what the relief shows: "Among the numerous relief depictions of Assyrian palaces known to us, there is no depiction of the great deities," emphasises Prof. Dr Aaron Schmitt from the Institute of Prehistory and Early History and Near Eastern Archaeology. Schmitt is in charge of the excavations in the North Palace.

King Assurbanipal is at the centre of the relief that has now been discovered. He is flanked by two high deities: the god Assur and the city goddess of Nineveh named Ištar. These are followed by a fish genius, who bestows salvation and life on the gods and the ruler, as well as a supporting figure with raised arms; presumably a scorpion man.

"These figures suggest that a giant winged sun disc was originally placed above the relief," explains Schmitt. Based on the data collected on site, the scientists will analyse the finds in the coming months and publish the results in a scientific journal.

The relief originally stood in a wall niche opposite the main entrance to the throne room, i.e. in the most important place in the palace, according to Schmitt. The Heidelberg researchers discovered the fragments of the relief in a pit filled with earth. It was probably created in Hellenistic times in the third or second century BC.

"The fact that the fragments were buried is certainly one of the reasons why the British archaeologists did not find them more than a hundred years ago," surmises Schmitt.

At the end of the 19th century, British researchers had already examined the northern palace of ancient Nineveh for the first time and discovered large reliefs, which are now on display in the British Museum in London.

It is unclear why the relief was buried. Schmitt points out that there is a lack of information about the Hellenistic settlement in Nineveh: "We don't know whether they had a negative attitude towards the Assyrian king and the Assyrian gods," he told the science portal "Live Science". "I hope that our future excavations will give us a clearer picture."

Ancient Nineveh is considered one of the most important cities in northern Mesopotamia and developed into the capital of the Assyrian empire in the late eighth century BC under King Sanherib (705 to 680 BC). It was located on the left bank of the Tigris, at the mouth of a small tributary within the modern city of Mosul.

Aaron Schmitt and his team have been conducting research on Kuyunjik Hill in the core area of the northern palace built by King Assurbanipal since 2022. The excavations are part of the Heidelberg Nineveh Project launched in 2018 under the direction of Professor Stefan Maul from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Heidelberg University.

In consultation with the State Board of Antiquities of Iraq (SBAH), the plan is to return the relief to its original location in the medium term and make it accessible to the public.

From Iraq to the world: Mandaeans mark Baptism Day in white and water

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 May 2025 05:56:00 +0000

Clad in white and gathered by rivers, Mandaeans in Iraq and across the globe celebrate Dehwa Daimana, the Golden Baptism Day—a sacred rite of renewal and purification that flows through every stage of life.

As Shafaq News explain, the faithful flock to mandis—their riverside temples—for ritual baptisms and the preparation of thawab, a ceremonial meal offered for the souls of the departed. The occasion marks the baptism of John the Baptist (Yahya ibn Zakariya), revered as the prophet of the Mandaean faith, and is seen as a moment of deep spiritual cleansing.

One of the world’s oldest surviving monotheistic religions, Mandaeism preserves its teachings in Aramaic, the language of its holy book Ginza Rba (The Great Treasure), which was translated into Arabic by the late poet Abdul Razzaq Abdul Wahid. The text includes the scriptures of Adam and explores the origins of creation, the eternal struggle between light and darkness, and the soul’s journey toward the World of Light.

The baptism itself—central to Mandaean belief—involves immersion in flowing water, guided by a priest reciting sacred verses, and is performed at birth and repeated throughout life. Participants wear the rasta, a white garment worn by men, women, and children alike.

In Iraq, years of persecution have pushed many Mandaeans to seek safety elsewhere. Thousands have relocated from the south to the Kurdistan Region, where Erbil now hosts a vibrant community, a dedicated mandi, and hundreds of goldsmiths—the traditional craft of the faith.

Beyond Iraq, Dehwa Daimana is being observed in Sweden, Germany, Australia, and the United States, where waves of migration since the late 1990s have led to the establishment of recognized religious centers.

In addition to Dehwa Daimana, Mandaeans observe three other major annual festivals that structure their spiritual calendar. Parwanaya, also known as The Five White Days, falls in March and is considered the most sacred period of the year.

Dehwa Rabba, the Great Feast and Mandaean New Year, is celebrated in mid-July. Dehwa Hanina, the Great Feast, arrives in late October and spans three days of joy, reflection, and family gatherings.

Discover cooking and culture with Linda Dangoor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 May 2025 18:54:00 +0000

This beautifully designed book traces Jewish food writer Linda Dangoor’s journey from her home in Baghdad, and through the various countries she stayed or lived in before finally making her new home in London.

Part cookbook, part memoir, From the Tigris to the Thames interweaves delicious recipes with personal stories and musings on the meaning of home and belonging, reflecting the idea that we are where we have trod and so much more.

The first half of the book includes recipes from countries that hug the Mediterranean basin, where the Arab conquests and the Jewish diaspora left their culinary mark. In the second part, the author welcomes the reader into her kitchen, sharing some of the dishes that she cooks for her family and friends on a daily basis.

Jordan hospital treats war casualties from across Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 May 2025 15:45:00 +0000

Shahd Tahrawi was wounded in an Israeli strike on Gaza, Hossam Abd al-Rahman suffered burns in an explosion in Iraq and bombardment in Yemen has left Mohammed Zakaria in need of multiple surgeries.

As Kamal Taha explains, they all met at the charitable Al-Mowasah hospital in the Jordanian capital Amman, which treats some of the many civilians wounded in conflicts across the Middle East.

"I feel sad when I look around me in this place" seeing "people like me, innocent, simple civilians" whose lives have been blighted by the horrors of war, said Abd al-Rahman, a 21-year-old Iraqi patient.

"They are victims of war, burned by its fires... but had no part in igniting them," he told AFP.

He is waiting for his ninth operation at the Amman hospital, to treat third-degree burns to his face, neck, abdomen, back and hand he suffered in an accident with unexploded ordnance in his native city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

"I was a child when I was burned 10 years ago," he said. "My life was completely destroyed, and my future was lost. I left school even though my dream was to become a pilot one day."

Abd al-Rahman, who had 17 surgeries in Iraq before arriving at the hospital in Jordan, said that through "all these painful operations", he hopes to "regain some of my appearance and life as a normal human being".

At Al-Mowasah, also known as the Specialised Hospital for Reconstructive Surgery and run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Abd al-Rahman said he has found comfort in meeting patients from around the region.

"We spend long periods of time here, sometimes many months, and these friendships reduce our loneliness and homesickness."

- 'They feel safe' -

MSF field communications manager Merel van de Geyn said the hospital has patients "from conflict zones across the Middle East, from Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Gaza".

"We provide them with complete treatment free of charge" and cover the cost of flights, food and other expenses, she said. In addition to the medical procedures, the hospital places great importance on psychological support.

"Here, they feel safe," said van de Geyn. "They're surrounded by people who have gone through similar experiences... Mutual support truly helps them."

From her room on the hospital's fifth floor, Shahd Tahrawi, a 17-year-old Palestinian, recalled the night of December 9, 2023, when a massive explosion destroyed her family's home in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli bombardment killed her father and 11-year-old sister, and left Shahd and her mother wounded. Shahd has had five operations on her left leg, three of them in Jordan.

She said that on the night of the strike, she was woken up by the sound of the explosion and the rubble falling on her. "I started screaming, 'Help me, help me!'... and then I lost conciousness."

Now, she said her dream was to become a doctor and help "save people's lives, just like the doctors save mine".

- 'Nothing but destruction' -

The hospital was established in 2006 to treat victims of the sectarian violence that erupted in Iraq in the aftermath of the US-led invasion, but has since expanded its mission.

In just under two decades, 8,367 patients from Iraq, Yemen, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Libya and Syria have undergone a total of 18,323 surgeries for injuries caused by bullets, explosions, bombardment, air strikes and building collapses in conflict.

The hospital has 148 beds, three operating theatres, and physiotherapy and psychological support departments. In one room, four Yemeni patients were convalescing.

One of them, 16-year-old Mohammed Zakaria, had dreamt of becoming a professional footballer, before his life changed dramatically when an air strike blew up a fuel tanker in Yarim, south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in 2016.

The blast killed six of his relatives and friends, his father, Zakaria Hail, said. "The war has brought us nothing but destruction," said the father, sitting next to his son who is unable to speak after recent surgery to his mouth.

Destruction of cultural heritage inspires Acropolis Museum show on Michael Rakowitz

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:15:00 +0000

The looting of Iraq’s antiquities in the wake of the 2003 US invasion, the destruction of Mosul by ISIS in 2015, the enduring consequences of colonialism and migration, as well as the striking commonalities in humanity’s cultural heritage and the urgent need for its recovery, are some of the key themes running through the work of Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz.

As Nikolas Zois reports, from May 12 to October 31, a selection of his pieces will be exhibited alongside Mesopotamian antiquities at the Acropolis Museum in a show titled “Allspice – Michael Rakowitz and Ancient Cultures” and co-organized with the cultural organization NEON.

Born in the United States in 1973 into a family of Jewish descent, Rakowitz began his project-in-progress “The invisible enemy should not exist” in 2007. In 2018, the series expanded to include a group of colorful panels inspired by the reliefs that once adorned the Assyrian palace of Nimrud, located in present-day Mosul.

Constructed in the 9th century BC, the palace was excavated in the 19th century by European and American missions, with many of its finds now housed in institutions such as the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The palace’s remaining structures were destroyed by ISIS.

The exhibition at the Acropolis Museum’s temporary exhibitions gallery will feature 48 of Rakowitz’s works, many of which recreate the winged, bearded male figures that once decorated the palace at Nimrud. To construct these pieces, Rakowitz used cardboard, food packaging from northern Iraq, clippings from Arabic-English newspapers and museum labels. These vivid panels will be on loan to Greece from private collections, institutions and the artist’s own archive.

The artworks will be accompanied by 13 antiquities, 12 of which originate from ancient Mesopotamia and date back to the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. These include mostly vessels and figurines, among them a fragment of a stone vessel depicting a male figure tending cattle (ca. 2900 BC), and a clay mold for a bearded male figurine holding grain and wearing a hat (Early Dynastic Period), among others.

The 12 Mesopotamian antiquities are housed at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at the University of Chicago. Their loan to NEON for the Athens show was approved by the Greek Culture Ministry’s Central Archaeological Council. It also approved the loan of a bearded male head from Cyprus (480-400 BC) from the Museum of Cycladic Art. In addition, 24 volumes of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary will be on display.

Love for the script: Iraqi calligrapher's personal quest

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:14:00 +0000

In Iraq’s Al-Anbar province, where artistic activity has diminished, calligrapher Abdulhamid Nazem al-Dhibban is working to preserve the Arabic script through personal dedication and formal instruction.

Born on September 26, 1992, al-Dhibban left formal education after middle school but pursued calligraphy alongside his studies, driven by natural talent and self-directed learning.

Serious training began under calligrapher Mundhir al-Dulaimi, whose technique and mentorship, al-Dhibban recalled, had a lasting impact. "The first time I saw my teacher handling the pen, it astonished me.”

"Calligraphy is a unique world," al-Dhibban told Shafaq News. "What first attracted me was its spirituality and the atmosphere it creates. The moment you pick up the pen, you feel as if you have entered another world."

Conflict forced al-Dhibban to relocate to Al-Sulaymaniyah, where he studied the Naskh script with a couple of Kurdish calligraphers. "The biggest challenge was continuity, because the tools necessary for calligraphy were scarce.”

Al-Dhibban described Arabic calligraphy as the “identity and heritage of a nation, expressing Islamic and Arab civilization, but it suffers from neglect.”

Each piece he creates, he explained, reflects a personal story. He expressed hopes of establishing a dedicated calligraphy center in Al-Anbar. "The first lesson I would teach is love," he said. "Whoever loves it will not abandon it and will become an ambassador for it."

How will you mark Victory in Europe Day?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:14:00 +0000

World War Two was the most destructive global conflict in history. It began when Nazi Germany unleashed ferocious attacks across Europe - but it spread to the Soviet Union, China, Japan and the United States.

Cities were destroyed by air raids, the atom bomb was dropped on Japan and six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Over 50 million soldiers and civilians died.

Victory in Europe Day (8th May 1945) was one that remained in the memory of all who witnessed it. It meant an end to nearly six years of a war which had destroyed homes, families, and cities; and had brought huge suffering and privations to the populations of entire countries.

But it was not the end of the conflict, nor was it an end to the impact the war had on people. The war against Japan did not end until August 1945, and the political, social and economic repercussions of the Second World War were felt long after Germany and Japan had surrendered.

January the 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Since 2005, the UN have marked the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on the 27th January 1945, where member states honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazism.

British forces then liberated Bergen-Belsen on the 15th April 1945. Upon liberation, British forces discovered thousands of bodies unburied around the camp and some 60,000 starving and mortally ill people packed together without food, water or basic sanitation.

The consequences of WW2 would be felt across nations, societies and communities. The most destructive war in history, WW2 was a massive driver of not only social but also technological, political and economic change.

After World War Two, the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, was founded as a second German state, alongside the Federal Republic of Germany, which was more commonly known as West Germany.

This partition reflected the victorious US, French and UK forces in the West, who during WW2 had joined forces with the Soviet Union in the East. While West Germany lived under Capitalism, East Germany took a different approach with Communism.

The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The Berlin Wall became the physical structure to define the ‘Cold War’ period of post-World War Two Europe.

Lawrence of Arabia. The man behind the myth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:13:00 +0000

Few British soldiers have a greater legend attached to them than Colonel TE Lawrence - better known as Lawrence of Arabia. His military and diplomatic efforts have drawn some distinction. But it is Lawrence’s immense cultural impact in the century since his First World War exploits that has attracted the most attention.

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born in Tremadog, Wales on 16th August 1888. From a young age he exhibited an active interest in architecture, monuments and antiquities. Between 1907 and 1910, Lawrence studied History at Jesus College, Oxford. During this time, he toured France by bicycle, collecting photographs, drawings and measurements of medieval castles.

This would form the basis of his dissertation. In 1909, he completed a remarkable solo 1,000-mile trek through Ottoman Syria visiting Crusader castles. Following his studies, Lawrence became an archaeologist. He worked in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, at that time all part of the Ottoman Empire.

This first-hand knowledge and experience earned him a posting to Cairo after he enlisted in the British Army in October 1914. He served in the intelligence staff of the British Middle East Command in the First World War campaign against the Turks.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a biographical account of T.E. Lawrence’s experiences during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18, when he was based in Wadi Rum (now a part of Jordan) as a member of the British Forces.

With the support of Emir Faisal and his tribesmen, he helped organize and carry out attacks on the Ottoman forces from Aqaba in the south to Damascus in the north. You can also listen to Seven Pillars of Wisdom on Audible.

We will never forget Pope Francis

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 07:27:00 +0000

In 2014, Iraq’s religious minorities suffered a devastating wave of attacks launched by Islamic State group fighters, who seized Mosul and the surrounding Nineveh Plains. In 2021, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit Iraq in a historic apostolic journey. We will never forget the love that Pope Francis showed to the people of Iraq.

What lessons can we learn from Pope Francis?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 07:43:00 +0000

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires in 1936, the son of Italian migrants, the first of five children born in the working-class barrio of Flores, Jorge Mario Bergoglio qualified as a chemical technician, graduated in philosophy in 1963, and became a priest in 1969.

The wish of Pope Francis was for HOPE, on which he had been working for six years, to be published posthumously. HOPE is both powerful and intimate, inspiring and full of stories never told before. It is the story of a life that will fascinate readers throughout the world.

Pope Francis 'was one of us'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 07:43:00 +0000

For the Rev. Father Fadie Gorgies of the St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Troy, Pope Francis leaves behind a legacy of care and compassion for those on the margins of society, as Nushrat Rahman explains for the Detroit Free Press.

Gorgies, an assistant priest, said the Pope inspired him to become a chaplain at the Oakland County Jail. Pope Francis' focus on the marginalized — those imprisoned and facing addiction — has shaped Gorgies' own ministry. His Mass on the morning of April 21 was dedicated to the Pope, who, at 88 years old, died earlier that day.

"Pope Francis has really opened our eyes to mercy," Gorgies, 36, said. As a chaplain, collecting clothes for people inside and outside of jail, Gorgies said he gets to witness firsthand the overwhelming generosity of the Chaldean community in metro Detroit — and that is a reflection of the Pope's example.

"That language of mercy spoke to them, and I think they want to see that continue in the church. The church that does not have a hand of mercy, that does not help the poor, is — to me — not following the teachings of Jesus Christ and Pope Francis really brought the church to do that," said Gorgies, whose church serves many of the region's Iraqi American Catholics.

The head of the Catholic Church meant a great deal to metro Detroit's Chaldean community. He was the first pope to visit Iraq. "He was one of us," Gorgies said. And so it meant something to the Chaldean community when they saw the Pope praying in Aramaic, listening to the chants and stories of the Chaldean tradition and culture, he said.

In 2021, Pope Francis went to Iraq, a historic visit praised by Iraqi Americans, Christian and Muslim, across southeast Michigan at the time as a way to advocate for peace after decades of conflict. Metro Detroit is home to a significant Iraqi population, many of whom are Chaldean.

"His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized," said the Bishop Francis Kalabat, of the Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle in Southfield, in a statement posted to social media on Monday. "With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God."

The Chaldean diocese serves about 200,000 Catholics in the eastern half of the U.S., and 10 of its 12 parishes — including Gorgies' church, St. Joseph — are in Michigan.

In his 2025 autobiography, "Hope," Pope Francis said his visit to Iraq was one he was determined to not miss, despite "almost everyone" advising him against the journey. He wrote that he "felt the need to go and visit our grandfather Abraham, the common ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims."

The Pope met with authorities in Baghdad, clergy and the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims, in his home. "So long as I live, Iraq will always remain with me: We must be worthy of the commitment of those Christians and the sacrifice of those people," Pope Francis wrote.

The Pope mentioned two apparent attempts on his life — one of a woman carrying explosives to blow herself up during the papal visit and another brief account of a truck with the same goal, according to his autobiography. The attacks during the papal visit were intercepted by Iraqi and British authorities, the Pope wrote.

"When you're marginalized, when you've been in wars, when you're exhausted, you might feel like you don't matter, really, but then he comes to you and it puts you on the map. ... Whether the Chaldeans were in Iraq at the time or outside of Iraq, it told us that regardless of how you've suffered and what you've experienced, you still matter. You're still worth my visit and my time," Gorgies said.

The papal visit "took him from being a pope to being a shepherd," Gorgies said, because the former is a title, whereas the latter is what he does — it's action. A shepherd is someone who protects his flock, who knows those he leads by name, he said.

"This man is real when he says, we need to smell like the sheep. This man is real when he says we need to take care of the marginalized," Gorgies said. "He's not just talk, he's action. And his simplicity is not fake, it's real. And so to me, it was an eye opener that he's willing to risk his life, but he is true and authentic to what he says, and that challenged me to try to be the same."

The Sterling Heights-based Chaldean Community Foundation also released a statement on social media mourning the death of Pope Francis and noted his commitment to "the marginalized, a focus on interfaith dialogue, and a call for unity among Christians."

"The Chaldean community shares a special bond with the Jesuit order, rooted in a history of education, collaboration, and mutual respect, and also with the pope himself, as the son of an immigrant father," the unsigned statement went on to say.

"Pope Francis's outreach to Chaldean communities, including his historic visit to Iraq in 2021, underscored his dedication to fostering unity and healing in regions scarred by conflict. In 2017, he urged Chaldean bishops to be 'builders of unity,' emphasizing the importance of dialogue and cooperation in healing divisions and promoting peace."

Pope Francis (1936-2025). Inspired by peace and love

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:07:00 +0000

Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq took place between 5 March and 8 March 2021. The visit was accorded on following an invitation of the Government of Iraq and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The visit is remembered as an attempt to mend bridges between the different faiths in Iraq. During this first ever journey to Iraq by a Pontifex, Pope Francis visited the cities of Ur, Baghdad, Najaf, Qaraqosh, Erbil and Mosul.

Pope Francis told reporters, when flying back to Rome from Iraq on March 8, 2021, that one of the reasons he became convinced he had to visit the country was after reading Nadia Murad’s memoir, “Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State.” A reporter had given him a copy of the book, he said, and “that book affected me.”