IRAQ- CRADLE OF

CIVILIZATION
DE VILLA, BHEA
DE VILLA, LADY MARGARETH
EGUIA, PRINCESS IVY
ATIENZA, HAIDEE
 Land and People
 Iraq's only outlet to the sea is a short stretch of coast on the
northwestern end of the Persian Gulf, including the Shatt al Arab
waterway. Basra and Umm Qasr are the main ports. Iraq is approximately
coextensive with ancient Mesopotamia . The southwest, part of the
Syrian Desert, supports a small population of nomadic shepherds. In the
rest of the country, life centers on the great southeast-flowing rivers, the
Tigris and the Euphrates, which come together in the Shatt al Arab at the
head of the Persian Gulf. The marshy delta was largely drained in the
early 1990s as part of a government program to control the Marsh Arabs,
who had participated in the Shiite uprising against Saddam Hussein; the
drying out of the marshes led to a dramatic increase in duststorms and
sandstorms. Marsh restoration efforts began in 2003, and roughly 75% of
the area was restored; since then the marshlands have again experienced
losses. Between the two rivers are numerous wadis and water basins.
 Very little rainfall occurs in Iraq except in the
northeast, and agriculture mainly depends upon
river water. The sandy soil and steady heat of the
southeast enable a large date crop and much
cotton to be produced. The rivers cause
destructive floods, though they occur less often as
a result of flood-control projects undertaken since
the 1950s. Farther upstream, as the elevation
increases, rainfall becomes sufficient to grow
diversified crops, including grains and vegetables.
In the mountainous north the economy shifts from
agriculture to oil production, notably in the great
fields near Mosul and Kirkuk .
 Nearly 80% of the population of Iraq is Arabic-speaking, while
over 95% is Muslim ( Sunni and Shiite ) in religion. There are
about twice as many Shiites as Sunnis, the latter sect being
more numerous throughout the majority of Arab countries. The
hilly uplands of NE Iraq are primarily inhabited by Kurds , who
are largely Sunni Muslims; other large minorities include
Turkmen or Turkomans (Turks), Armenians, and Assyrians
(Nestorian Christians). Most of the country's once large Jewish
population emigrated to Israel in the early 1950s. As a result of
the insurgent and sectarian fighting that occurred following the
U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2003, an estimated 1.6 to 2 million
Iraqis had left Iraq by the end of 2006, mainly to neighboring
Jordan or Syria; a similar number had relocated within Iraq.
Among those who have left are an estimated two thirds of
Iraq's Christians and many of Iraq's other minorities.
 Ancient Life in the Fertile Valley
 Mesopotamia was the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, a
fertile oasis in an otherwise inhospitable land the size of modern Iraq.
Life in the green valley was extreme – flood, storm, dust, disease and
death were all recorded. The conflict of the unpredictable rivers of
floods and the richness of the valleys attracted migrants who were able
to grow surplus foods and so here began the first agricultural revolution
some 10,000 years ago. Hunter gatherer methods of Neanderthal man
were replaced with growing crops and tending sheep. Mud brick or reed
houses were grouped in villages with granary stores, using an early
token system to record trade. This was the first Commerce driven
society where the world’s first banks, operating from temples and
palaces, kept safe deposits of grain and valuables. Women were highly
respected in this matriarchal society and everyone, even the King, was
at the level of bartering for goods with no inflicted hierarchy of state,
all property was private.
 Here, the Sumerian Civilization flourished,
developing literature like the epic Gilgamesh
poem. Persian poetry includes a story of a great
flood and the wise man who survived by building
an Ark, a clear link to the story of Noah which
permeates all the Monotheistic religions, was
cultivated here.
The Old Babylonian Bronze Age
 During the Bronze age 2000BC, known as the Old Babylonian Era,
Babylon became the Principle city of the kingdom. Great
development were made in mathematics, characterised by a passion
for lists and the first algorithms. The fearsome martial Assyrians,
referred to in the Book of Genesis, who conquered Mesopotamia
around the 10th to 7th century BC turned to the stars and developed
sophisticated astrological divination. The land fell to the nomadic
Persians and later Alexander the Great. In 7th century BC, the land of
Iraq became part of the Arab Muslim world. The predominantly
Christian Iraqis were forced to convert and fight form Islam, under
‘the battle of the Chains’, the Persians soldiers were chained
together so they couldn’t flee, giving the ultimatum ‘Accept the faith
and you are safe; otherwise pay tribute.’
The Anarchy of Mongol Capture

 In the 13th century, Iraq fell under the bloody rule of Genghis Khan.
In Neyshabur City he destroyed every living thing, pillaging, burning
and looting his way across Central Asia to Azarbaijan in Iran. On the
day of the Ashura Festival AD 1258, the Mongols swept into Baghdad
leading a bloody trail behind, rivers of blood and bodies filled the
streets of Baghdad. The canals and productions of centuries were
destroyed in an instant. Iraq became an inconsequential Mongol
province ruled from Tabriz in Iran. Political chaos, economic
depression and social descent followed the fall of the Mongols in the
15th century. Baghdad and Basrah lost their importance as centres of
trade and Iraq’s ancient agricultural systems fell into disrepair,
creating just swamps and deserts in their place.
Under ‘Turkification” Ottoman Rule

 After this time, battles between the Shi’a and Sunni

Muslims, the Safavids and Ottoman Turks, fuelled further
bloodshed. The Ottoman Empire ruled supreme until the
early 20th century. The Ottomans had failed to quell
tribal warfare and maintain authority and the Young
Turks’ Revolution of 1908 stepped up the Iraq Nationalist
movement. They demanded their autonomy in Basrah,
stood against by the Iraqi intelligentsia who were against
the Turkification policy of Turkish rule which lasted until
the First World war.
Iraq in the 20th Century

 Turkey, a German ally, fell after the first World War and the British
invaded Mesopotamia in 1917, occupying Baghdad. The League of
Nations put the land under British mandate that they would establish
an Arab government, which they failed to do due to their interest in
oil and desire to build a transcontinental railroad from Europe to
Kuwait. After an uprising in 1920, the British drew new land frontiers
and imposed a Hashimite monarchy which divided the Iraqis further.
In 1932, Iraq became officially independent and the British mandate
terminated, although the British still dominated the newly discovered
Iraq oil. In this year, Iraq joined the League of Nations and officially
became an independent sovereign state, under the rule of Emir Faisal
ibn Hussain, brother of the ruler of Jordan, also founding the Arab
League in 1945.
 King Ghazi, Faisal’s son, founded the Pan Arab movement in 1936.
He attempted to realize his ambition of annexing Kuwait as part of
the Fertile Crescent Movement to reunite the lands now known as
Palestine, Syria and Kuwait back to Iraq, but his dream was
thwarted when his fast car drove into a lamppost in 1939. Pan
Arabism became an important ideology by the 1940’s, and anti-
British sentiment ran high despite the ruling government being pro-
British. In 1941, a military coup ousted the Prime Minister and anti
British and Jewish sentiment caused street riots, supported by Nazi
Germany. Chaos and warfare between the British and nationalist
rebels ensued in the spring of 1941, with attempts made to restore
the ruling Regent and prevent the rise of anti-Semitic Nationalists.
A pro-British government was established after the war. Many Jews
fled to Israel fearing the anti-Semitic backlash, taking away their
lucrative business community.
 The monarchy was soon overthrown, after the failed
1955 Baghdad Pact (a British supported defence
between Iran, Pakistan and Turkey) which Egyptian
president Nasser condemned and called upon the
Iraq to overthrow the monarchy, siding with Syria. In
1958, the people overthrew the Hashimite monarchy
and the King was executed, hung upside-down
outside the palace, the Prime Minister Nuri as-Said
suffered a similar fate as his body was dragged
behind a car threw the streets until only one leg
remained. The Arab Union was dissolved and Iraq
declared a Republic.
 In 1961, Kuwait became independent from
Britain, opening the floodgates for Iraq to gain
control once more. The British threatened the
Iraqis and quelled the invasion. The 1960’s and
70’s saw much instability in Iraq rule, as Prime
Minister Qassen was assassinated in 1963 by the
Ba’ath Arab Socialist Party who eventually seized
power.
 The Gulf Wars

 During the 1970’s, relations with Kurdish Iran deteriorated which

led to territory dispute, this settled in 1977, a period of economic
boom for Iraq and the Kurdish people were granted greater
autonomy. When Saddam Hussein officially took Presidential control
of Iraq in 1979, he purged the council of all his rivals, invariably
shot, and begun to refuel disputes with Iran. This bloody war was to
last 8 years, destroy Iraq’s economy and involved the genocide of
5,000 Kurds from one single mustard gas by ‘chemical Ali’ Hassan
al-Majid, Hussein’s cousin.
 Shortly after this, dispute flared again with Kuwait over borders
and oil control. Despite the United States claiming at a meeting
in 1990 they would not get involved in a war, they stood with
Kuwait. Mediation failed and Iraq claimed Kuwait as the 19th
province of Iraq, the restoration of the Fertile Crescent, after
which sanctions and United Nations resolutions were passed
against Iraq. The First Gulf War, or Operation ‘Desert Storm’, led
28 nations headed by the USA in January 1991 on an aerial
bombardment campaign on Baghdad. The equivalent force of 7
Hiroshima bombs in ammunition was showered on the heavily
populated city for 6 weeks with an estimated 100,000 Iraqi
military casualties and tens of thousands of civilians.
 The US and British ‘decapitation attack’ of March 2003 had
similarly destructive results, succeeding in usurping the 40 year
dictatorship Ba’ath rule.
Government
 Iraq is a parliamentary democracy governed under a
constitution that was ratified in 2005. The president, who
is head of state, is elected by the Council of
Representatives. The government is headed by the prime
minister. The bicameral legislature consists of the 275-
seat Council of Representatives, whose members are
elected by proportional representation, and a Federation
Council, whose membership had not been defined as of
late 2007. Administratively, the country is divided into 18
governorates.