 |
| The Garden of Eden, Karbala and the Invention of the Wheel: A Journey on the Road That Takes You to the Birthplace of Human Civilization |
There is a road in the middle of Iraq that you can travel on to see the places where mankind first learned to write and use arithmetic and where the wheel was invented.
"It's not a scenic route, but the beauty of 'Route One' is where it takes you: the birthplace of the world's oldest civilizations," says James Wilcox of Adventure Travel Company. is home to great innovations.'
My trip was arranged by James Wilcox. Before the start of this 530 km long and two-day journey from Basra to Baghdad, he was telling me some things to do. To reach the center of ancient Mesopotamia we had to use the first and longest road in Iraq which is 1200 km long. This is called 'Route One'.
The recent history of conflicts aside, the region tells the story of the greatness of many glorious historical empires. Historical and ancient empires like Babylon, Sumerians, and Assyrians are also included in them.
James Wilcox assured me that I would never forget the trip but there were a few rules I had to remember: 'Dress conservatively (traditionally), don't photograph any checkpoints, and don't make yourself too conspicuous. '
Basra is the largest port in Iraq where I arrived by plane. The city is located along the Shatt al-Arab River, which is formed by the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Mesopotamia was named after these two rivers, which in Greek means 'between two rivers'.
It was Basra from where Alf Laila's legendary character 'Sind Bad' started his supernatural journey. Compared to Sindbad, the start of my journey was somewhat ordinary.
After meeting our driver we got on 'Route One' and were stuck in traffic for two hours. Far and wide there are oil factories that shoot gas flares into the sky.
After a journey of about 150 km, the desert turned into an oasis when we entered 'Al Ahwar'. Some people believe that this place was the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were taken from Paradise.
This low-lying area in southern Iraq is home to one of the largest delta systems in the world, which was drained in 1990 on the orders of Saddam Hussein. However, gradually it is returning to its original state.
In the town of Shabiyash, a fisherman named Razzaq Abu Hayda was waiting for me, wearing a traditional kafala. He pulled the motor of his boat and started it, and we went down to the bank of the river, where the Arabs of Madan or Arab al-Ahwar, the swampy areas, have lived for five thousand years.
Now there are only 25 Alahwari families left near Shabaish. We stopped at Razzaq's traditional reed house, called al-Muzaif when his wife Naima brought a drink.
He said that this is absolutely fresh milk. There were also some black buffalo hairs in the pot. They told me that their days are spent taking care of cattle, catching fish, and baking bread on apples. The rest of the time they collect reeds to repair the house.
The majority of the population here have migrated to nearby towns in search of modern life but both of them are happy with their simple life. For them, life is still the same as it was when their ancestors settled in the area and traded with the great city-states of the Sumerian civilization.
The Sumerians were the earliest Mesopotamian civilization that we know of. He is credited with inventing the wheel, arithmetic, writing, hydraulic engineering, the plow, and the boat sail.
Lanah Haddad is an archaeologist at the Academic Research Institute of Iraq. He says, "The secret of the success of the Sumerian civilization was the settlement in the east of the Fertile Crescent because the land in this area was good, there was an abundance of food, and thus people had enough time for innovation and inventions."
Being located at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe, the people of this region began to dominate world trade.
He says, 'This place became the center of movement of all products from 5000 BC to the Mongol conquests in the 13th century and the local people became rich and powerful.'
He says that, unlike other civilizations, the Sumerian people did not destroy everything of the conquered nations, but respected their inventions and improved them. The Sumerian-invented writing system helped this civilization preserve its knowledge.
Lanah Haddad argues that this is how the first organized library of the ancient Middle East, the royal library of Ashur-Banipal, came into existence. Along with this, the earliest form of written law in the world also came into existence from here, which is called the 'Code of Hammurabi'.
282 This system of laws emerged during the reign of King Hammurabi, who turned Babylon into the greatest city-state of Mesopotamia.
After about three hours of travel, we reached the ruins of this city. During the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon became the greatest city in the world. It was he who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, the famous Tower of Babel, and the Ishtar Gate, which is still the entrance to this historic city.
The gate is decorated with blue bricks bearing the symbols of the Babylonian Empire, decorated with vines, chamois flowers, and dragons. In Babylon, this symbol is said to have treated everything from wrinkles to male impotence.
The base of this gate is original but the upper part is 19th centuryIn the 19th century, it was taken to the Berlin Museum, which was rebuilt during the reign of Saddam Hussein.
When mud bricks bearing the name of King Nebuchadnezzar were discovered in the center of the city, Saddam Hussein ordered the construction of new walls on top of the two-and-a-half thousand-year-old foundations with the message: 'In the reign of Saddam Hussein the Conqueror. . May God bless him as the protector of great Iraq, the builder of its civilization and the restorer of greatness.
A palace was also built for Saddam Hussein on a nearby mountain, one of his more than a hundred residences. Staff were always present here so that Saddam Hussein could come and spend the night at any time. But they never came here.
We didn't have such luxurious and luxurious accommodation, but in the guest house, along with the driver, I thoroughly enjoyed the Milfoof Bitanjan and Iraqi hospitality. The next morning we opened our eyes to the call of adhan by the muezzin, and we left for the city of Karbala, 65 km away.
Karbala is the holiest place in Shia Islam where the shrine of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet of Islam, is located. Four crore people come here annually for pilgrimage.
In the compound of the mausoleum, I saw coffins that had been brought before burial. It is a practice that began in the 16th century when Shiites from as far away as India and Iran brought their dead bodies for burial here.
Apart from Karbala, people are also buried in Najaf, 75 kilometers away. 1400 years ago, the Wadi al-Salam cemetery in Najaf was founded, which is now the largest burial ground in the world. About 6 million people are buried here, most of whom are Shia Muslims.
"Birds taught Muslims to bury the body, not burn it," said Qar Ayad, one of the cemetery's 600 administrators.
They say that when Cain killed Abel, a bird covered him with mud and stones through its wings.
He said that according to Islamic traditions, it is believed that after the burial, two angels come to the grave of the deceased to test his faith and the one who follows the right path goes to heaven, but the sinner is not allowed except on Fridays. Every day the angels punish them until their judgment of them is changed.
After hearing this depiction of life after death, I asked a family visiting the cemetery if Muslims are afraid of death. He was washing the grave of his loved one with rose water.
Zainab Al-Hakim replied, "The rich are afraid because they don't want to give up everything they have." Perhaps the poor wish to die to escape their hardships. But most of us are not afraid. We believe that the day of death is certain and that death can come at any time.
After leaving Najaf, we had to travel for an hour to get back to Route One. After 160 km, the capital of Iraq was in front of us and we were moving towards its historical center.
It read 'Welcome to Baghdad, the city of peace'. We passed by the Shahada memorial to those who died in the Iran-Iraq war and then entered the old city by the river, which was once a center of trade.
I entered the 1,000-year-old bazaar al-Safafir, where copper products were made in ancient times. Amir Syed Al Safar said that once there were 126 shops but now there are 16.
According to Al-Safar, the local industry has declined due to the influx of cheap products from India and China.
"I feel sad, but this has been happening since ancient times," he says. New economic and political powers emerge. A page is being turned in the history book of Iraq.
His words were a fitting end to my journey. The ancient kingdoms of Mesopotamia, which this highway connects, have been buried in the dust over time, but their traces are still useful to humanity even after centuries.