history of iraq

8/7/2019 History of Iraq

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THEHISTORY OFIRAQ

Courtney Hunt

The Greenwood Histories of the Modern NationsFrank W. Thackeray and J- n E. Findling, Series Editors

Greenwood PressWestport, Connecticut London


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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataHunt , Cour tney .

The his tory of I raq / Courtney Hunt .p . cm. (The Gr een wo od his tor ies of the mo de rn na t ions , ISSN 1096-2905)Includes bibl iographical references and index.ISBN 0-313-33414-51. Iraq His tory . I. Title. II. Series.DS77.H86 2005

956.7dc22 2005020468Bri tish Library Catalog uing in Publ icat ion Data is avai lable .Cop yr ight 2005 by Cour tne y H un tAll r ights reserved. No port ion of this book may bereprod uced , by any process or t echnique , wi th out theexpress wri t ten consent of the publ isher .Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005020468ISBN: 0-313-33414-5ISSN: 1096-2905Firs t pu bl ish ed in 2005Gr een wo od Press , 88 Post Road W est, W estport , CT 06881An impr in t of Greenwood Publ i sh ing Group, Inc .w w w . greenwood.comPrinted in the Uni ted States of America

The paper used in this book complies wi th thePermanent Paper S tandard i s sued by the Nat iona lInformat ion Standards Organizat ion (Z39.48-1984).10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
http://www.greenwood.com/http://www.greenwood.com/http://www.greenwood.com/http://www.greenwood.com/


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For my father, who taught me to love his tory .For m y mother , w ho taug ht m e to love read ing .For my s is ter , who taught me to love laughter .And for my husband , who taught me to love .


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ContentsSer ies Foreword

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t sTimeline of Historical Events1 The Lan d an d People of I raq2 The C rad le of Civilization3 Babylonia4 The M us l im C onqu e s t5 The O t tom a n Em pi re6 The Bri tish Oc cupa t ion7 The K in gd om of Iraq an d the Rev olutio n of 1958

J.A.xiii

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Frank W.Thackeray and john E.Findling


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\1ii Contents8 A Decade of Revolutions and the Rise of Saddam 799 A Decade of Wars: The Iran-I raq War and Gulf War I 89

10 Sanctions, Gulf War II, and Iraq Today 101Notab le People in the History of Iraq 109Glossary 115Bibliographic Essay 119Index 123


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Series ForewordT he Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations ser ies i s in tendedto p rov ide s tuden ts and in te res ted laypeople wi th up- to -da te ,concise, and analytical histories of many of the nations of the contemporary world . Not s ince the 1960s has there been a sys temat icat tem pt to pub l ish a ser ies of nat ion al h is tor ies , an d, as edi tors , w ebelieve that this series wil l prove to be a valuable contr ibution toour unders tanding of o ther countr ies in our increas ingly in terdep e n d e n t w o r l d .Over thir ty years ago, at the end of the 1960s, the Cold Warwas an accepted reali ty of global poli t ics , the process of decolonizat ion was s t i l l in progress , the idea of a unif ied Europe wi th as ingle currency was unheard of , the Uni ted Sta tes was mired ina war in Vietnam, and the economic boom of Asia was s t i l l yearsin the future . Richard N ixon w as pres ide nt of the Uni te d S ta tes ,M ao Tse-tung (no t ye t M ao Ze don g) ru led C hina , Leonid Brezhnevguided the Sovie t Union , and Haro ld Wi lson was p r ime min is te rof the Uni ted Kingdom. Author i ta r ian d ic ta to rs s t i l l ru led mos t


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X Series Forewordof Lat in America , the Middle East was reel ing in the wake ofthe Six-Day War , and Shah Reza Pahlavi was a t the height of h ispower in I ran . C lear ly , the pas t th i r ty years have been wi tness toa great deal of historical change, and i t is to this change that thisse r ies is p r im ar i ly add ress ed .W ith the help of a d is t ing uishe d adv isory boa rd, w e have se lectednations whose poli t ical , economic, and social affairs mark them asamong the mos t impor tan t in the waning years o f the twent ie thcentury , and for each nat ion we have found an author who is recognized as a specia l is t in the his tory of that nat ion. These authorshave worked mos t coope ra t ive ly w i th u s and w i th GreenwoodPress to produce volumes that ref lec t current research on thei rnat ion and that are in teres t ing and informat ive to thei r prospect ivereade r s .The impo rtance of a series such as th is cannot be und eres t im ated .As a superpower whose influence is fel t al l over the world, theUnited States can claim a "special" relat ionship with almost everyother nation. Yet many Americans know very l i t t le about the histories of the nations with which the Untied States relates. How didthey get to be the w ay they are? W ha t kind of poli tical syste m s h av eevolved there? What kind of influence do they have in their ownregion? What are the dominant poli t ical , rel igious, and culturalforces that move their leaders? These and many other questions areanswered in the volumes of this series.The au thors who have con t r ibu ted to th i s se r ies have wr i t t encomprehensive his tor ies of thei r nat ions , dat ing back to prehis tor ict imes in som e cases . Each of them , how ever , has d ev ote d a s ignif icant por t ion of the book to events of the las t th i r ty years , becausethe modern e ra has con t r ibu ted the mos t to con temporary i s suesthat ha ve an im pac t on U.S. policy . A ut ho rs hav e m ad e an effortto be as up-to-date as possible so that readers can benefi t from themost recent scholarship and a narra t ive that includes very recenteven t s .In addi t ion to the his tor ica l narra t ive , each volume in th is ser iesconta ins an in t roduc tory overv iew of the count ry ' s geography ,pol i t ica l ins t i tu t ions , economic s t ructure , and cul tura l a t t r ibutes .This is designed to give readers a picture of the nation as i t existsin the con temporary wor ld . Each vo lume a l so con ta ins add i t iona lcha pters that ad d in teres t ing an d useful deta i l to the his tor ica l na rra t ive . O ne chapter i s a tho ro ug h chron ology of im po rtan t h is torica levents, making it easy for readers to follow the flow of a particular


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Series Foreword xinat ion 's h is tory . Another chapter fea tures b iographical sketches ofthe na t ion ' s mos t impor tan t f igures in o rder to humanize some ofthe ind iv idua ls who have con t r ibu ted to the h i s to r ica l deve lopment of thei r nat ion. Each volume also conta ins a comprehensivebibl iography , so tha t those readers wh os e in teres t ha s be en spa rke dmay find out more about the nation and i ts history. Finally, there isa careful ly prepared topic and person index.Readers of these volumes wi l l f ind them fascinat ing to read andusefu l in unders tand ing the con temporary wor ld and the na t ionstha t com prise i t. A s series editor s , i t is ou r ho pe t ha t this series w il lcontr ibute to a heightened sense of g lobal unders tanding as weembark on a new cen tury .

Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findl ingInd iana Univers i ty Southeas t


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AcknowledgmentsFirs t, I w ou ld l ike to thank E dw ard M ickolus , w ho w as kind en ou ghto refer me to his editor , Michael Hermann of Greenwood Press.Words cannot express my grat i tude to my wonderful and pat ienteditor , Sarah Colwell of Greenwood Press. Without her this booksimply would not have been poss ible .My research for th is book was great ly ass is ted by the pat ientand kind staffs of the Fairfax County Public Library, the LoudounCounty Publ ic Library , and the George Mason Univers i ty l ibrary .I thank them al l for thei r boundless ass is tance wi th my endlessresearch quest ions .W ri ters are a un iqu e t r ibe and of ten ba nd together to su pp or t eachother . My wri t ing career has been advanced by many such wri ters 'groups. For me, the most influential of these groups is InvisibleInk. I would like to thank each of my fantastic colleagues for theirsuppor t and encouragement but most especia l ly Rober t Kresge, theFounding Father and dr iv ing force behind Invis ib le Ink.


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xiv AcknowledgmentsOn a more personal note, very special thanks go to the followingpeople fo r the i r unwaver ing suppor t and f r iendsh ip . Each of youmeans more to me than you wil l ever know: Lynn Cary, Vance

Hedderal , Hannah Taylor , Sandy Knox, Lisa Glover , Elise Sanford,Daniel le Angeline, and Michael Ball . I thank each of you for yoursuppor t , conf idence, and advice .Severa l wr i te r s ' e -mai l g roups p rov ided add i t iona l mora l suppor t and encouragement . I a l so owe cons iderab le g ra t i tude to myfai thful accountant and dear f r iend, North Carol ina Sta te SenatorHugh Webster . I thank my fr iend, Kory Embrey, w h o k i n d l y p r o vided s ignif icant IT advice and ass is tance dur ing the product ionof this book.I ow e my family m y m os t p rofuse than ks for thei r endles s pat ienc ew ith m y w rit ing . W rit ing, by i ts na tu re , is a soli tary profession tha trequires long hours to i l ing away f rom the company of f r iends andfamily . My s is ter , Meredi th Runion and my parents , Paula andEdward Run ion , we re k ind enough to wade th rough my end le s sfirst drafts with cri t ical but kind eyes. I also would l ike to thankmy parents for the sacrif ices they made to ensure that I received aqual i ty educat ion. I thank my parents and s is ter for thei r love andsu pp or t an d for a lwa ys be l iev ing in m e , even wh en I d id n ' t a lw aysbelieve in myself.

My husband i s my muse , my insp i ra t ion , my bes t f r i end , mysoulmate , and my cons tan t suppor t . Wi thout h im, th i s book wouldsim ply no t ha ve been com pleted . Al l I can offer h im in re tu rn is m ycopious g ra t i tude and a l l my love .


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Timeline of Historical Eventsca. 8000 B.C.E.

7000 B.C.E.

5900-4000 B.C.E.5900 B.C.E.4000-3000 B.C.E.3500 B.C.E.

300-2350 B.C.E.2350-2150 B.C.E.2150-2000 B.C.E.2112 B.C.E.

Earliest settlements in MesopotamiaappearJarmo, the first village in Mesopotamia issettledUbaid periodEridu is settledUruk periodSumerian dominance over M esopotamiabeginsEarly Dynastic periodAkkadian periodNeo-Sumerian periodThird dynasty of Ur begins


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xvi Timeline of Historical Events2004 B.C.E. Elamites over throw thi rd dynasty of Ur2004-1595 B.C.E. Old Babylon ian per iod1792-1750 B.C.E. Hammurab i ru l e s Baby lon and even tua l lyM e s o p o t a m i a1595 B.C.E. The Hit t i tes invade Babylonia , thus

ending the f irst dynasty of Babylonca. 1475 B.C.E. Kassi tes ascend to power in Babylonia1415 B.C.E. Amarna Age beg ins1157 B.C.E. The Elamites over throw the Kass i tes andtake control of Babylonia1124 B.C.E. Nebuchadrezzar I d r ives the E lami tes ou tof Babylonia883-792 B.C.E. Neo-Assyrian pe r iod792-595 B.C.E. Neo-Babylonian pe r iod745 B.C.E. Assyrian ruler Tiglath-Pileser IIover th rows the Babylon ian k ing ,im pos in g Assy r ian ru le over B abylon689 B.C.E. Assyr ians sack Babylon610 B.C.E. Assyr ian Empire fa l ls605-562 B.C.E. N ebu cha drez zar II ru les Babylon555-539 B.C.E. Nabonidus ru les as the f ina l Cha ldeanking of Babylon539 B.C.E. Cy rus A chae m enes , k ing of Pers ia ,conquers Babylonia , incorporat ing i t in tothe Pers ian Empire539-330 B.C.E. Mede and Pers ian occupa t ion331 B.C.E. Alexander the Great captures Babylonia331-129 B.C.E. Macedon ian e r a312 B.C.E. Babylon is absorbed into the Seleucid

E m p i r e129 B.C.E.-234 C.E. P a r t h ia n K i n g d o m224-626 C . E . Sassanid dynasty


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Timeline of Historical Events57 0

622634-637661-750750-125876212581258-13341334-1509

1509-15341534-19151622

1638

1895

1914-19181920

1921

1925

Prophe t Muhammad , t he founde r o fIs lam, bornYear One of the Islamic calendarMusl im conques t o f MesopotamiaUmayyad dynas ty ru l e s Mesopo tamiaAbbas id dynas ty ru les MesopotamiaBaghdad bu i l tHu lagu Khan sacks BaghdadMongols ru le MesopotamiaJala i r id dynasty and Turkomans controlM e s o p o t a m i aSafavid dynasty controls MesopotamiaOt tomans ru l e Mesopo tamiaBekr Agha's revolt ; Safavids retakeB a g h d a dOt toman Empi re r ecap tu re s Baghdad andcontrols a ll of M eso pota m ia againCommit tee o f Union and Progress(CUP) "Young Turks" form as a reformm o v e m e n tWorld War IBrit ish given mandate over al l Iraq atthe Conference of San Remo; borders ofmodern Iraq created; insurrection of 1920challenges Brit ish authori tyConference of Cairo names Faisal I asfirst king of Iraq; start of the Hashemitem o n a r c h yM osu l is incorp orated in to Iraq; IraqiNat ional Assembly convenes for the f i rs tt ime

1928 I raq Pe t ro l eum Company (IPC) created

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Timeline of Historical Events xix1980-1988A u g u s t 2,1990J a n u a r y 1 9 9 1 -February 19911991-2003March -Apr i l 2003December 2003January 2005

I ran- I raq WarI raq invades Kuwai tGulf War II raq endures a decade of UN weaponsinspect ions and economic sanct ionsGulf War IISaddam i s cap tured ou ts ide T ikr i tIraqis, in their first free general electionin mo re tha n 50 years , elec t a N at ion alAssem bly to deve lop a cons t i tu t ion an dnew democra t i c gove rnmen t


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1The Land and People of Iraq

For many Americans , the Republ ic of I raq is a nat ion seeped inm yste ry an d s ha do w s. In the pas t 15 years , the U ni ted S ta tes hasfought two wars in I raq; yet the average American knows veryli t t le of the people and the r ich history of this fascinating country.For the pas t two years , I raq has domina ted the n igh t ly news andthe foreign policy of the United States and, by extension, the world.I raq was a mainstay of the most recent American pres ident ia l e lect ion, an d, if the recen t Iraqi elections are any ex am ple , Iraq is takin gi ts f i rs t s teps toward a t rue democracy and may become the f i rs tdem ocr atic nat ion in the M idd le East . As the future of Iraq is be ingl ived an d w ri t ten r igh t now , a c lear un de rs ta nd ing of the his tory ofI raq is crucia l in our new global environment .The current boundaries of Iraq are an art if icial creation of theBrit ish and French after World War I . Prior to that t ime, what wenow ca l l I raq was roughly equ iva len t to Mesopotamia . The te rm"Mesopotamia" means the land be tween the r ivers and i s assoc i a ted wi th the cradle of c iv i l iza t ion. Indeed, modern-day I raq was


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2 The History of Iraqw her e c iv i li zat ion bega n . Leg ends ho ld tha t m od ern -da y I raq is thesite of the biblica l G ard en of Eden . Some 50 m iles ou ts ide Basra , anancient tree is al legedly the Tree of A d a m and Eve and is a p o p u l a rtourist s i te .This chap te r p rov ides an i n t roduc t ion to I raq, including a brieffactual overview of its geography, economy, current pol i t ica lsystem, social characterist ics , and cultural life.GEOGRAPHY

I raq is approximately 168,000 square miles , about the same s izeas California and sl ightly smaller than Texas. In compar i son w i thIraq 's near neighbors , I raq is smal ler than I ran but larger thanSyria. The Tigris and Eu phra tes r ive rs f low sou theas t th rou gh I raq ,t o w a r d the Pers ian Gulf, and join at Shat t a l -Arab, jus t nor th ofBasra. The r ich banks and t r ibutar ies of the two great r ivers crea ted a highly fert i le , arable plan and set the s tage for civil izat ion tod e v e l o p . The r ivers often bring massive f looding, destroying cropsand r ivers ide towns . Enormous i r r iga t ion sys tems are requ i red tom a k e m u c h of the land farmable . Addi t ional ly , southern I raq suffers f rom poor natura l dra inage that leads to soi l oversal in izat ion,a major problem at several points in Iraqi history.

Iraq 's r ichest natural resource is the black gold found beneath thesurface: gallons of pe t ro l eum tha t m ake up more than 95 percen t ofcontemporary I raq ' s economy. As of 2000, it is est imated that I raqconta ins more than 310 bil l ion barrels of oil reserves , the second-largest reserves in the w o r l d .I raq 's only seacoast is a small 36-mile (58-km) strip of l and onthe Pers ian Gulf, so n a m e d d u r i n g the Pers ians occupa t ion ofMesopotamia s ta r t ing in 539 B.C.E. Before that, it was c o m m o n l ycalled the C h a l d e a n Sea or the Sea of the Rising Sun. I raq 's majorp o r t s are Basra, at the confluence of the two r ivers , and at UmmQasr . I raq 's t iny coast l ine bare ly provides enough access to expor toil, and the por t s are relat ively shallow. At leas t par t of the I raqiinvas ion of K u w a i t in 1989 was b a s e d on the desi re to have accessto Kuwai t ' s lucra t ive seapor ts .

To the w est , Sau di Arab ia , Jorda n, and Syria bo rd er Iraq. Iran si tsto the east , and Turkey is to the nor th . Kuwa i t is on I raq ' s sou thwes t e rn bo rde r on the Pers ian Gulf. The cur ren t borders of theMiddle Eas t are the resul t of a Bri t i sh Manda te in 1920 fol lowingWor ld War I.


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The Land and People of Iraq 3Iraq is further d ivid ed into 18 provinc es cal led muhafazah. The provinces of Iraq are Al Anbar , Al Basrah, Al M u t h a n n a , Al Qadis iyah ,

An-Najaf, Arbi l , As Sulaymaniya, At Ta 'mim, Babi l , Baghdad,Dahuk, Dhi Qar , Diyala , Karbala , Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din,and Wasi t . In the nor th , three provinces make up the semiautono-mous K urdis tan reg ion . The K urds res ide m os t ly a long the p oro usbo rd ers wi th Turkey an d Iran in the hig h, difficult m ou nt ai n cl imateand terrain. Baghdad, the capital , s i ts at the center of the country,on the Tigris River. Other major Iraqi ci t ies include Mosul, Basra,Tikri t , Karbala, and Najaf.

Most of Iraqi land is nonarable and is used as pasture for f locksof sheep and goats . The deser t i s most ly p la ins r is ing in to a mounta in range a long the borders wi th Turkey and I ran. The r ich wetlands of southern I raq are home to the Marsh Arabs , an ancientpeople that l ived in reed houses and herded water buffa lo . Sadly ,Saddam Husse in d ra ined these marshes in the 1980s to p reven tI ranian and Kurdish soldiers f rom taking refuge in them and thusdes t royin g the M arsh A rab s ' w ay of life . After the A m erican defeatof Saddam in 2003, much work has been done to revi ta l ize themarshes , but they are only a shadow of the gorgeous ecosystemthey once were .

The area a long the banks of the Tigr is and Euphrates is arable .However , agr icul ture depends on r iver water f rom i r r igat ion systems . Complex i r r iga t ion sys tems da t ing back to Sumer ian t imess t i l l provide water to the out ly ing regions . As one can imagine,f looding can be a major con cern an d des tructiv e, b u t f lood con trolprojects s tarted in the 1950s help mitigate the devastat ing effects .The main I raqi crops are dates and cot ton, a l though gra ins andvegetables are grown in the vas t f ie lds near Mosul .Iraq is located on the historical t rade routes connecting East andWest. Being at the crux of early civilization gave Iraq access to theweal th , cul ture , and splendor of the world . Of course , i t a lso madeIraq a va luab le conq uest . Ov er the six m il lennia of reco rded history,I raq w as f requently inv ade d and con quered , leading to the dy nam icheri tage, r ich history, and vibrant cultural tapestry of Iraq today.The cl imate of Iraq is mostly dry and hot , al though there aremarked contras ts in weather as one t ravels through the country .Southern I raq enjoys considerably more ra infa l l than the nor th ,espec ia l ly dur ing the summer months . In Shatt al-Arab, lush dategroves are cul t ivated. Baghdad, located near the middle of thecount ry , averages sum m er tem pera tu res of 105F/40C and hov ers


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The Land and People of Iraq 5during the sanct ions and the wars . S tabi l iz ing the currency wil l bejust one of the challenges of the new Iraqi government. As of 2003,the gross domest ic product (GDP) of I raq was approximately $39bi ll ion , bu t the GD P grow th ra te w as an aby sma l -20 percen t .PEOPLE

I raq is home to approximately 25.5 mil l ion people , wi th a populat ion growth rate of 2.84 percent . The vast majori ty of Iraqis identify them selv es as A rab (75 to 80 perc ent) . The K ur ds m ak e u p 15 to20 perce nt of the popu la t io n. The rema ining 5 perce nt is com prisedof Turkomans, Assyr ians , and other e thnic groups .Tribes, language, and rel igion divide Iraqi society. Loyalty tofamily and tr ibe is a s ignif icant factor throughout Middle Easternsociety. Although the introduction of the Islamic fai th challengedindividual loyalty to family tr ibes, t r ibalism remains a s ignif icantforce in Iraqi l i fe , especial ly in the rural countryside. Urbanization,a cen t ra l ized government , and educa t ion s lowly muted the t ra

dit ional t r ibal influence, but many Iraqis retain tradit ional t r ibalcus toms .Additionally, tribal ties often have a great effect on the politicalmores and structure of Iraq. Most Iraqis feel much greater connect ion to their family and tr ibe than to their country. Nationalism inthe Western sense of supreme loyal ty to the nat ion does not exis t .Some 85 years after the creation of the Iraqi s tate, Iraqis mightidentify themselves as Iraqi but only after f irs t identifying theirre l ig ion and t r ibal her i tage . As Phoebe Marr expla ins , "Among thelegacies of tr ibalism in Iraq are intense concern with family, clan,and t r ibe; devot ion to personal honor ; fac t ional ism; and above a l l ,diff iculty in cooperating across kinship linesthe und e r ly ing bas isof modern c ivic soc ie ty" 1A s for lan gu ag e, m ost I raqis spea k Arabic , w hi le the K urd s spea kKurdish, creating a language barrier . I t is impossible to speak of an

Iraqi identi ty without also discussing the rel igious sects that cons t i tu te I raq: A rab Shi ite M usl im s, A rab Sun ni M usl im s, K urd s , an dCh ris t ians . M an y K urd s are a lso Sunni M usl im s. Rel ig ion is one ofthe pr imary segmentat ions of I raq socie ty , and unders tanding thesignif icance of these rel igious differences cannot be understated.As wil l be discussed in chapter 4, the Islamic schism betweenShiites and Sunnis resulted from a dispute over the selection ofcaliph, or rel igious leader, after the dea th of the Pro ph et M uh am m ad .


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6 The History of IraqBriefly, the Shii tes hold that only descendants of Muhammad orAli , son- in- law and cousin of Muhammad, can hold the cal iphate .Unders tandably , d i rect l ineage to Muhammad or Al i has becomem u d d le d over the pa st 1,400 years . Therefore, mujtahids, who gener al ly claim some blood relat ionship to the Prophet or to Ali , overseethe Shii te community. By having one rel igious leader, the Shii teMusl ims have formed a more cohesive community than the moresecular Sunnis.

In contras t , Sunnis suppor t any r ight ly e lected cal iph as long asthe succession laws set out in the Quran are fol lowed. The majori tyof M usl im s aro un d th e w orl d are Sunni . In teres t ingly , th is major i tyis inverted in Iraq. Sunnis are the minori ty, while most of the Iraqipo pu la t io n is Shii te . In fact, there are thre e t imes as m an y Shii tes asSun nis in I raq . Ho wev er , Sun ni M us l im s have he ld po l it ica l p ow ersince the t ime of the Ottomans, and this inevitably leads to Shii teresentment and of ten oppress ion. Most of I raq 's Shi i te popula t ionis centered in southern I raq.

Unlike the Shii tes , the Sunnis do not fol low one rel igious leader.Ins tead, they fol low the customs proscr ibed by the Prophet , ca l ledth e Surma, and the Islamic law, cal led the sharia. Therefore, theSu nnis do no t ha ve as s t rong a sense of co m m un ity an d conn ect ionas the Shii tes and tend to be more secular . As a whole, they tend tofavor a less re l ig ious form of go ve rnm en t . Most of the Sunn i p op ula t ion is concentra ted in nor thern I raq, and the Sunnis dominatethe c i t ies of I raq and the urban popula t ion in the famous Sunnit r iangle . The Sunn i tr iangle s t re tches f rom the I ranian bord er to th enor th of Baghdad to the border wi th Syr ia to the west .The I raqi K urd s share a cul tura l , l inguis t ic , an d re l ig ious iden t i tyw i th Ku rd ish po pula t ions in o ther count r ies , e specia lly Turkey an dI ran . M os t Ku rds a re Sunni Mus l ims and prob ably desce nde d f romthe ancient Medes , a l though thei r t rue or ig ins are now obscured.Their nationalist ic identi ty is not to Iraq but , rather , to a desiredKurd ish na t ion-s ta te , ca l led Kurd is tan by the Kurds themse lves .T h e K u r d s w h o d w e l l i n t h e s e m i a u t o n o m o u s K u r d i s h r e g i o nin t he no r th o f I r aq wou ld p re f e r s epa ra t ion and independencef rom the I r aq i na t ion . Dur ing O t toman ru l e , t he re we re s eve ra lK urd i s h dyna s t i e s t ha t r u l ed in no r th e rn I r aq , bu t no ne su r v ived for long . Severa l t imes in the pas t 30 years , Kurds haves t r u g g l e d f o r i n d e p e n d e n c e . H o w e v e r , t h e s e m o v e m e n t s d i d n o ten joy cohes ive back ing f rom the au tonomous Kurds and wereu l t ima te ly unsucces s fu l .


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The Land and People of Iraq 7Rather than Arabic , the Kurds speak a Pers ian- language der ivat ive cal led Kurdish , a l though dia lects vary across I raq. The twomain dia lects spoken in I raq are Kurmanj i and Sorani , and there

are signif icant cultural and poli t ical divisions that accompanyeach dia lect . The Ku rds l ive in the three no r the rnm ost prov inces ofI raq and t radi t ional ly enjoyed a rura l , mountainous l i fes ty le in theZagros Mounta ins . However , the I ran- I raq War and oppress ion bythe government o f Saddam Husse in led to an ex tens ive migra t ionof the Kurds . Most have now reset t led in to c i t ies and towns. Theircapital is at Arbil.Other popula t ions in I raq inc lude the Turkomans and non-M usl im m inor i t ies , inclu ding C hris t ians , Jews, Yazidis, an d Sabians .The Turkomans are Sunni Musl im descendants of the Sel juk Turksw h o co nq uer ed I raq in the 1200s. M ost Tu rkom ans l ive in the n or th ,near the Zagros Mounta ins , and make up approx imate ly 2 percen tof the Iraqi po pu la t io n. A l tho ug h they are pro por t io nal ly a f rac tionof the overal l popula t ion, the Turkomans have been inf luent ia l inthe pol i t ica l h is tory of I raq and cont inue to hold prominent posi

t ions in the I raqi government .A s famously com m em orated in the Bible , the Jewish popu la t ion ofIraq arr ived as Baby lonian slaves in the sixth centu ry B.C.E. However ,w h en Israel w as created, the vast majority of the Jewish po pu lat io n,especial ly in Baghdad, returned to their homeland by 1951.Three Chris t ian sects ca l l I raq home and make up 3 percent ofthe Iraqi po pu la t io n. Ch alde ans o r ig inated as fo l lowers of the theologian Nestor ius and are now unif ied wi th the Cathol ic Church.The Nestor ian Chris t ians are probably descended f rom Byzant ineslaves. After World War I , the Bri t ish set t led the Assyrians, members of the Nestor ian church who did not reuni te wi th the Vat ican,in no r th ern I raq. In tegrat ion of the A ssyr ians has bee n chal lenging ,as I raqis , especia l ly the Kurds , have long resented these Chris t ianin t rude r s .The Yazidis practice a form of Zoroastr ianism. They are relatedto the Kurdish t r ibes and l ive near Mosul . Another smal l minori ty is the Sabians , who observe a cur ious and unique blend ofChris t iani ty and Is lam. The Sabians res ide most ly in the south ofIraq near the port ci ty of Basra.Marsh Arabs , ca l led the Ma'dan, are a most ly Shi i te popula t ionwho dwel l in the sou thern I raq i marsh lands near the conf luenceof the Tigris and Euphrates r ivers. They follow an ancient way ofl i fe and have inhabi ted the marshlands for more than 5,000 years .


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8 The History of IraqSadly , the bu i ld ing of the Sad da m Can a l has dec im ated th em , an dthe popu la t ion h as d r op pe d to l ess tha n 40 ,000 peop le . D ur ing therebui ld ing of I raq af ter Gulf War I I , some water has been re turnedto the marshland, and the Ma'dan 's way of l i fe i s being revived.

POLITICAL STRUCTUREIraqi poli t ical s tructure is currently in f lux. Recent elect ions crea ted a Na t iona l Assem bly to dev e lop a democra t ic cons t i tu t ion an dm eth od of gov ernm ent . These h i s to r ic electionsthe first free elec

t ions in m ore th an 50 yea rs in Iraqmark a turning point for I raq ,the Middle East , and the world . The ent i re world can only wai t tosee if this radical change takes root and flourishes in the sands ofI raq or whether the Sunnis , Shi i tes , and Kurds wi l l descend in tothe chaos of a civil war.O n Octob er 3, 1932, Iraq declared ind ep en de nc e from the B ritishadm inistrat ion following W orld War I. A ltho ug h Iraq w as nom inallya rep ublic w ith judicial, legislative, an d executive bran ch es, in reality,

prior to Gulf War II , dictator Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq withthe assistance of regional governors and a National AssemblyW he n the Ba ' th Par ty ga ined p ow er in 1968, the I raqi co nst i tu t ionwas adopted and gave the Revolu t ionary Command Counc i l (RCC)abso lu te power . Saddam Husse in cha i red the RCC and se rved aspres iden t and pr ime min is te r th roughout h i s re ign . The Nat iona lAssem bly was comp r ised of 250 m em bers w ho se rved four-yearte rms . Al though the leg i s la tu re was tasked wi th approv ing orrejecting legislation pro po se d by the RC C, in practice the y rou tinelyap pro ve d S ad da m 's legis la t ion. Al l of Sa dd am 's council of ad visersand government l eaders were Sunni Mus l ims l ike himself.Pres iden t Sad dam Hu sse in appo in t ed a ll j ud ic i a ry m em ber s .The supreme cour t of I raq is ca l led the Court of Cassat ion and ism a d e u p of 12 to 15 jud ge s. Th ere are a grea t m an y offenses tha tresul t in the dea th pen al ty in I raq , an d m ost cr iminal offenses w ereharshly punished. There is a lso a re l ig ious cour t sys tem made upof Chr is t ian , Shi i te , and Sunni cour ts that handles personal anddivorce cases .

Dur ing Saddam Husse in ' s ru le , the on ly s ta te - recognized po l i t i cal party was the Arab Ba'th Social is t Party. There were severali l legal pol i t ica l groups , including the I raqi Communis t Par ty , theKurdis tan Democrat ic Par ty , and the Patr io t ic Union of Kurdis tan.


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The Land and People of Iraq 9Addit ional ly , the Shi i tes have two opposi t ion par t ies : the Da 'waIs lamic Par ty and the Sup rem e A ssem bly of the Is lamic R evolut ionin Iraq.

In 1970, the K urd ish au ton om ou s region w as forme d an d is ru ledby an elected legislature. In practical terms, the infighting betweenthe tw o pr im ary K urd ish po li ti cal pa r t i es has ma de g overnan ce bythe Kurdish legis la ture near ly impossible . Ins tead, the two par t iesgovern separate shares of Kurdish ter r i tory .I t remains to be seen what government the I raqis wi l l developfor themselves after the recent elect ions.NOTE

1. Phebe Marr , History of Modern Iraq (Boulder , Co lo . : W estviewPress , 2004), p. 18.


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2The Cradle of CMlization

W as m od er n Iraq really the biblical Eden ? Some scholars believe th atEden was si tuated in southern Iraq, between the fert i le Tigris andEuphra t e s rivers. W hether or not Eden actually existed , M esopo tamiaw as th e cradle of civilization. In the fertile crescent of M eso po tam ia,writ ing, mathematics, and the world 's f irs t codif ied legal systembegan. The Sumerians invented agr icul ture and i r r igat ion and putthe w heel to use in m anufactur ing pot tery an d for t ranspor ta t ion.Unfor tunate ly , modern I raq has suffered such war and s t r i feas to make archaeological excavation diff icult to impossible. Thehypotheses p resen ted here a re what i s cur ren t ly known about theor igins of Mesopotamia , but they can and wil l probably change asarchaeologists and historians discover more secrets in the shif t ingsand dunes of I raq.PREHISTORIC IRAQ

Archaeolog is t s have found ev idence of humans in Mesopotamiaduring the Paleoli thic Age (25,000-5000 B.C.E. ) . T h e s e h u m a n s ,


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12 The History of Iraql ike p reh is to r ic mankind the wor ld over , were p robably nomadichunte r -ga there rs and pr imi t ive cave dwel le r s . In Shanidar , innor thern I raq, there l ies a prehis tor ic cemetery dat ing back to theIce Ag e.The ear l i es t se t t l ements in Mesopotamia were es tab l i shedbetween 8000 and 7000 B.C.E. in the floodplain of the Tigris andEuphrates. Although i t is diff icult to ascertain with cert i tude, scient is ts theor ize that the environment was less ar id in prehis tor ict imes and therefore more conducive to agrarian l ife . I t is possiblethat the annual r iver f looding was much more severe than today.Cer ta inly , the Tigr is and Euphrates were c loser together in ancientt imes than they are today.

In the late 1940s, Ro bert Bra idw oo d led a tea m of arch aeo logistsat Qalat Jarmo in nor thern I raq. Braidwood discovered a t iny vi l lage that appeared to have been se t t led around 7000 B.C.E. , p r e da tin g Erid u, the earl iest ci ty in the so ut h b y mo re tha n 1,000 y ear s.Jarmo, because of i ts location in the hil l country, probably receivedconsiderable ra infa l l , which made i t environmental ly conducive tofarming. Addi t ional ly , the Jarmo s i te lay near the now dr ied riverbed of an ancient s t ream. Braidwood found evidence of cul t ivatedgra in and domes t ica ted an imals , suppor t ing h i s a rgument tha tagr icu l tu re beg an a t Ja rm o.

There were p robably many such smal l v i l l ages in nor thernMesopotamia be tween 7000 and 6000 B.C.E. At Tel l Hassuna, jus tsouth of modern Mosul , archaeologis ts d iscovered the f i rs t indicators of crude potteryanother s ign of a da w ni ng c ivi liza tion.The Samarrans , in cen t ra l Mesopotamia , deve loped the p r in c iples of i r r igat ion. Samarra , a contemporary vi l lage to Jarmo, d idnot receive enough rainfal l to al low for cult ivation of crops. Theycreated canals and ear ly i r r igat ion t roughs to draw on the nearbyTigris River. The Samarrans were also famous for their dist inctivepot tery , wi th precise geometr ic bands and animate f igures .UBAID PERIOD ( 5 9 0 0 - 4 0 0 0 B.C.E . )

No one is certain of the origins of the people who took the ShinarP la in in sou thern Mesopotamia . One legend c la ims they werehalf man, half fish. It is far more likely, if less colorful, that theywere nomad ic sheephe rde r s who a r r ived in Mesopo tamia a round5900 B.C.E. and decided to set t le along the r ich, fert i le banks of theEuphrates River . By domest ica t ing wi ld sheep and goats as wel l as


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The Cradle of Civilization 13ra is ing gra in such as bar ley and wheat , the nomads were able tobegin farming and creating an agricultural society.Like the Nile River in Egypt, the fertile banks of the Tigris andEu ph ra tes m ad e agr icu l tu re and t ra de poss ib le , the reby se t ting theenvironmental s tage for civi l izat ion to develop. By 5900 B.C.E. , thesouthern por t ions of the Tigr is and Euphrates were wel l se t t led .From these bust l ing se t t lements , the famous ancient c i t ies ofEr idu, Ur , and Uruk developed. The ancient c i ty of Ur 1 w a s a b o u t12 miles to the northeast of Eridu, and Tell al-Ubaid l ies some fourm iles be yo nd that . U ruk l ies som e 25 miles to the nor th w est . Theses i tes are w he re c ivi l iza t ion w as b orn .Sumer ian l i fe was based on mankind ' s re la t ionsh ip wi th a vas tpantheon of gods . The Sumerians bel ieved that each c i ty-s ta tebelonged to i t s pat ron dei ty and that governance of the c i t ies wasdelegated to a k ing by the gods . Thus , the temple (and la ter z ig-gura t s , o r s tepped temples ) became the cen te r o f Mesopotamiancity l i fe . Sumerians believed that the gods actually resided in theirs ta tues an d therefore ins ide the tem ples a t the top of the z iggu rats .I f ra iders removed a god 's s ta tue , the town was lef t godless in theSumer i ans ' wor ldv iew .

The Sumerian creation legend states that the ci ty of Eridu(m ode rn-day Tell A bu S hahra in) wa s the b i r thp lace of m an kin d .The ta le of the water god Enki and his consor t , Ninhursag, foundo n a cuneiform tablet at Nippur, contains signif icant l inks to thebiblica l creat ion s tory of A d am an d E ve. For exa m ple , bo th s tor iesfocus on a shared r ib between male and female humans. I t i s in ter es t ing to no te that the great p la t form tem ple , a prec urso r to the z iggurats , a t Er idu is dedicated to Enki , who f igures so prominent lyin the Sum erian creat ion m yth , a long with Enl i l, the god of a ir an dAn, the god of the heavens .The ruins a t Er idu l ie 12 miles west of the Euphrates , a l thougharcha eolog ists believe tha t i t once perch ed on the ba n ks of the g reatr iver . Pot tery shards f rom the Ubaid per iod were discovered in theruin s of the temp le . Archa eologis ts une ar th ed 12 layers of te m plesa t the Er idu s i t e , sugges t ing tha t Er idu was indeed begun a round5900 B.C.E.The people of nearby Tell al-Ubaid created marvelous sage greenpottery. Archaeologists and historians specializing in the Near Eastgenerally classify prehistoric Mesopotamian sites by ceramic style.Therefore, the distinctive greenish pottery of Tell al-Ubaid came tocharacterize an en tire era of early M eso po tam ian life. This distinctive


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14 The History of Iraqpot tery s ty le was found a t s i tes a t Ur and Er idu, suggest ing thatthe th ree c i t i es were con temporary and engaged in t rade . Uba idpot tery has been discovered near the nor thern I raq c i ty of Mosul ,in Syr ia , and in Saudi Arabia , suggest ing that the Ubaid cul turespread th roughout the Near Eas t .

About 35 miles to the nor thwest of a l -Ubaid and Ur , the town ofUruk (Old Testament Erech) thrived. By 4000 B.C.E. , U r u k s p r a w l e dover 250 acresthe larges t town in the ancient world . The c i tywall alone is more than f ive miles long. Uruk thrived because of i tslocat ion nea r the Eup hra tes a nd i ts pos i t ion a t the crux of the t rad erou tes be tween the nor thern and sou thern se t t l ements . Eventua l ly ,i t grew to more than 1,200 acresmuch larger than Rome at thehe igh t o f the Roman Empire .

German a rchaeo log is t s d i scovered two grea t t emple complexesat U ruk . Both w ere ear ly z igg urats , one to the god de ss Inan na. T heother, the White Temple of Uruk, is the f irs t known temple to si ta top an a r t i f i c ia l mounta in , which mus t have suppor ted an imposing z iggurat in i t s dayPerhaps the most s ignif icant f ind a t Uruk was pla in , unadornedpot tery . Archaeologis ts theor ize that th is u t i l i tar ian pot tery wasthe f i r s t mass -produced t rade i t em. Mass p roduc t ion of po t te ryrequi red the wo r ld ' s mo s t signi fican t inven t ion : the po t te r ' s w hee l .Later , i t w ou ld be turn ed v er t ica l ly an d us ed for t ransp or t , fur theradvanc ing the agra r ian economy and cu l tu re .In addi t ion, as agr icul tura l technology advanced, fewer farmerswere needed to grow the food that the c i t ies depended on. Theseadvances lef t room for the growth of special ized labor and profess ional c lasses , such as po t ters , pr ies ts , an d ar t isans . A rchaeolog is tsa lso discovered a n um be r of beaut i fu l ly sculpted pieces , sugg est ing tha t skil led labor w a s available to create the m , an d a f lourishing t rade gave them the needed mater ia ls , specif ica l ly s tone. Thedeve lopmen t o f professions led to more people l iv ing in the towns,which grew to become ci t ies . Socie ty became increas ingly s t ra t i

f ied. Urban l ife focused on rel igion, and the great ziggurats becamethe center of everyday l ife .M ean w hile , in w ha t is no w n or t he rn I raq, several v i l lages exis ted ,th ou gh i t seem s clear that they ne ve r reached th e size an d influenceof the south ern c i ties . U baid po t tery w as found a t N ine vah , nea rthe m od ern -d ay c i ty of M osul , sugg est ing t rad e routes an d re la tionship s w ith the great sou the rn ci t ies . Ad dit ionally, so-called Halafware f rom Tel l Halaf in modern-day Syr ia was found, indicat ing


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The Cradle of Civilization 15f lourishing tra de w ith no rth er n ci ties . Halaf cu lture sp ru n g u paround 5700 B.C.E. , some 200 years later than the southern ci t ies ,and probably ex tended th rough nor thern I raq un t i l i t wanedaround 5000 B.C.E.

URUK PERIOD ( 4 0 0 0 - 3 0 0 0 B.C.E. )The or ig ins o f the Sumer ian people a re unknown. Joan Oates ,in her excavat ions a t Choga Mami, bel ieves that the nor thern

Samarran cu l tu re and the sou thern Ubaid cu l tu re began to minglearound 5000 B.C.E. I t is l ikely that the two cultures combined toproduce the wor ld ' s f i r s t empi re .The Sumerians ruled Mesopotamia for more than 1 ,000 years(3500-2350 B.C.E. ) . Their empire began at the great ci ty-state ofUruk, hence the name of th is h is tor ica l era . During th is t ime,Sumerian socie ty became increas ingly s t ra t i f ied , even includingprofess ional bureaucrats and theocrats .According to Sumerian re l ig ious t radi t ion, a c i ty was the proper ty of the res ident go d. To ho no r thei r pa t ro n dei ty , the Su m erian sbui l t monumental z iggurats , decorated wi th ar t fu l f rescoes andsculpture. Therefore, ci ty l i fe focused on the ziggurats and nodo ub t supp or te d an enorm ou s re l ig ious in f ras t ruc ture . Eventual ly ,the ziggurats served as the centers of urban rel igious culture. I t isl ikely that the priests and priestesses of Sumer oversaw vas t complexes of bu stl ing activi ty. The zigg ura ts we re the biggest em ploy ersof their day with a large infrastructure support s taff to maintain i tsprominence in Sumerian l i fe .The center of Sumerian rel igion was in the ci ty of Nippur,dedicated to the chief Sumerian god, Enl i l . The temple of Inanna,Queen of Heaven, was discovered in the ruins of Nippur in the1950s . But Nippur 's t rue t reasures are the thousands of cuneiformtablets discovered there. The translat ions of these tables teach us

much about Sumerian l i fe and socie ty .By us ing extensive i r r igat ion canals , the Sumerians broughtagr icul ture to the deser t between the Tigr is and Euphrates r ivers .Unfor tunate ly , th is eventual ly resul ted in the oversal in izat ion ofthe land and made i t unfi t for cult ivation even today. Over t ime,they deve lop ed the p lou gh . They careful ly p lann ed a nd eng ineeredpat terns of dams and dikes and developed a re l iable ca lendar , a l lof which further aided in successful farming.


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16 The History of IraqThei r ho m es were m ad e of m u d br icks o r w ov en reeds , m uc h l ikethe M ars h A rabs of today. Li tt le is k no w n ab ou t dom est ic life aw ayfrom the city cen ters , as arch aeolo gists ha ve focused on unea r th ing

the monumen ta l z iggu ra t s and the i r su r round ing env i rons .Some 300 years before the Egypt ians created hieroglyphics ,the Sumer ians inven ted cuneiform wri t ing. Using a s ty lus , theSumer ians made wedge-shaped impress ions accord ing to a sys temof so un d based sy m bols and picto grap hs. W riting init ial ly dev elop edto sup po r t t r ade by c rea t ing pe rm an en t records of t ransac t ions an dinventory. Eventual ly , however , wri t ing became used for recordingpoetry, legends and epics, and religious life. By 2700 B.C.E., the rewere vas t l ib ra r ies in many Sumer ian towns .

Another wr i t ing- re la ted Sumer ian inven t ion was the cy l inderseal , w hic h funct ioned as a s ign ature for pro pe r ty ow ne rs an dmerchants of the day. General ly carved out of s tone, the cyl inderseal was rol led over wet c lay to leave an impress ion ident i fy ingthe owner .Addi t ional ly , the Sumerians are credi ted wi th creat ing ar i thme

tic, base d on the nu m be r 60 . We ge t our 24-hour day an d 60-minuteho ur d i rect ly f rom the Sum erians . The 360-degree c ircle i s ba sed onthe Sumer ian mathemat ica l sys tem. They a l so deve loped squareand cubic roots . The Sumerians created a sys tem of weights andmeasures . The base weigh t was the m i n a , which was subd iv idedinto 60 shekels .The Sumerians also created the f irst formal school, the edubba,to teach cuneiform wri t ing and mathemat ics . L i te ra l ly meaning" tab le t ho us e , " the edubbas t rained scribes in skil ls such as accounting, surveying, and ear ly geometry .A rt flour ished an d pr od uc ed the epic po em s of G i lgam esh a ndthe treasures discovered at the Royal Tombs of Ur. The Epic ofGilgamesh, discovered on an or ig inal cuneiform table t a t Nippur ,t el ls of King Gi lgam esh of U ruk w an de r in g the ea r th an d enco untering fable-l ike adventures in a fut i le quest to f ind immortal i ty.This an d othe r Su m erian w or ks are pred eces sors to the biblica l OldTestament s tor ies .EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD (3000-2350 B.C.E. )

From Uruk, the Sumerians expanded to create a network of c i ty-states, w ith their o w n dyn astie s and d ist inct culture s. Each ci ty-statewas pol i t ica l ly independent and dedicated to i t s own patron dei ty .


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18 The History of IraqTo pa y for the constan t wa r an d nec essary t r ibu tes , the c i t izensof Sumer were heavi ly taxed unt i l about 2400 B.C.E. , w h e n K i n gU ruk ag ina asce nd ed to the thro ne. H e ins t i tu ted a ser ies of reforms

des igned to p ro tec t ind iv idua l r igh ts . Urukagina ' s re forms se t thes tage for Hammurabi to develop the world 's f i rs t legal code.However , Urukagina ' s re forms were no t to l as t . Luga lzagges i ,king of U m m a , de po sed him . H e w as able to un i te m ost of the c i ty-s ta tes un de r one ru le . Ho we ver , Sargon of A kka d , w h o c rea ted thewor ld ' s f i r s t empi re , over th rew h im.

AKKADIAN PERIOD (2350-2150 B.C.E . )The Sumerian 's weal thy, thr iv ing, and constant ly quarre l ingtowns soon proved to be tempt ing for hordes of invaders in tent onconquest . Sargon was the leader of the warl ike tr ibes of the SemiticAkkad based in nor thern Mesopotamia . According to the legend,Sargon w as the son of a priestess. She placed him in a bas ket of reed sand se t the basket on the gent ly lapping waves of the Euphrates .

Sargon was rescued by a gardener and raised as his son. Sargonmeans "True King" and was probably a t i t le assumed to give thecommoner legi t imacy to rule . Sargon rose to power in Kish dur ingLugalzaggesi of Uruk 's rampages . He uni ted the previously independent Mesopotamian c i ty-s ta tes under one ruler and ruled f romhis nor thern capi ta l of Agade. Al though the Sumerians managed toregain control of Ur from the Akkadians around 2100 B.C.E., the ruleof Sargon I m arks the end of cul tura l dom inanc e by the Su m erians .Tales of Sarg on 's con que st of the Su m erian s wer e found on a c laytable t a t Nippur . Sargon defeated the lugals of Uruk, Ur , Umma,and Lagash and forc ibly in tegrated them into his empire . Theyw ere ru led by an A kka dian g overn or an d overseen by Sargon f romhis capi ta l a t Agade in the nor th . The locat ion of Agade has yet tobe discovered by archaeologis ts . Sargon c lever ly c la imed his r ightto rule f rom the re l ig ious t radi t ions of Sumer and Akkadia . Sargon

c o m m a n d e d a n e n o r m o u s a r m y of m o r e t h a n 5,400 m e n .Over t ime, Sargon's rule stretched as far as Lebanon, Turkey,I ran, an d Syr ia. H e re igned for m ore th an 55 years an d un i ted theSum erians and the A kkad ians in to one extensive kingdom , se t t ing thes tage for la ter Babylonia . Sargon founded the f i rs t Mesopotamiandynasty , which las ted unt i l 2108 B.C.E.Realism in art was one of the most important advances of theAkkadians. This was probably part of the effort to deify the king,


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The Cradle of Civilization 19Naram-Sin. This deification of the king represented a significantshif t from the Sumerian belief that the gods delegated authori tyto the king. Naram-Sin is usual ly depic ted in ar twork wear ing thehorned helmet of a god, indicating that he was considered actualdivinity rath er th an just a earthly rep resentat ive of a divinity. Unlikehis grandfather, Sargon, N aram -Sin dec lared himself a god. This pre sumption was considered sacr i lege among the Sumerians , and theCurse of Agade tel ls the tale of Naram-Sin 's divine comeuppance.Sargon's descendants spent most of their t ime trying to reconquerrestless city-states. His grandson, Naram-Sin, enjoyed a long 36-yearreign and increased his empire to the north and east . Naram-Sin 'sson, Sharka lisharri, w as the final king of Sargon 's line. H is em pire fellunder the invasion of the Guti , a people from the Zagros Mountainsof Iran.NEO-SUMERIAN PERIOD (2150-2000 B.C.E. )

The Gut i re ign las ted a bou t 100 ye ars , an d, as the y ru led from afar,i t i s unl ikely that they held m uc h sw ay over Sum erians or Ak kad iandaily life. For exa m ple , Lugel G ud ea of Lagash beg an reconstruct ionaround 2140 B.C.E. , indicat ing that heand his city-stateretainedtheir ind ep en de nc e from foreign rulers . In 2120 B.C.E. , Utuh ega l , theking of Uruk, over threw the Gut ian over lords .In 2112 B.C.E. , Ur-Nammu ushered in the th i rd dynas ty o f Ur .A divin e king an d a tight ly organized b urea ucra cy character izeth i s dynas ty . Ur -Nammu fo l lowed Gudea ' s example and beganlarge-scale reconstruction projects . He buil t the great ziggurat atUra temple to Nanna, the moon god. He a lso ref ined the legalcodes governing Sumerians and developed the pr inciple of legalcompensat ion. His legal code out l ines specif ic monetary compensation to be paid for various acts .U r-N am m u rule d for 18 years and w as fol lowed b y his son,Shugli . Over t ime, the Euphrates River shif ted to the west , leavingthe once-th riving ci ties s tra nd ed in the arid desert . For ex am ple, theancient site of the city of Uruk is now more than 12 miles from theEuphra t e s .The third dynasty of Ur ended with the reign of the f inalSumer ian k ing , Ibbi-Sin. Cities were suffering being so far awayfrom the banks of the r iver , causing food shortages, and famineprevai led . The Elamites , f rom Khuzis tan in modern I ran, overthrew the th i rd dynasty of Ur around 2000 B.C.E.


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3Babylonia

For the next 2 ,000 years , Mesopotamia was a mel t ing pot , undera lmos t cons t an t a s sau l t and gove rned by compe t ing empi r e s .The c i ty of Babylon rose to prominence as the Assyr ians andBabylonians jockeyed for power. After the fal l of the AssyrianEmpire in 610 B.C.E. , Egypt became the chief r ival of Mesopotamia .M esop otam ia t rans form ed f rom a ne tw ork of loose ly l inkedci ty-s ta tes to a unif ied , centra l ized nat ion-s ta te . Addi t ional ly ,M esopo tamia e nd ured m any conques t s du r in g th i s t ime , i nc lud ingthose by the Medes , the Pers ians , the Macedonians , the Par th ianKingdom, and the Sassan id dynas ty .OLD BABYLONIAN PERIOD (2004-1595 B.C.E.)

After the Amori te k ings obta ined control of Mesopotamia , theyworked to un i te the independent Mesopotamian c i ty -s ta tes undertheir ru le . Al though the c i ty of Babylon was born dur ing the Ear lyDy nast ic pe r iod , it w as a cul tura l bac kw ater u nt i l 1895 B.C.E. , w h e n


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22 The History of Iraqthe A m ori tes fou nd ed thei r f irst dyn ast y there . A l tho ug h the tem pleof Marduk was bui l t dur ing the Ur I I I per iod, i t i s unl ikely thatBabylon was an ear ly re l ig ious center because i t was not unt i l thesecond Amor i te k ing , Sumulae l , commiss ioned e labora te th ronesfor Marduk and h i s goddess wi fe tha t Marduk began to ach ieveprominence in the Babylon ian pan theon of gods . "The much la te rtale, that Sargon committed sacri lege by carrying holy soil fromBabylon for the founding of Agade . . . was c lear ly invented to g ivesubstance to Babylon 's subsequent c la ims to sanctity." 1When Hammurabi ascended to power , p res t ige , and prominence ,Babylon wa s a m ino r ci ty-state, jost l ing for po w er a m on g the otherMesopotamian c i ty-s ta tes . Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.) m a d eBabylon the center of a thriving empire, not unlike the precedingSum erian c ivil iza tion. D urin g the ear ly years of H am m ur ab i 's re ign,the mos t powerfu l Mesopotamian ru le r was Shamshi -Adad (1813-1781 B.C.E.) , w ho ru led Assyr ia in sou thern M esopotamia . H owever ,Shamshi-Adad's sons were not as able rulers , and after his death,Assyria 's dominance decreased, set t ing the stage for Babylonia 'srise. Instead of conquering other ci ty-states and empire building,H a m m u r a b i focused on bui ld ing Babylon and order ing Babyloniansociety. Babylon was si tuated in the heart land of the country andtherefore w as vulnera ble to at tack from all s ides. H am m ur ab i 's internal focus and wise al l iances with the Assyrians and the Sumeriansga ve Babylon the safety an d secu rity to gro w an d to flourish.

By the th ir t ie th year of h i s do m in ion over Babylon , H am m ur ab i ' sin te res t s tu rned to empi re bu i ld ing . Hammurabi success fu l lyat tacked Larsa and therefore ruled over centra l and southernMesopotamia . He fo l lowed up th i s v ic to ry by se iz ing Mar i ,which lay nor thwest of Babylon in modern-day Syr ia . Eventual ly ,H am m ur ab i conqu e red the Assy r i an s t rongho ld of Esh unn a .Therefore , Hammurabi control led a l l of Mesopotamia f rom hisseat in Babylon, and the area then became known as Babylonia .Al though la ter ru lers los t s ignif icant por t ions of Hammurabi 's cont ro l led ter ri to ry , Babylon m ain ta in ed dom inanc e over M esop otam iafor the next 1,000 years, and the seat of power shif ted permanentlyto the nor th .

H am m ur ab i is bes t kn ow n for h is legal code pub l ished in thethir ty-n inth year of his reign, w hic h enc om pas sed civil , cr iminal , an dcomm ercia l law an d becam e the bas is for m od er n law. I t is no t a tru elegal code because i t is not al l encompassing but rather a samplingof legal tenets in an "if-then " se ries of statem en ts. For ex am ple , "If a


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24 The History of IraqThe popu la t ion was mos t ly u rban based , a l t hough the re weresmal l c lus ters of rura l se t t lements . These se t t lements appear tohave been based on land gran ts and ho ld ings tha t were k insh ipbased . There fore , much of Babylon ian and Mesopotamian landw as ow ne d pr iva te ly , a l thou gh the tem ple and the k ing w ere majorlandholders as wel l .H a m m u r a b i ' s s on , Samsu-iluna (1749-1712 B.C.E . ) , d id no t p rov eto be as adept a ruler as his father . He quickly lost control of thesouth to revol t . The south se t up the Sealand dynasty and t r iedto revive the glories of ancient Sumer. Addit ionally, the Sealand

dynasty control led access to the Chaldean Sea, the southern datepa lm p lanta t ion s , an d the wi ldl ife- rich m arsh es . In t ime , Babyloniashrunk to jus t the c i ty and a re la t ively smal l area of surroundingcountryside. Yet i ts influence continued for the next 2,000 years.In 1595 B.C.E., the f irs t dynasty of Babylon ended when Murshil i Iled the Hit t i tes from Anatolia in Asia Minor and sacked Babylon.Samsu-ditna, the f inal Amorite king of Babylon, lost the throne tothe Hit t i tes . I t is probable that Murshil i I al l ied with the Kassi tes,

a pe op le set t led no rth of Babylon, as the Kassi tes w ere th e on lyMiddle Eastern people not to suffer Hit t i te conquest . The Hit t i tess to le the s ta tue of M ard uk from the tem ple , w hich, to the B abylonians ,meant the c i ty was now godless . The t ime be tween the Amor i tedynasty and the Kass i tes i s shrouded in mystery . Ei ther the historical record ceases entirely as the scribes strug gled for subs istenceunder thei r new rulers or the miss ing cuneiform table ts remainund iscov ered an d un de ciph ered . In e i ther case , l it tle i s kn ow n an dmuch is guessed a t . Most h is tor ians bel ieve that the Sealand king,Gulkishar , took the oppor tuni ty to swoop in and capture the throneof Babylon.The KassitesBy re tu rn ing the s ta tue o f Marduk tha t had ea r l i e r been p lun

de red by the Hi t t ites (and thu s , to the Babylonian min d-set , res toredthe god himself to the c ity) , the Kass i tes ascend ed to pow er ar ou nd1475 B.C.E. The origins of the Kassi tes are unclear . The Kassi tesl ikely came f rom the mountains in the eas t and founded a s ta tearound the eas t Tigr is dur ing the re ign of Samsu- i luna.Eventually, they were able to wrest control of the south from theSealand dy nasty . The Kass ites go ve rne d a unif ied B abylon for m o r ethan 500 years , cons iderab ly longer than any o ther Mesopotamian


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26 The History of IraqAround 1297 B.C.E., the Kassites aligned with the Hittites, at leastpa rt ly in respo nse to the r is ing po w er of Assyria. Ind eed , the h eightening of the conflict with Assyria was one of the hallmarks of theKassite rule of Babylon. The Assyrian monarch, Tukuli t-Ninurta I(1244-1197 B.C.E.) , was in ten t on expanding Assyr ia ' s empi re and ,perhaps even more important , winning control over the t raderoutes. After taking the Babylonian king Kashti l iash IV to Ashur asa captive, Tukulit-Ninurta I ruled over Babylon for 32 years. AfterTukul i t -Ninur ta I's dea th , the Babylon ians , und er A dad -shu m a-usu r(1216-1187 B.C.E.) , w ere able to driv e the As syrians ou t of Babylon.However , the Assyr ians had to s t ruggle to mainta in control overBabylonia as they frequently clashed w ith th e revital ized Elam ites. Inorder to w eak en the Assyr ian Em pire , the Elamites inv ade d Babylonand ra ided the surrounding towns. Final ly , around 1157 B.C.E., theElamites , led by Shutruk-Nahhunte I , marched in to Babylon. Theycarr ied off the enormous monument of Hammurabi 's legal code andthe sta tue of the Bab ylonian g od M ar du k. In 1155, the last Kassiteruler of Babylon, Enli l -nadin-ahhe, was kil led by the Elamites.Nebuchadrezzar I (1126-1105 B.C.E . ) , of the sou thern Mesopota mian ci ty of Isin, brought g lo ry back to Babylon by tak ing theElamite capital , thus avenging the earl ier Elamite sack of Babylonand re tu rn ing the s ta tue o f Marduk to the c i ty . Nebuchadrezzar ' sI ' s younger b ro ther , Marduk-nad i -ahhe , cha l lenged Assyr ia byattacking the ci ty of Ekallate. The Assyrian 's brutal ly retal iated,and the des t ruct ion brought famine to Babylon. Legends s ta te that

the Babylonians even turned to cannibal ism to survive . For thenext two centuries, Babylon suffered from internal poli t ical instabi l i ty wi th mul t ip le t r ibal leaders vying for power .About th is t ime, the nomadic Aramaean t r ibes became a ser i ous threat to Babylon and Assyria. Although i t is unclear why theAramaean tr ibes lef t their homeland, this influx of people was adrain on the ci t ies and resources of Babylonia. The Aramaeans mayeven have ra ided a nd ransack ed the Mes opo tam ian c i ties . There w asat least one Aramaean king of Babylon, Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1048 B.C.E.) . However , the most las t ing legacy of the Aramaeansw as that Aram aic becam e the lang uag e of the land un t i l the M usl imconquest .After the fa l l of the Is in dynasty , the second Sealand dynasty(1026-1006 B.C.E. ) rose to power in the sou th . S imbar -S ipak ru ledfor 18 ye ars before po w er shif ted ag ain to the Ho us e of Bazi(1005-986 B.C.E. ) f rom the Tigr is region.


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Babylonia 27Dynasty E, consist ing of some five Babylonian kings, ruledBabylon dur ing the n in th cen tury B.C.E. Al though Assy r i a wasthe dominant power of the t ime, the mil i tar is t ic Assyr ians werefocused external conquest and thus s t ruck an uneasy peace wi thBabylon. The rul ing dynast ies of Babylon and Assyr ia in termarr ied , and there was a lengthy per iod of re la t ive peace .The reign of A ssu rna sirp al II (883-859 B.C.E.) w as the beg inn ing ofth e Neo-Assyrian Empire . However , Assurnasi rpal I I d id not in terfere w i th his Baby lonian coun terpa r t , N a b u - a p l a - i d d i n a . Therefore,Babylon enjoyed a pro spe rou s renaissance age du r in g w hich ar t ,

culture, and l i terature f lourished. Toward the end of N a b u - a p l a -iddina's rule , he entered in to a t rea ty wi th Assurnasi rpal ' s son andsuccessor , Shalmaneser I I I . Shalmaneser I l l ' s son, Shamshi-Adad,called on the treaty for Babylonian help in defeating an internalrebell ion. The Babylonians honored the treaty; however, af ter therebel l ion was quie ted, they renegot ia ted the t rea ty wi th Shamshi-Adad . The new t rea ty was a humi l ia t ion to Shamshi -Adad , whoquickly conquered Babylon and carr ied off two kings . He thenchr is tened himself "King of Sumer and Akkad."It is s ignif icant to note that , af ter Shamshi-Adad's death, hisregent was his wife , Sammu-ramat (Semiramis) . She ruled as monarch for a f ive full years and clearly held al l the power of kingship.Mesopotamian women en joyed much grea te r f reedom and pres t ige than they did in most ancient societ ies.The Assyr ians unquenchable th i rs t for conquest created anempire that was so large as to be near ly impossible for them toeffectively rule. They were continuously f ighting to quell revoltsan d rebel l ions in thei r conqu ered terr itory , dep le t ing thei r m i l i tarys t reng th and power .Adad-nirari III (810-783 B.C.E. ) , in an at tempt to solve the chronict r ibal unres t throughout Babylon, agreed to honor the Babylonianrel ig ious ceremonies and t radi t ions as long as Assyr ia was ableto dictate control over all political affairs in Babylonia. To theBabylonians , however , the Assyr ians were the oppressors , and th isgave the sou thern-based Cha ldeans an oppor tun i ty to t ake theBabylon ian th rone .NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIRE (792-595 B.C.E.)

The C hald ean s were a t r ibal peo ple from the sw am ps of the low erEuphrates valley. They are f irs t recorded in the ninth century B.C.E.


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28 The History of Iraqand paid r ich tr ibute to Babylon and Assyria for several centuries.Their location a long the wel l - f requented sou thern t ra de routes g avethe m u niq ue i tems to send as t r ibute . From the t ime of N ebon assar ,intr icate an d de tai led historical record s w ere kept . Scholars a t tr ibu tethis to the r ise in interest in astrono m y. On e of the curre nt m ea nin gsof the word "Chaldean" is as t ronomer .It is possible that the Chalde ans desc end ed from the Sealand dy na st ies of the south. When a Assyrian coup occurred after the death ofA dad -nirar i I II, Er iba-M arduk ascended to the Babylonian thronearound 770 B.C.E., usher ing in the Neo-Babylonian period. Eriba-M ard uk is credi ted wi th rou st ing the A ram aea ns f rom Babylon.In Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727 B.C.E.) ascended to thethro ne . U nd er Tigla th-Pileser, Assy r ia once aga in beca m e the d om inant power. In 729 B.C.E. , Tigla th-Pi leser again brought Babylonunder Assyr ian con t ro l by " tak ing the hand of Marduk" in theNew Year 's fes t ival . Babylonia was to remain under Assyr iancontrol unti l 626 B.C.E. despite the best efforts of the Chaldean-ledBabylon ians .

Merodach-Baladan took control of the Babylonian throne andwisely proffered vas t t r ibutes to the Assyr ian king. In turn , theAssyr ian ruler a l lowed Merodach-Baladan to control Babylonia .This second kingship , which real ly equated more c losely to a governor , was employed severa l t imes th roughout the long per iodof Assyr ian dominance. As long as the Babylonian king did notthreaten Assyr ian ter r i tory and cont inued to supply exot ic t r ibutes ,the A ssyr ian s a llow ed the Bab ylonian king to re ign an d Baby loniancus toms and cu l tu re to con t inue .Merodach-Baladan was able to loosely uni te the Chaldean t r ibesinto an anti-Assyrian group . Howeve r , Merodach -Ba ladan d id no tcount on the ascension to the Assyrian throne of Sargon ( l i teral ly," t rue king ") . After con qu er ing m uc h of the ancient w orl d , S argononce again took Babylon in 710 B.C.E. After Sargon 's death in705 B.C.E. , the dep osed M erodach-B aladan aga in wres ted con t ro l ofBabylon f rom Sargon 's son, Sennacher ib , in 703 B.C.E. Sennacher ibaga in took control of the Ch ald ea n t r ibes an d ins ta l led his o w n sonon the throne in 699 B.C.E.In 694 B.C.E. , the Elamites took control of Babylon in response toan Assyr ian ra id on thei r capi ta l . Af ter the Assyr ians imprisonedthe E lamit e k ing , M ushez ib -M arduk , su ppo r t ed by the Aram aean s ,took the th rone . Toge ther wi th the E lami tes , Mushez ib-Mardukmarched on Assyr ia and defea ted them a t Halu le .


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Babylonia 29In response to th is aggress ion, Assyr ia des t royed Babylon in689 B.C.E. , doing s ignif icant damage to the s i tes of Entemenankiand Egalish. Sennacherib instal led his son, Esarhaddon, as overseerin Babylon. Eight years later, Sennacherib fell victim to patricide,an d Es arha dd on w ork ed to reconcile Babylon an d A ssyria. To thatend , he w or ke d to rebu ild the elabo rate ci ty his father had des t royed .Eventual ly , Esarhaddon was able to conquer Egypt but not beforecreat ing a two-pronged l ine of success ion. Two of h is sons wouldrule , one over Assyria and the other, his equal , over Babylonia.When Esarhaddon fe l l dur ing one of h is aggress ive ter r i to

r ia l campaigns , the dual monarchy came into effect . In pract ice ,Assurban ipa l , the Assyr ian monarch , wie lded cons iderab ly morepow er than the wea ker Babylon ian mo narch , S ham ash-shum a-ukin .In 652 B.C.E. , revolt broke out , and civil war lasted for four years.In the end, the Babylonians resor ted to cannibal ism again , andSham ash-Sh um a-ukin co mm it ted su icide by th row ing h imsel f in tothe f lames of h is burning palace . Al though Assurbanipal se t up af ic t i t ious Babylonian kingship , Babylon and Assyr ia were againuni ted under h is ru le unt i l 627 B.C.E. Less than 20 years later , theAssyr ian and Babylonian empire of the Kass i tes had crumbled.However , Assurban ipa l ' s mos t endur ing legacy i s tha t o f the vas tcuneiform l ibrary a t Ninevah. Without these precious cuneiformdocumen t s , we wou ld no t have the unde r s t and ing o r t he knowl edge that we have today about the ancient world of Babylon.

However , the Assyr ians were fond of bu i ld ing grand pa laces ,monuments , and temples tha t were unders tandably eas ie r fo rarchaeologis ts to d iscover . For th is reason, Assyr ian his tory dominates th is per iod. Babylonian cul ture melded with Assyr ian mil i tary and pol i t ica l might and absorbed thei r conquerors , creat ing at rue mel t ing po t .In 625 B.C.E. , Nabopolassar , a Chaldean, wres ted control ofBabylon from Assyria. After several fai led at tempts to conquerAssyr ia , Nabopolassa r was a ided by the Medes a t tack on theAssyrian capital of Assur in 614 B.C.E. Although he arr ived af terthe c i ty fe l l , he and the Median king, Cyaxares , drew up a formaltreaty, rat if ied by the marriage of their descendants, BabylonianCrown Pr ince Nebuchadrezzar and Amyt i s , daughte r o f Cyaxares .Al though there were some minor ski rmishes over the next fewyears , by 610 B.C.E. the A ssyr ian Em pire ha d fal len .In 605 B.C.E . , N e b u c h a d r e z z a r i n h e r i t e d t h e B a b y l o n i a n t h r o n ef rom h is fa ther , Nabopolassa r , thus usher ing in the mos t g lo r ious


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30 The History of Iraqre ign in Babylon ian h i s to ry . Nebuchadrezzar i s fami l ia r to mos tmode rn r eade r s a s t he k ing who took vas t number s o f J ews hos tage and loo ted t reasures f rom the Temple o f So lomon. Dur ingN e b u c h a d r e z z a r ' s t i m e , E g y p t r e p l a c e d A s s y r ia a s B a b y l o n 'smos t po t en t enemy . Mos t o f Nebuchad rezza r ' s r e ign was occu p i e d w i t h c o m b a t i n g E g y p t a n d n a v i g a t i n g t h r o u g h t h e c o n s ta nt ly shi f t ing po l i t ica l a l l iances of the sma l ler , sa te l l i te c ou ntr iesa round Babylon and Egypt . At the g rea t ba t t l e o f Carchemish ,an Egypt ian gar r i son c i ty in Syr ia , Nebuchadrezzar , then s t i l lthe c rown pr ince , a t t acked and drove the Egypt ians f rom Syr ia .Severa l years l a te r , a g rea t ba t t l e be tween the Egypt ians andBaby lon ians occu r r ed in t he sou the rn Egyp t i an c i t y o f Migdo l(Magdolus ) . Al though the ba t t l e i t se l f was p robably a d raw, f romth is po in t un t i l the end of the Neo-Babylon ian dynas ty , Egyptwas conf ined mos t ly to i t s borders .

As a consequence of defea t ing Egypt , Babylon now demandedtr ibute and the r iches of conquest f rom Egypt 's pr ior vassals ,including Judaea. For a few years af ter the bat t le of Carchemish,Jehoiakim, k ing of Judaea, paid t r ibute to Babylonia . However ,af ter the indecis ive bat t le of Migdol , Jehoiakim unwisely s toppedpaying t r ibu te , pe rhaps be l iev ing tha t the Migdol ba t t l e wouldresul t in the Egypt ians r is ing to power again . Jehoiakim's gambleproved to be foolhardy and brought about the fa l l of Jerusalem in597 B.C.E. As described in the Second Book of Kings,

The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again,because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from theWadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River At that time the officersof Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem andlaid siege to it and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the citywhile his officers were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah, hismother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrenderedto him As the Lord had declared, Neb uchadn ezzar removedall the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royalpalace and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king ofIsrael had made for the temple of the Lord. He carried into exileall Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisansa total of ten thousa nd . Only the poorest peop leof the land were left He [Nebuchadrezzar] made Mataniah,Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place and changed his name toZedekiah. (2 Kings 24:7, 10-12, 13-14,17)


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Babylonia 31However , the t rue "Babylonian Capt iv i ty" of the Jews occurrednine years later , when Judaea again fai led to pay i ts promised tr ibute . N eb uc had rezz ar sacked Jerusalem after a long s iege. Ac cording

to the agreem ent s truck w he n Nebu chad rezzar p laced Zedek iah onthe Judaean throne, each of Zedekiah 's sons was put to death infront of hi m an d his eyes bu rn t out . A s for Jerusalem , again w e lookto the Second Book of Kings:He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all thehouses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperialguard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Neburzaradan thecom mander of the guard carried into exile the people wh o remainedin the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who hadgone over to the king of Babylon So Judeah went into captivity,away from her land. (2 Kings 25:9-11, 21)The Jews would not re turn to thei r homeland for 70 years .Al though Nebuchadrezzar d id no t c lash d i rec t ly wi th the Medes

an d w as able to m ain ta in his a l liance w i th them du r in g his l ife time,he bui l t the famous Median wal l nor th of Babylon as a defenseagains t nor thern aggress ion and created a double c i ty wal l thatencircled Babylon.He also restored much of Babylon, especial ly the famous Ishtargate that s tood m ore tha n 23 m eters h igh. H e created the fam ousHanging Gardens of Babylon, most probably as decorat ion for h is

southern palace and to p lease his Median wife , Amytis . This was aseries of earth -co vere d terrace s pl an ted w ith exotic trees, f lowers,and shrubbery. Al l to ld , the Hanging Gardens of Babylon werees t im ated to be 75 feet h ig h an d w ere t ru ly a w o nd ro u s oas is in them idd le of the deser t . They were on e of the Wo nde rs of the A ncientWor ld . F in i sh ing h i s fa ther ' s work , Nebuchadrezzar p laced theh ighes t sh r ine on E temenanki . E temenanki was s i tua ted nearEsagi la and was a vas t z iggurat that had been rebui l t many t imesin Babylonian his tory . After Nebuchadrezzar 's death in 562 B.C.E. ,he was succeeded by his son and then by a Babylonian general . In555 B.C.E. , Nabon idus t ook the t h rone .

Nabonidus was an ag ing Babylon ian genera l , descended f rom apr ies tess of the Assyr ian moon god Sin . The Assyr ians had es tabl ished a smal l seat a t the c i ty Harran. Nabonidus was concernedmost ly wi th res tor ing the ancient cus toms and shr ines of Sumer


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32 The History of Iraqand Akk ad an d e spec ia ll y h i s m o th e r ' s t emp le . Na bon idus ' s devo t ion to the Assyr ian god Sin did not s i t wel l wi th the Babylonians ,who remained devoted to Marduk . Desp i te negot ia t ing peacebetween the Lydians ( in Asia Minor) and the Medes in 585 B.C.E. ,he was never able to revive the a l l iance wi th the Medes thatNebuchadrezzar en joyed , and there fore , a f te r Nebuchadrezzar ' sdea th , t he Baby lon ian acco rd w i th t he Medes d i s in t eg ra t ed .Addit ionally, he inexplicably left Babylon on a 10-year sojourn toTaima, possibly on a miss ionary dr ive to for the moon god Sin .N abo n id us w as nea r ly 70 w he n he r e tu rned to Baby lon and no wfaced the greates t threat the Babylonian Empire had yet known:Cyrus Achaemenes o f Pers ia .MEDE AND PERSIAN OCCUPATION (539-330 B.C.E.)

The Pers ians were probably descendants of the Elamites . Theyin te rmar r ied wi th the Median roya l l ine and Cyrus Achaemenes ,the king of the Pers ians and the Medes . One pers is tent legend istha t h i s g randfa ther , the Median k ing As tyages , d reamt tha t tha tCyrus was des t ined to rule over a l l Asia . Astyages ordered thenewborn murdered, but a fa i thful palace servant gave the chi ldto a shepherd to ra ise . Eventual ly , Astyages re lented and a l lowedCy rus to becom e h is se rvan t o r pag e . Cy rus respon ded by pro m pt lylea din g a revolt in 550 B.C.E. and was himself then crowned king ofMedes . In 539 B.C.E. , Cyrus Achemedides led h i s v ic to r ious a rmyinto Babylon. The e lder k ing Nabonidus had f led the c i ty , and theBabylonians did not res is t Cyrus 's a t tacks . Cyrus wisely lef t thecivi l and re l ig ious t radi t ions of the Babylonians a lone and s implyappointed a Pers ian overseer , ca l led a sa t rap.The Pers ians then es tabl ished thei r own dynasty in Babylon, andunl ike the preceding fore ign dynast ies , the Pers ian kings neverass imila ted in to Mesopotamian cul ture . Ins tead, outs ide inf luencesbegan to a l ter the Mesopotamian way of l i fe . For example , cuneifo rm w as rep laced wi th the Aram aic a lphabe t . In pe rha ps h i s mo s tfamous act , Cyrus Achemedides f reed the capt ive Jews.

Cambyses II (529-522 B.C.E.) inher i ted the Pers ian throne f romhis fa ther , Cyrus Achemedides , and incorpora ted Egypt in to thePers ian k ingdom. Al though there were severa l revo l t s in Babylon ,C am by ses I I an d his successor , D ar iu s (521-486 B.C.E . ) , m a n a g e d t oorgan ize the k ingdom, c rea te a l ega l sys tem, and under take mass ive road construct ion projects , including bui ld ing a new capi ta l


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Babylonia 33an d d igg ing canals . D ar ius ins ta l led his son Xerxes as cro w n pr incein Babylon, and w h en D ar ius d ied, Xerxes (485-465 B.C.E.) w as recognized as the Babylonian king.

However , the Babylonians soon t i red of suppor t ing Xerxes 'aggress ive ter r i tor ia l campaigns , and rebel l ion broke out . Xerxesrecaptured the ci ty in 482 B.C.E. and mel ted down the s ta tueof M ard uk . The c ity w as inco rpora ted in to the As syr ian kingdom and taxed very heavily. After Xerxes was assassinated (possibly by the infuriated Babylonians) in 465 B.C.E. , his son Artaxerxes(464-424 B.C.E.) was much more lenient wi th the recalc i t rantBabylon. The c i ty was res tored to re la t ive peace , a l though theycont inued to be forced to pay heavy taxes and t r ibute .

In 331 B.C.E. , D ari us III (335-331 B.C.E.) w as defea ted by Alexan derthe Great of Macedonia , and Babylon passed to Macedonian rule .MACEDONIAN ERA (331-129 B.C.E.)

In 331 B.C.E. , Alexander the Grea t cap tured Babylon and wasgreeted wi th gra t i tude by the Babylonians . Alexander res toredMarduk 's temple and a lso res tored Marduk to h is posi t ion as chiefdei ty . He made the c i ty h is eas tern capi ta l and began res tor ing thedevasta t ion the Pers ians had wrought . In an a t tempt to sol id i fyh is empi re and c rea te a un ion of the Medi te r ranean and MiddleEastern people , Alexander the Great marr ied 14,000 Macedoniansto 14,000 Bab ylonian w om en in a m ass ceremony.

Alexander held a massive funeral in Babylon for his dear fr iendHephaest ion. A por t ion of the c i ty wal l had to be removed forthe funeral pyre, and the remains of this massive, charred funeralbier were la ter found among the temple rubble and outer wal l .Alexander died in Babylon in June 323 B.C.E. His successors spli tin to two empires , and by 312 B.C.E., Babylon was absorbed in to theSeleucid Empire .Seleucos or N icator (m eanin g "Victorious") fou nd ed the Seleuciddy na sty (312-249 B.C.E. ) . Seleucos mo ve d h is capital to Seleucia, justsouth of Baghdad, on the Tigris River. A necessary consequence ofthis shif t in capitals was that Babylon lost most of i ts former prestige. Al though Babylon was never res tored to i t s former glory ,Mesopotamia , under the Seleucid dynasty , again became par t of agrea t empi re .

A nt ioc hus I (281-261 B.C.E.) decreed that the c ivi l ian popula t ionof Babylon move to Seleucia . The temple of Marduk was rebui l t


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34 The History of Iraqand thus es tabl ished Babylon as a re l ig ious center . Addi t ional ly ,a Greek colony was es tabl ished in Babylon.PARTHIAN KINGDOM (129 B . C . E . - 2 3 4 C.E.)

By 161 B.C.E., the Parthian s were well established in Iran and oftenspa rred w ith the Seleucians for control of Babylon and M esop otam ia.A s the Seleucid dy na sty fell, M ithra da tes II , leader of the Pa rthian s,took control of Babylon and Mesopotamia in 122 B.C.E. Most archaeologists believe that Babylon was in ruins by that t ime, al thoughthere is some evidence that religious festivals were still held there."A text of 93 BC revea ls tha t at least pa rts of Esagila we re at that latetime still used for religious services." 2A r o u n d 75 C.E., the Pa r thian s es tabl ished thei r capi ta l , Cte s iph on ,op po si te Selecuia across the Tigr is River . A l tho ug h R om e at tackedMesopotamia several t imes , i t was not able to wres t control f romthe Par thians unt i l 64 B.C.E.Sassanid D y n a s t y ( 2 2 4 - 6 3 6 C.E.)After k i l l ing the f inal Par thian emperor , Artaban, the Pers ianpr ince Ardach i r took Ctes iphon a nd founded the Sassanid dynasty .Shapur I , son of Ardachir , declared Mazdeism the official rel igion.Shapur II (310-379 C.E.) repe l led the Romans f rom Ctes iphon .The emp ire expa nd ed s teadily und er C hosroes I (531-579 C.E.) a n dCh osro es II (590-628 C.E.) . In 614 C.E., Cho sroes II captu red Jerusalemand, according to legend, is said to have carried off Christ 's cross. Inmemory of th is s tunning vic tory , Chosroes erected an enormous100-foot-high arch at Ctesiphon that s t i l l s tands today.W hen the P rophe t M uh am m ad sum m on ed Chos roes II t o con ver t to I s lam, Chosros II re fused an d ins tead ordered M

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