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Kurdistan capital and a trip round the
citadel of memory
23.6.2007
By Mayada Askari, Stockholm |
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June 23, 2007
Hewler-Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq)
Perched up in the clouds 211 miles north of Baghdad
is Hawler, or Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan
autonomous region.
It came as a pleasant surprise when our guide told
us this city, which has existed since the second
millennium BC, is one of the oldest continuously
inhabited cities in the world.
Historically, Hawler is situated on the strategic
caravan route to India and China and is also known
to historians for a battle which took place on the
plains between Mosul and Erbil, during which
Alexander the Great crushed the Persian Darius III
in 331 BC. During the Islamic era, Erbil was home to
Muslim poets, historians and scholars. It later
served as the cultural and administrative centre for
the Ottoman Empire.
Farhad, my Kurdish-Swedish friend, has fond memories
of Kurdistan-Iraq. He left Iraq in 1991 seeking
another land to call his own. That was the time when
the Iraqi regime dealt with Kurds brutally and
hundreds of thousands of them were killed for no
reason at all. |
The outer walls of ancient Erbi, Kurdistan region
(Iraq) |
Farhad helped me revive long-lost memories of that
first trip to Kurdistan. He sent me photographs he
had taken of mountains and undulating slopes. One
image I used on my laptop's desktop, the other
became the image I see whenever my PC desktop comes
alive.
We talked about the waterfalls which run along the
mountains. The water was cool. its transparency
reminded us of ice cubes. Villagers tie water
bottles and food that needs to be cooled in the
waters. The result is better than what a fridge
yields.
Farhad sighed. He told me: "It is spring here in
Sweden, flowers are blooming ... but the scent of my
country still lingers in my mind."
I walk down memory lane and I have my friend to
assist me on the journey. I was a young girl when I
visited Kurdistan with my family. I have a single
enchanted vivid vision of a castle. Or was it a
fort, I ask. He smiles while looking at his hands,
not seeing them really, as his mind's eye looks at
the endearing image of Erbil, shining brilliantly in
the golden Iraqi sun.
Erbil Citadel was settled more than 8,000 years ago.
The citadel, which rises some 25m above a
surrounding city of 750,000 inhabitants, boasts a
plentiful supply of groundwater, which sustained
Erbil's population through a millennia of sieges.
I could not believe my ears 8,000 years and at that
time was this city called Hawler, or Erbil? Farhad
confirms by nodding his head. He sweeps his arm
around the room as if Erbil is situated around the
corner, and says: "The ancient tell or hill has not
yet been explored. The stone wall of the citadel
dominates the plains of Adiaben, some 50 yards
below. It contains three separate quarters al-Sarray,
al-Takia, and al-Tokhana and around 500 houses."
Long ago, the guide said, people reached the fort
through two narrow streets, one reserved for men and
one for women.
Today, one of the streets has been widened to allow
vehicles to pass. One of the houses attributed to
Mullah Saleh, a prominent Kurdish figure residing in
the area, has been transformed into a museum and
library. An 18th-century bath has also been
restored.
Erbil was attacked by the Mongols in 1235, but the
Kurds retained control of the citadel until 1258
when the Mongols, with the complicity of Badr El Din
Lulu, won it. A governor was appointed, but he soon
died. After a horrific massacre by the Mongols, many
of Erbil's inhabitants emigrated to Mosul.
Today, Erbil boasts many industries, such as tobacco
processing, rug making and dairy products.
Erbil today is moving to a new level in its growth
and economic development. One of the world's leading
companies in the hospitality industry today, the
Kempinski Hotels, is in the process of constructing
a hotel and resort that meets the highest
international standards.
Kurdistan Al Iraq has become the commercial and
tourism gateway to the rest of Iraq. The gateway,
open to friends and neighbours alike, is where
ancient roads spiral through history and the modern
world takes us on a truly magical tour.
This land of tears of the past, has emerged like a
butterfly in the sun, opening its arms to embrace
the future.
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