Today I will talk about a topic
that is quite sad
It is the massive loss of our Iraqi heritage, particularly our architectural heritage
during the twentieth century
and this loss continues to this moment.
We all know that Iraq is the cradle of civilization
dating back 10,000 years, not 5,000 years.
The oldest farm town discovered in the northern part of Iraq,
Namrek, is 10,000 years of age.
We are talking about an immense depth of time
and astounding diversity.
Not only diversity of heritage,
but ethnographic and geographic diversity as well
that is reflected on old Iraqi cities and buildings
in the areas of north, middle, and south of Iraq.
This is really an incredible diversity.
Iraq should therefore be the first country in the world
in protecting its own heritage.
But unfortunately we will see through the few examples
I have chosen today that our heritage is very much in danger.
Our heritage is in danger if it proceeds in this manner.
It is very probable that in a few years we will lose our heritage,
and Iraq will become as any other new country,
such as those in the Gulf.
This is a very dangerous thing.
Iraq is supposed to be the first country to teach others
how to save their heritage.
But with regret,
I will show you some examples to clarify that this is not the case.
First of all, we destroyed all the walls of the ancient Iraqi cities.
The Iraqi cities and other cities in the world for a long time were surrounded
by walls with gates, gates through which people used to enter.
But we destroyed it all.
And these examples that you see,
this is Baghdad’s wall, which was demolished in 1870 by Medhat Pasha,
who demolished all but 4 gates.
Bab Al-Sharji, Bab Al-Talsem, Bab Al-Dhafriyah, and Bab Al-Muadham.
These were all subsequently destroyed by Iraqis
of the twentieth century, except for Bab Al-Wastani.
We see the Mosul Wall, Samarra Wall, and Najaf Wall
which were destroyed as recently as 1931. We destroyed them.
Look at other countries as an example.
Fez, a historical city, and Al-Ribat City both in Morocco
kept their respective walls to protect the historical cities within them.
They allowed modern buildings to be built only outside the walls.
So there is a duality, the new city
and then you move through the gates into the old city.
They kept the old city not as a ghost town or a museum
but as a vital city with houses and people going about their daily lives
and it is being utilized as a tourist destination in a fabulous manner.
But we did the opposite. We destroyed our walls, and
new construction invaded the old city in an unrestricted manner.
It used to be filled with thousands of magnificent historic buildings,
now almost all destroyed.
We can estimate the loss of Iraqi heritage,
without exception to any city from Mosul to Basra,
to be around 80% to this time.
What has been left is very little,
and we have to die protecting it. It is our last chance.
The lower example is of Warsaw,
the capital of Poland.
It was almost entirely destroyed during World War II.
After the war, resources were scarce
but the people donated what they could
and rebuilt their city one block at a time.
While it is not the original construction,
this still shows the importance of heritage to the nation
it is a matter of life and death
and not just a matter of history or antiquated stories.
Heritage defines the national identity of a society.
For this reason I titled this talk “Cultural Suicide.”
Every country, every society has a collective memory.
I imagine this as a book.
I imagine Iraq as a 10,000-page book, and every page is a year.
If you tear one page, two, 100, 2000, or 3000 pages,
this book will be distorted,
it will be filled with gaps,
and it becomes unclear and loses its identity.
Another example,
this picture is of Mosul taken in 1920 by plane.
It reveals how our municipalities destroyed it.
This was not done by foreigners, we destroyed it.
The arrows show how the highway being built in a straight line cut
through whatever was in its path, whether it was a mosque, church,
bath house, or a warehouse aging 1000 years.
Destroyed!
This was not done to intentionally destroy the heritage,
but was done out of ignorance on the part of our municipals.
I have visited all parts of Iraq,
I have visited all the small streets and photographed them.
The people are not aware of what they have.
They are like a child who has been given a jewel and,
not knowing its value, proceeds to throw it in the trash.
We do not know the value of our heritage.
Our heritage is one of the greatest in existence. I am not saying this because I am Iraqi.
Of course, I am lucky to be an Iraqi born on this great soil,
but...
but in reality we are wasting our great heritage.
The houses I have visited in Kadhimiyah and Najaf,
I swear they are masterpieces of humankind, not only of Iraq.
This heritage is not just ours but belongs to all of humanity,
and we must give it exceptional care.
This obvious example is of Baghdad,
we see Al-Qishlah and Al-Mustansiriyah, again 1000 years of age.
The Secretariat of Baghdad (Al-Amana) - although its name
is derived from the word trustee (Ameen) and thus has been entrusted with the city -
has allowed a 20-story building to be built beside
a very beautiful building that is over 1000 years old.
This ruins the city’s skyline.
On the other hand, Florence in Italy
has the Cathedral and the historical tower
and it is prohibited to build any structure higher than those historic buildings.
This preserves the original city skyline. Maintaining the original is very important,
but we hardly consider this point.
Here is another example from old Prague.
Take this example of Samarra,
this is a picture of old Samarra taken around 1900 from a plane,
it shows the wall and the shrine of Al-Askereyain.
The plan on the right is a master plan drawn by urban developers.
The wall has been destroyed to be replaced by streets,
the area surrounding the shrine - which is one of the most important
Islamic shrines in the world - has been destroyed.
The surrounding buildings and old markets have been removed
and replaced instead by modern streets for cars.
If I do not use the words perverse destruction, what would I call it?
We should be saving our heritage.
I am not against new construction.
You can build whatever you want, but outside the old city.
But this has not been taken into consideration in our cities, unfortunately.
Another example is the city of Najaf,
I recently visited Najaf and I am working on a book
that studies the heritage of the city.
How many Najaf’s do we have? One.
How many Samarra’s? One. How many Mosul’s? One.
Every one of these cities is an architectural pearl of Islamic urban planning.
We have wasted them, and how?
As I said, the wall that was destroyed in 1931 as well as the gates.
In Baghdad, Bab Al-Muadham was destroyed in 1937,
Bab Al-Sharji in 1925, and Bab Al-Talsem was destroyed by the Turks
when they left Iraq in 1917.
There are many more examples.
Just look at the old Islamic city that features
a large group of buildings situated side by side.
It is a densely packed city
that did not depend on streets, as they had no cars.
That was the method of planning at the time,
no streets could be paved in these cities, they will be destroyed
We should use the same methods in planning and stay true to these old cities.
If there is a wall, it should be kept.
If there are small streets, they should be kept.
One must survey the area to get to know every home, rest house, and market.
Every building should be known and registered,
the ones which deserve to be preserved should be preserved with tenacity,
and no one should be allowed to destroy any registered building.
But this is not happening. What is happening now is
large-scale destruction. Beautiful buildings are being eliminated.
I will show you some examples.
This is Kirkuk Castle.
On the left, is a picture of this beautiful castle
which is 3,000 years of age
and contains Assyrian antiques, and the recently discovered Assyrian wall.
This is at least 2,000 years old and it has a mix of architectural styles in it
that are simply amazing. This picture was taken in 1970.
When I visited it, I captured it house by house.
They were beautifully ornamented,
sturdy houses with families still living in them having inherited them
from one generation to the next.
In 1998,
look what happened to them,
all of this was removed.
That is tantamount to execution, execution of beautiful city.
I consider this to be one of the biggest cultural crimes in the world.
When you execute a city, you remove it from existence, what does it mean?
Like Hiroshima it was annihilated!
That should not have happened, but unfortunately it did.
In the cities of Rawa and Ana,
the council for construction at that time carried out a study regarding
irrigation, dams, and water storage.
They recommended that a dam be built above Rawa and below Haditha,
but based on a single political decision it was built in the city of Haditha
and as a result flooded this beautiful city which dates back 2,000 years.
I took this picture from a helicopter.
On the right, the picture shows how Iraqis themselves
destroyed in 2 days the 1000-year old Bab Al-Sharji.
And we have here another example
is Mirjan Mosque, a 900-year old building that was demolished
because it was on the same line of Al-Rasheed Street.
They could have curved the street rather than destroying the mosque
It was destroyed in a single night in 1946,
it was one of the finest mosques in Iraq.
And what you see now in Shorja is a replica.
Maruf Al-Karkhi Mosque is an Abbasid building dating back 1,000 years.
What you see on the left is the old building.
An architect came along and took a risk that led to
the destruction of the old mosque only to have a new, dreadful one built instead.
This is the only word I can use to describe this building.
They left the original minaret, like a candle inside the mosque.
Have you ever seen a minaret in the middle of a praying space?
Is there anything like this in the world? No there is not,
but it is available now to see in Maruf Al-Karkhi Mosque.
This is another criminal act,
like the one that demolished the shrine of Al-Askareyain in Samarra,
and this is very big crime.
Also, in 1991 and 2003,
the American invasion bombed Al-Zuhoor Palace,
which is the first royal palace in Iraq built in 1933.
What was considered one of the most important records of modern Iraqi memory
became an empty land. No one objected to this.
Another stark example is the Ana prayer minaret, which I personally followed,
it is the only octagonal minaret in Iraq.
In 1986, the heritage authorities had it carefully cut
to be transferred and it was rebuilt successfully in a new location,
then terrorists bombed it in 2006 and it became a pile of stones.
When I talk about the destruction of heritage,
it is not just an emotional plea, it is well-documented.
This last picture is from the Ottoman empire, a beautiful building.
I consider this era a part of the record of Iraqi memory I have talked about.
This building near the Saray palace was burned.
What I would like to say at the end is that
we have to take this issue very seriously.
Merely talking about heritage has no meaning.
The real meaning comes from action,
and the first action we must embark upon is to establish a ‘High Council for Heritage,’
an independent council with no relation to any party.
It would consist of experts and the first thing they would do
is create a National Registry, survey all of Iraq’s old cities,
and make a record of all the buildings which deserve
to be protected so that they would not be tampered with again.
This is the only way, otherwise the mentioned destruction will continue.
Additionally, the Law of Antiquities and Heritage is currently very weak
and does not pose a deterrent to willful destruction.
Our antiques are being smuggled and old buildings being demolished
without any control. This cannot be.
Finally, I should mention a very important point
that the main responsibility is not only of the government but it is ours too,
as Individuals, every one of us.
We have to create associations, like Basrah Friends Association,
Najaf Friends Association, Mosul Friends Association,
which work as monitors that detect any attempt to destroy the city,
even if it is from the municipality or an influential person.
We have to create the feeling of patriotism.
In conclusion, I say that Iraqi heritage
is the best way to ensure that Iraq remains united,
and that is what we really need.
May peace be upon you.