Ali

Photo of the ruins of ancient Assur with a ziggurat rising in the distance and low remains of walls in the foreground. It looks like sunset or sunrise with the soft, orange lighting. Photo by Mahmoud Fakhri

How to make perfume in 1230 BCE in the heartland of ancient Assyria.

First, you need to mix cane with cleansed water from the palace well of the city of Aššur (pronounced Ashur).

Second, you need to pour this mixture into a special vessel before adding...

Dr Mary Shepperson on Najaf Above and Below: The Vanishing Old Town and its Subterranean Counterpart YouTube video by The British Institute for the Study of Iraq

Thank you to all who attended our Annual February Lecture

And a very special thank you to Dr @mshepps.bsky.social
for an enriching and enlightening lecture on 'Najaf Above & Below: The Vanishing Old Town & its Subterranean Counterpart

You can now watch the lecture here: youtu.be/myvo6ZU-wBY?...

They really are! Yes, I took these photographs back in 2023

Historic traditional houses in Basra's Old City

Iraq was not freed by speeches or promises, but by sacrifice. And today, it stands unbroken, a living testament to those martyrs and to a civilisation that has endured invasion, betrayal, and destruction, yet refuses to be erased.

Victory was earned. History remembers.

We mourn the countless innocent souls stolen by wars engineered far beyond our borders. Every street, every city, every inch of liberation was paid for with the blood of my people, my kin.

That victory came only after some of the most brutal and unforgiving urban warfare the modern world has ever witnessed.

Today, we honour the sons of Iraq who gave everything, their blood, their futures, and their lives to defend and reclaim their homeland.

Today is Victory Day in Iraq 🇮🇶

Eight years ago, on 9 December 2017, Iraq stood up to the darkest force imposed upon it and declared victory over ISIS, a terror entity backed and enabled by the West and Israel.