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Iraq is rich in history that dates back to the Sumerian civilization of 3400-3000 B.C. Some of the oldest remains of urban civilization have been unearthed in ancient Mesopotamia, the land between Iraq’s two principal rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The northern half is ancient Assyria and the southern half is the flat delta of ancient Babylonia.
Both rivers have so built up their beds that successive waves of deposition lie above the surrounding flood plain, with the Euphrates generally higher than the Tigris. The Babylonians (1800 to 1500 B.C.) created a mud civilization. Sun-dried bricks were used for building, whereas the Assyrians (2025-600 B.C.) built buildings of stone, as stone was in greater supply in northern Mesopotamia.
Excavations near Ur and Nineveh give us a glimpse of the beginnings of incipient urbanization during these civilizations which were primarily based on the use of river waters for cultivation of crops and for transport. The cities had all the hallmarks of present- day urban centers: residential streets and commercial areas containing restaurants, blacksmith shops, and chapels. Many of the homes were built around a paved central court.
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We know little about Iraq’s history from these ancient beginnings to its next golden age (750-1260) associated with the Abbaside Caliphates, when the center of Islamic and Arab culture moved from Damascus to Baghdad. During the 8th and 9th centuries, Baghdad had become a great emporium of trade, and a political center of international importance.
Agriculture flourished in the fertile, alluvial Mesopotamian basin during the rule of the Abbasids. Old canals dating back thousands of years were de-silted and new ones dug. Great irrigation works were opened up. The staple crops of Abbasid Iraq included barley, wheat, rice, dates, sesame, cotton, flax, fruits, and vegetables, much the same as those of today.
The next important phase in Iraqi history is that of the Ottoman Turks who ruled from 1514 to 1918. Between the Abbasid period and the arrival of the Turks Iraq was overrun by the Mongols, whom the Iraqis blame for the destruction of irrigation channels and Iraq’s great culture Under the Turks, Iraq came under the pressure of two strong conflicting neighbors, Turkey and Persia. In religion southern Iraq was Shiite like Persia, but Sunnite in the north and west. This conflict in religion and political orientation still remains today. The great Shia shrines of Kerbala and Najaf are located in Iraq near Baghdad.
Turks brought their Turkish culture to Iraq and Turkish remained the language of the elites. During Turkish rule, however, several tribal groups known as the Kurds had become powerful, and they established control over many northern mountainous sections and some of the western desert area.