Iraqi History

December 9, 2002 2:46 AM

The long history of Iraq. Iraq has been ruled by a lot of regimes, ranging from Mesopotamian to British rule. It gained independence on 1932, and has since then seen more regime changes. According to their official site there still is tourism, but other sites have a more practical view of that. Altough it is not in my holiday plans this year it could be a very cultural rich destination in the future.
posted by sebas (7 comments total)

Great post, sebas - thanks! Now for a true story: during a very long interview with Leonard Cohen (actually a whole weekend in the Palace Hotel in Madrid where we drank our ages in bloody marys) I drunkenly asked him about a line in a song of his, which said something like "Move as they did in Babylon." So I asked him "How exactly do they move in Babylon?"

And he said: "Oh, come on Miguel, everyone knows that."

I still think it's funny. Specially as I thought there was some secret knowledge lurking behind the verse.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:58 AM on December 9, 2002

Thanks Miguel. That story reminds me of the time I had a chat with Dr Frank of the Mr T. Experience. Too bad I can't remember talking about anything remotely related to this thread, otherwise it would have been an entertaining story! ;)
posted by sebas at 8:09 AM on December 9, 2002

I met Willy from Alf. . .er, that's about the extent of my celebrity encounters. In other news, great post sebas. I'm a fan of Islamic history, and the synopsis was great. It really does add a fresh perspective to current events.
posted by dgaicun at 8:17 AM on December 9, 2002

The ram in the thicket, the lion from nimrud, the Ninhursag Tell Ubaid bull, plus Ishtar!

Thanks.
posted by taz at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2002

That reminds me of the time I was piloting my Jaguar through the streets of Laussaune, with terrible freezing rain everywhere. Finally I arrived at the Hotel Du Nord, where I rolled up a huge spliff to share with John Lennon, who I was interviewing on Andy Warhol's request. In the haze that followed (a couple of weeks spent traipsing around the globe with the Maharishi) I thought he had turned into Cyrus the Great. Of course, it might have been the mescalin.
posted by cell divide at 9:38 AM on December 9, 2002

Of course it was the mescalin... everybody knows he regularly turns into Cyrus the Lesser.
posted by taz at 10:08 AM on December 9, 2002

Their latest tourism campaign is called "Uruk-Hi!".
posted by Pretty_Generic at 12:02 PM on December 9, 2002