Iraq's Marsh Arabs in the Garden of Eden

Iraq's Marsh Arabs in the Garden of Eden PDF

Author: Edward L. Ochsenschlager

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2014-04-03

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 193453675X

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What can the present tell us about the past? From 1968 to 1990, Edward Ochsenschlager conducted ethnoarchaeological fieldwork near a mound called al-Hiba, in the marshes of southern Iraq. In examining the material culture of three tribes—their use of mud, reed, wood, and bitumen, and their husbandry of cattle, water buffalo, and sheep—he chronicles what is now a lost way of life. He helps us understand ancient manufacturing processes, an artifact's significance and the skill of those who create and use it, and the substantial moral authority wielded by village craftspeople. He reveals the complexities involved in the process of change, both natural and enforced. Al-Hiba contains the remains of Sumerian people who lived in the marshes more than 5,000 years ago in a similar ecological setting, using similar material resources. The archaeological evidence provides insights into everyday life in antiquity. Ochsenschlager enhances the comparisons of past and present by extensive illustrations from his fieldwork and also from the University Museum's rare archival photographs taken in the late nineteenth century by John Henry Haynes. This was long before Saddam Hussein drove one of the tribes from the marshes, forced the Bedouin to live elsewhere, and irrevocably changed the lives of those who tried to stay.

The Iraqi Marshlands and the Marsh Arabs

The Iraqi Marshlands and the Marsh Arabs PDF

Author: Sam Kubba

Publisher: Trans Pacific Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780863723339

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This text is for those wishing to develop an understanding of a cultural legacy and lifestyle that survives today only as a fragmented cultural inheritance. The book illustrates how the economy and lives of the Ma'dan (Marsh Arabs) that spans over 5000 years remained similar to the ancient practices of their Sumerian forebears.

When All the Lands Were Sea

When All the Lands Were Sea PDF

Author: Tor Eigeland

Publisher: Olive Branch Press

Published: 2014-10-14

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781566569828

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Rare and visually stunning images of a lost world. This remarkable collection of photographs, captured by internationally acclaimed photojournalist Tor Eigeland in 1967, offers unprecedented insight into the daily life of the Marsh Arabs of Iraq. These photographs illustrate the beauty of this unique environment—the marshlands between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers—and show a culture that existed practically unchanged for over 2,000 years. Some have even speculated that this place was the site of the original Garden of Eden. Under Saddam Hussein’s rule, vast areas of the marshlands were dammed and drained, causing catastrophic environmental damage and brutally forcing the marshes’ inhabitants to abandon their way of life. Now Tor Eigeland’s photographic journey stands as a monument, a rare record of a lost world and an ancient civilization. These precious photographs celebrate the people and culture of the marshlands and bring us back to a time and place where people lived in harmony with their environment. In the course of his long and distinguished career, Tor Eigeland has been published in such publications as Time-Life Books, Fortune, Newsweek, and Saudi Aramco World, to name but a few. He has collaborated on ten books for the National Geographic Society, and his assignments have taken him to some of the most remote corners of the globe. He now resides in the south of France.

Damascus Redemption

Damascus Redemption PDF

Author: Richard C. Pendry

Publisher: Wordcatcher Publishing

Published: 2017-03-27

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9781912056309

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Unable to cope with the loss of his family, Mason turns his back on the SAS. Years later, he is enticed into the security industry in Iraq. He soon finds himself under fire. His team is attacked - most are killed and two are taken hostage. He escapes with the help of a tribe, who are the custodians of an ancient secret kept in the Basrah Marshes.

Southern Iraq's Marshes

Southern Iraq's Marshes PDF

Author: Laith A. Jawad

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-05-06

Total Pages: 815

ISBN-13: 3030662381

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The Mesopotamian marshes are important for economic, social, and biodiversity values and have been home to indigenous human communities for millennia. They are regarded as a legendary site. This multi-authored book contains chapters written by world-renowned experts in their field. Both basic and applied information are made available, making the book a must-have for a wide spectrum of users. For example, an understanding of the natural and the social aspects of the marshes, as described here, is an obvious prerequisite for a pest management plan in this area. Scholars interested in wetlands can use this book as a guide to compare different wetlands areas in Asia. The bibliography section contains valuable references to the marsh areas and research in the field. This book serves as an up-to-date comprehensive source of information on different aspects of the southern marshes of Iraq and is aimed at academic scholars, environmentalists, and decision makers.

Eco-architecture II

Eco-architecture II PDF

Author: Geoffrey Broadbent

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1845641191

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This book contains papers presented at the second International Conference on Eco-Architecture . The original Conference was the first to be held worldwide on the subject of sustainable architecture in order to define what ECO-ARCHITECTURE actually is, i.e. "Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature." The subject has matured in the two years between conferences and the submitted papers can be categorised into Ecological and Cultural Sensitivity, Design with Nature, Resource Conservation and Building Technology, Design by Passive Systems, Case Studies, Rehabilitation and Adaptive Re-use. The affiliations of the authors whether in academia, the professions or industry indicate the very wide international scope and the interdisciplinary nature of the subject.

The Ghosts of Iraq's Marshes

The Ghosts of Iraq's Marshes PDF

Author: Steve Lonergan

Publisher: American University in Cairo Press

Published: 2024-04-23

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1649033265

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The gripping history of the devastation and resurrection of the Marshes of Iraq, an environmental treasure of the Middle East, now a protected site The Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq, once the largest wetland system on the planet, have been inhabited for thousands of years by the Ma‘dan, or Marsh Arabs, but they remain remote, isolated, and virtually unknown. In the early 1990s, the Saddam Hussein regime drained the Marshes and set out to destroy not only a critical ecosystem but a unique way of life as well. It stands as one of the greatest environmental and humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century. In the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, local residents destroyed the earthen dams built to divert water from the wetlands and the Marshes were reflooded. Their future, however, is in peril. The Ghosts of Iraq’s Marshes tells the history of the creation, destruction, and revitalization of the Marshes and their inhabitants against the backdrop of the dramatic events that have convulsed Iraq in the past fifty years. It follows the life of Jassim al-Asadi, an irrigation engineer who was jailed and tortured under Saddam Hussein and who subsequently dedicated his life to the reflooding and restoration of the Marshes. He eventually contributed to the Marshes being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jassim is eminently relatable, and the stories of his life and other marsh dwellers are infused with pathos, tragedy, humor, and passion.

The Genocide-Ecocide Nexus

The Genocide-Ecocide Nexus PDF

Author: Damien Short

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-02-09

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 1000540790

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In a world gripped by an ever-worsening ecological crisis there are present and increasing genocidal pressures on many culturally distinct social groups, such as indigenous peoples. This is where the genocide-ecocide nexus presents itself. The destruction of ecosystems, ecocide, can be a method of genocide if, for example, environmental destruction results in conditions of life that fundamentally threaten a social group's cultural and/or physical existence. Given the looming threat of runaway climate change, the attendant rapid extinction of species, destruction of habitats, ecological collapse and the self-evident dependency of the human race on our bio-sphere, ecocide (both "natural" and "manmade") will become a primary driver of genocide. Through nine chapters of cutting-edge research, this book examines specific case studies in geographical settings such as Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria and Brazil, to highlight and analyse the crucial connections and vectors of the genocide-ecocide nexus. This book will be of great value to scholars, students and researchers interested in the ecological crisis, Environmental Justice, the political economy of genocide and ecocide as well as environmental human rights. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Genocide Research.

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