Many people associate Iraq with conflicts in the Middle East, but few people think that this country — a real treasury of the ancient culture of the Arab world. Even if there are no picturesque beaches with palm trees — especially daring tourists sometimes come here, to this very closed state, to get acquainted with its ancient history.
Facts about Iraq
- Neanderthals lived in modern Iraq in the middle Paleolithic.
- Iraq originated in the lands that in the distant past were called Mesopotamia and were the cradle of human civilization.
- Due to constant military operations and other state problems, protected natural areas make up only 0.001% of Iraq’s area.
- In Iraq, lemonade is called sour milk with the addition of salt and water.
- Since 2016, the production and sale of alcohol has been completely banned in Iraq. Violators face fines ranging from $8 to $20,000.
- The Tower of Babel, about which one of the most famous biblical parables tells, was allegedly located on the lands of modern Iraq. God prevented ambitious people from building a gigantic skyscraper to the very sky, having created their own languages for different peoples – the builders no longer understood each other, and their work was doomed to failure.
- In Iraq, unlike Europe and America, the most common and popular genre of literature is poetry – it is believed that even uneducated peasants can understand rhymed lines.
- Clay tablets with recipes were found here, the age of which is estimated at about 5000 years.
- The most popular dishes of Iraqi cuisine are prepared from okra, a healthy and tasty vegetable of the legume family.
- The name of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in Persian means “God’s gift” (interesting facts about Baghdad).
- Baghdad is the main city in the famous Thousand and One Nights cycle of Arabic tales.
- To protest the war in Iraq, an Iraqi-born artist locked himself in a small room for a month with a paintball gun that was controlled via the Internet. The man claimed that many Americans killed his family and friends by simply pressing buttons, as in a computer game. To put his website visitors in the shoes of the US military, he allowed them to shoot paintballs at themselves whenever they pleased. Over 60,000 shots were fired at the artist in 30 days.
- One Iraqi mosque houses a Koran written in ink from the blood of Saddam Hussein – the designer of the holy book claimed that the head of state donated about 27 liters of blood for this purpose.
- In the 1980s, German engineer Karl Esser designed one from underground bunkers for Saddam Hussein. The grandmother of this engineer went down in history as a designer of bunkers for the needs of the Third Reich and personally for Hitler.
- During the US military operation in Iraq, the ambassador of this republic in Russia convened an emergency press conference, at which he stated that the US military allegedly just killed seven British soldiers by a mistakenly fired nuclear missile. In the ensuing silence, the diplomat added: “Happy April 1!”
- The Persian king, who was marching with his troops to capture Babylon, ordered the execution of one of the rivers that he met on the way, since his sacred White horse. The river that now flows through the lands of Iraq was punished by digging many channels that diverted water from it.