Global - Technology - Review

In the light of Iraq’s recent troubled history, it is easy to forget that Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers has a strong claim to the title of ‘Cradle of Civilisation’. It was here, under the ancient Sumerians, that the world’s first writing system was developed, and recorded history began. The Great Ziggurat of Ur is the best known relic of these times. Over successive millennia, Babylon and Assyria came to power in the region. Later the Parthian Empire left behind the ruins of Hatra, a World Heritage Site, as evidence of their rule. Following the Sassanids, the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate built Baghdad, for hundreds of years the world’s leading Muslim city, as well as Samarra with its Great Mosque and Spiral Minaret, and the Abbasid Palace. Najaf and Kabala are holy cities to Shi’a Muslims. Today Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world. Modern Baghdad is second in size only to Cairo in the Arab world. Its infrastructure has suffered war damage, and reconstruction has been slow, however transport has improved with the reopening of the metro system as well as the railway to Basra on the Persian Gulf.