The Anthropology Of Iraq : The Land Of Two Rivers

"You arrive at a village, and in this calm environment, one starts to hear echo."

You are Fatima, a middle-aged, middle-class woman in El Nahra, Iraq in 1954. You have met an American woman for the first time in your life, and have come to know her pretty well. But you just cannot understand how she can be happy living according to the American customs she has described to you. Construct Fatima’s argument for why the customs of Iraq, especially as they relate to gender roles and gender relationships, are vastly superior to those of the United States.

In Syria, Arabic is the most widely spoken language. Language is also based on where they live. For example: in the mountains, Jabal al-Druze is spoken; Bedawi Arabic is spoken by the nomads; and in Damascus Palestinian and Iraqi Arabic is spoken. Also, Aramaic was spoken before Arabic, and Arabic is not native to anyone in Syria. -> -> -> America is a very diverse country. There are many types of languages spoken there. There is no official language in America, but some states consider it to be English. But the most common languages are Spanish and English. Compared to America, Syria has an official language, but different types of it. America has a lot of different languages spoken because of its great diversity.

Throughout the history of the Middle East, Iran and Iraq have been in a dispute. In recent years many factors have caused a global involvement in this conflict. Many young adult Americans have grown up with this conflict as part of their daily evening news. So much so that many people now pay little attention to this constant strife and haven’t stopped to wonder--Why is the United States involved and how did the Iraq War begin? In order to gain understanding, it is essential to explore the various aspects of land, religion, power, and oil and events which led to the Iraq War.

Classical Arabic is the language that all Arabic speakers know, but it’s not used or spoken in any Middle Eastern country. Instead, each Middle Eastern country has its own Arabic language, which is a lot different than classical Arabic. For example, the language spoken in Iraq is Iraqi, the language spoken in Egypt is Egyptian, the language spoken in Morocco is Moroccan, and so on.

From 3000 B.C. to 300 B.C. civilizations have been able to settle in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates River. Just as each new civilization learned from the remains left behind, historians now study the same remains to connect the dots as to how we are here today.

Iraq is a Middle-Eastern country of diversity and turmoil. The people of Iraq, coming from ethic groups such as Kurdish, Arab, Turkoman, and Assyrian, and holding a nearly 97% Muslim population (CIA World Fact Book), remain a lost peoples fighting to create their new country without the tyranny of the past quarter century.

The Middle East has been characterized by a long chain of human migration ever since humans made their way into the region. Over the centuries, an area near the center of the Middle East that makes up the modern state of Iraq has experienced this constant flow of individuals from all over the region, many of who came for the fertile regions near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers along the Fertile Crescent. Fast forward to today and little has changed. In the wake of conflict such as the rise of the Islamic State, more people are facing displacement or being forced to migrate. A popular way to measure how people have migrated is through the amount of urbanization experienced in a country. In the wake of conflict starting near the end of the

Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert.[7] Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile

Iraq is a beautiful country with many sites and plants. It has many kinds of natural beauties such as its wild oak, hawthorn and pine trees. Most of their trees are in the Zagros Mountains. Though many parts of their forests have been reduced to little bushes of little growth but they are working on reforestation. There are not many trees on ground level because of the little rainfall. Winter is the rainy season while summer is the dry season. This is why crops in the winter are not watered while crops in the summer are watered. The weather in winter is quite warm during the day but comes close to freezing at night. The general climate is semi-arid in the northern mountains. Though there is not much water and its mainland is desert there are a number of animals who have been able to adapt to this climate. Some animals who live in Iraq are the gazelle, antelope, cheetah, pig, hare, and hyena. Most of a few sea animals are in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers two of the biggest rivers in Iraq. Both rivers drain into the Persian Gulf. Iraq has many natural resources. Iraq has some of the largest petroleum reserves in the world and the also have large amounts of phosphate rock, sulfur, and natural

To be considered Arab, you or your ancestors live or lived in the Arab world and speak Arabic. The “Arab world” is made up of 22 states and territories whom are part of the Arab League. However many people in these states do not consider themselves Arab, thus the Arabic language is the unifying factor among the Arabic people. A lot of the individuals who speak Arabic today are very diverse. There is a myriad of dialects of Arabic and over 150 million people speak it. Twenty-five countries consider Arabic an official language (even if few are fluent in it). They vary from African to West Asian countries, however Arabs also live as minorities in many other nations. For example, the United States (Banks, 2009).

In recent years, the Iraqi nation has endured a crisis that will forever remain in the hearts and minds of the Middle Eastern culture. However, the outcomes of the War on Iraq will not change the long-lasting and passionate traditions and memories that have been held in the country for decades. One major event that happened in Iraq’s history is that on October 3, 1932 Iraq was established as an independent nation. Iraq has always been a country in which respect and generosity have been highly valued and play an important cultural role in everyday life. Additionally, approximately ninety-five percent of Iraqis are Muslim, and therefore Islam is the official religion of this nation (Gutierrez 1). Furthermore, Iraq is a

Located along the Tigris River, the city of Baghdad was founded in the 8th century as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of it’s inception, the city evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the “Center of Learning”. In medieval times, Baghdad was even considered, by most, to be the largest city in the world. Though it was once the mighty capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad has unfortunately fallen victim to the cultural and civil effects of countless wars. Unfortunately, in modern times the city’s reputation has been tainted with negativity. Previous historical conflicts, including: the 1258 Mongol conquest of Baghdad, the Ottoman–Safavid Wars (1532-1555 and 1623-1639), the 1990s Gulf War, and the 2003 war in Iraq have all contributed to how to citizens of Baghdad live today.

The Arabic language has become the main language of Egyptian christian and Muslim. This language has been unchanged since the seventh century. “However, the written language has changed the modern forms of style and the language is simpler than in original Arabic and are often the same as English or French.” (Home)

The Kurds have colonized the area of rugged mountains and tall plains at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for more than two thousand years. They are said to descend from Medes who conquered the Nineveh in 612 B. C. Their traditional form of life is pastoralism and agriculture (Barth 1993). The unsanctioned country of Kurdistan inhabited an area steeped in history; a history, specifically, the bloody chaos, occupation and assimilation. When the Medes (descended from the Aryans) earliest appeared in the area around 1000 B.C. the stage was set for prolonged and strenuous fights for superiority against the bordering Assyrians and Persians. For centuries, the Medes fights against their would-be dwellers until, around 600 B.C (Hansen 2000)., having beaten the Persians; they overcome the Assyrians and established the Median Empire. That Empire covered everyone of what we call at present as Kurdistan. Different tribes existing in the region were not enforced to give up their cultures and obey the rules to their new hosts'. Instead their cultures were taken on and national values were established. In 550 B.C however, the Persians re-emerged as the leading force and from that period onward the area was seldom without divergence (Hansen 2000). Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Armenians, Romans and Byzantines have all the net battles in the area, and the local nation found them driven into the mountains just to give themselves a better option of living. Tribalism became