Iraq

This is another postcard from the swap I had with Milad in Iraq back in 2010. I've posted about the other card in this blog before. These two cards are still my only ones from Iraq.

There is some writing on the back of the card but it's all in Arabic so I have no idea whether it says something about the places on this card. ..and as a result I'm totally clueless here. Well, not completely - the picture in the bottom left corner looks like it's from Hatra, which also happens to be a Unesco site. :) A large fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab Kingdom, Hatra withstood invasions by the Romans in A.D. 116 and 198 thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by towers. The remains of the city, especially the temples where Hellenistic and Roman architecture blend with Eastern decorative features, attest to the greatness of its civilization.

Milad wrote that Iraq is the cradle of ancient empires and civilizations dated back to 6000 years. I find this really fascinating, and the more recent history of the region very sad. Hopefully things will improve there.

Golden Mosques of Iraq

One more card for today. This one is from a swap with Milad in Iraq. I honestly never thought I'd ever get a written and stamped postcard from Iraq, but now I have two.



This card shows Golden Mosques in Iraq. It doesn't say anywhere on the card what the names of these mosques are, but it looks like one of them *might* be the Al-Askari Mosque in Sāmarrā. In any case, they look pretty impressive!



The stamp was issued in 2008 with the theme 'Diplomatic Relations with China'.