The First City, Uruk, and the Great Mosque of Kufa
- Mar 19
- 4 min read
December 7 – Uruk & Najaf
Today we would see an ancient city, Uruk and the Great Mosque of Kufa. It would be a 2-hour drive to Najaf from Nasiriyah. Again, our guide apologized for the condition of our hotel, but it was the best Nasiriyah had to offer.
To date, and for the remainder of the trip, our hotels had been comparable to very nice 4-star hotels in the US. This hotel must have been grand in former days but was in need of some TLC. Our room was a “suite” with a sitting room (TV, sofa, 2 chairs), bed room (3 single beds), and bath with a shower. With tile floors, white walls, florescent lights, faded drapes and worn coverings, it reminded us of other hotels on past trips in 3rd world countries. Fred, being in construction, had to take a picture of the “make due wiring” in the stair well! Actually, it was more of what we were expecting since we were visiting a country not fully ready for tourists. The other hotels were a pleasant surprise. Another surprise – all the hotels would have Christmas decorations!
Najaf has several Islamic sites thus attracts a large volume of Muslim pilgrims, especially Shi’ites. During the drive, Sylvie provided abays to the women and demonstrated how to wear them. These consisted of 3 parts all in black: a very wide headband, a knit hood that covered head and neck, and a robe with a front zipper that draped from our heads and sleaves like a closed poncho.
Photo
Our first stop was “the world’s first city” Uruk (4,000 BCE). It is where the first writing was developed and is associated with the stories of Gilgamesh, King of this Sumerian City-State. The drive took us through rural areas, some small towns/villages, and a few roaming feral camels.
We entered what appeared to be flat empty desert and arrived huge gated and fenced area. Through the gate, we could see dirt mounds in the distance. We were met by a military guard who then lead us through the site. It was only partially excavated and was barely set up for tourists as far as signage, pathways, etc. We were escorted a good distance from the gate to visit the Ziggurat. We were told it was in very poor shape because the exposed walls were mud bricks vs baked bricks and seriously deteriorated. We had to view it from a distance.
The site was a helter-skelter of partial excavations and some rail track for assisting the excavation. We were allowed to walk across a field and hill of rubble to another spot where a temple was partially excavated. There we could not only see walls and arches in better shape, but some of the bricks still retained their blue glaze. Again, we were amazed at how much history still lay beneath the sand and how privileged we were to see any of it.
We continued our drive to the city of Najaf to see the Great Mosque of Kufa. The drive was through a bit of a dust storm so the air was very dusty in addition to the pollution from the oil fields. We passed more feral camels, a village market, and a large building under construction that would become a pilgrimage resting center along the highway. Najaf is a center of Shia political power and many shrines that Shia pilgrims come to visit. One of those was our current destination – The Great Mosque of Kufa.
It was now evening, but the mosque was somewhat busy. The women in our group donned our abayas in the bus. Together, we all entered the plaza outside the mosque then left our shoes at a shoe station. We then divided into 2 groups as men and women each had separate entrances.
The opulence of the mosque was amazing; mirror tiled ceilings, crystal chandlers, mosaic tiled walls, hammered brass doors, Persian designed carpeting… It is divided into several sections/maqamat. Men and women each have their own side with large rooms for relaxing and separate sides of the shrines divided by a partial wall about 6-feet high. In addition to the Mirhab of Imam Ali, the main shrines are for Muslim ibn Aqeel (first cousin of Imam Husayn) Hani ibn Urwa (companion of Imam Husayn), and Al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (the revolutionary). The mihrab is believed to be the spot where Imam Ali was martyred. The mosque is also believed to mark the spot where Noah built the Ark and from which the Great Flood started.
The women were very emotional at the shrines. They touch, pray, and leave offerings – money, a scarf… If you linger too long, women with feather dusters tap you on the head as a signal to let others a chance to visit. Fred, my husband, said the same routine happened on the men’s side.
I didn’t want to linger long, I didn’t want to intrude. These women have traveled far and this was their special time. I was told they come not just from all parts of Iraq, but Iran and Pakistan, too. I had always connected Islam with Saudi Arabia, but learned Iraq has the first mosque outside of Saudi Arabia, and many shrines marking battles and split of Islam into the 2 sects. I left the mosque with my group to join the men in the central plaza, retrieve our shoes, and head to the bus for the drive to our hotel.
As we were checking in at the hotel, the group decided to meet at the hotel restaurant for dinner. I wasn’t sure I would join them. However, while waiting for Fred to shower, I found myself drinking 3 bottles of water and I felt much better! Though still not hungry, a bowl of lentil soup and a salad tasted good! I realized I must have been dehydrated and made a better effort to hydrate the rest of the trip.
Uruk:
Kufa Mosque:
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