1460: The Lancastrians rout the Yorkists at the Battle of Wakefield, and execute Richard, Duke of York.
1922: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed, creating a new communist 'empire' centred on Russia.
2006: Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is hanged in Baghdad for crimes against humanity
The Lost Palaces of Iraq
The head of the Babylonian god Marduk Some of the most sophisticated ancient civilisations once thrived in Iraq, but the cities of the Babylonians, Assyrians and Sumerians have become fragile ruins, in a nation recovering from war. Dan Cruickshank travelled to the region before the recent conflict, to document antiquity under threat.
Heritage under threat
The aim of my journey to Iraq in November 2002 was to have a look at what 25 years of war and political isolation had done to the culture of the country. I wanted to investigate its ancient sites, buildings and museums, to discover what had been damaged or destroyed through war and neglect, and to chart what was under threat if military action were to take place.
'...memories of the cultural wonders of Iraq have gradually faded.'
Iraq was once a very important country to Britain. Indeed it was British colonial rulers who, in the years immediately after World War One, created the modern state of Iraq out of a collection of provinces that had formed part of the conquered Ottoman Empire. During the 1920s and 30s British archaeologists flocked to Iraq - which received independence in 1932 - to continue the work of discovery and interpretation that had begun with a startling series of discoveries made in the region from the mid-19th century.
But these remarkable discoveries - which changed the west's perception of its own history and which revealed civilisations, theology and writings far older than those known previously - have now largely been forgotten. This is as dangerous as it is strange. Iraq's political isolation - the result of 25 years under the vicious and tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein - has repelled visitors, so memories of the cultural wonders of Iraq have gradually faded. This is a very alarming state of affairs for it is, of course, far easier to attack a country when its historic and cultural importance has been forgotten.
It is important to remind people in the west of what is at stake, of what could be destroyed, if Iraq is invaded. And it is just as important to consider what the people of Iraq feel about the recent onslaught on their culture - through both external attack and internal civil strife.
Birth of civilisation
The Tigris and the Euphrates from an atlas by Al Istalhry (10th-11th century) © Just getting a visa to enter Iraq was a major problem, requiring much explanation about my interest in the subject, and patience. Once in Baghdad, life became punctuated by paperwork and peopled with government minders as we sought permission to travel outside the capital. After some days spent negotiating in Baghdad, I headed north to Mosul - the second city of Iraq - and to the heartland of the ancient Assyrian Empire, the most powerful force on earth when it reached the apogee of its glory 2,800 years ago.
'...people here had discovered the wheel and key aspects of mathematics...'
As I was driven northwards I passed through a landscape that revealed much of its remarkable past. This was the ancient land of Mesopotamia - the 'land between the rivers' as the Greeks termed it - whose geographical position was the key to understanding some of the extraordinary and pioneering developments that occurred here, 8,000 years ago.
Between the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates was a great alluvial plain - Mesopotamia - and the soil, although sun-baked, was immensely fertile. The people that dwelled here 8,000 years ago had learned to irrigate the land by means of canals and ditches, and had mastered the arts of agriculture. From this came plenty, which relieved man of the need to fight for survival, and thus gave his creative energy the chance to flourish. Civilisation was born.
By about 5,500 years ago the first ever form of writing - cuneiform - had evolved in the region, and people here had discovered the wheel and key aspects of mathematics (the concept of zero, the division of a circle into 360 degrees). They had also developed the crafts, arts and many aspects of theology now familiar in the Judaic, Christian and Muslim religions. And although it was the Assyrian Empire that evolved and refined these achievements, it is known that civilisations and empires flourished in Mesopotamia even before the rise of the Assyrians.
1922: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed, creating a new communist 'empire' centred on Russia.
2006: Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is hanged in Baghdad for crimes against humanity
The Lost Palaces of Iraq
The head of the Babylonian god Marduk Some of the most sophisticated ancient civilisations once thrived in Iraq, but the cities of the Babylonians, Assyrians and Sumerians have become fragile ruins, in a nation recovering from war. Dan Cruickshank travelled to the region before the recent conflict, to document antiquity under threat.
Heritage under threat
The aim of my journey to Iraq in November 2002 was to have a look at what 25 years of war and political isolation had done to the culture of the country. I wanted to investigate its ancient sites, buildings and museums, to discover what had been damaged or destroyed through war and neglect, and to chart what was under threat if military action were to take place.
'...memories of the cultural wonders of Iraq have gradually faded.'
Iraq was once a very important country to Britain. Indeed it was British colonial rulers who, in the years immediately after World War One, created the modern state of Iraq out of a collection of provinces that had formed part of the conquered Ottoman Empire. During the 1920s and 30s British archaeologists flocked to Iraq - which received independence in 1932 - to continue the work of discovery and interpretation that had begun with a startling series of discoveries made in the region from the mid-19th century.
But these remarkable discoveries - which changed the west's perception of its own history and which revealed civilisations, theology and writings far older than those known previously - have now largely been forgotten. This is as dangerous as it is strange. Iraq's political isolation - the result of 25 years under the vicious and tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein - has repelled visitors, so memories of the cultural wonders of Iraq have gradually faded. This is a very alarming state of affairs for it is, of course, far easier to attack a country when its historic and cultural importance has been forgotten.
It is important to remind people in the west of what is at stake, of what could be destroyed, if Iraq is invaded. And it is just as important to consider what the people of Iraq feel about the recent onslaught on their culture - through both external attack and internal civil strife.
Birth of civilisation
The Tigris and the Euphrates from an atlas by Al Istalhry (10th-11th century) © Just getting a visa to enter Iraq was a major problem, requiring much explanation about my interest in the subject, and patience. Once in Baghdad, life became punctuated by paperwork and peopled with government minders as we sought permission to travel outside the capital. After some days spent negotiating in Baghdad, I headed north to Mosul - the second city of Iraq - and to the heartland of the ancient Assyrian Empire, the most powerful force on earth when it reached the apogee of its glory 2,800 years ago.
'...people here had discovered the wheel and key aspects of mathematics...'
As I was driven northwards I passed through a landscape that revealed much of its remarkable past. This was the ancient land of Mesopotamia - the 'land between the rivers' as the Greeks termed it - whose geographical position was the key to understanding some of the extraordinary and pioneering developments that occurred here, 8,000 years ago.
Between the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates was a great alluvial plain - Mesopotamia - and the soil, although sun-baked, was immensely fertile. The people that dwelled here 8,000 years ago had learned to irrigate the land by means of canals and ditches, and had mastered the arts of agriculture. From this came plenty, which relieved man of the need to fight for survival, and thus gave his creative energy the chance to flourish. Civilisation was born.
By about 5,500 years ago the first ever form of writing - cuneiform - had evolved in the region, and people here had discovered the wheel and key aspects of mathematics (the concept of zero, the division of a circle into 360 degrees). They had also developed the crafts, arts and many aspects of theology now familiar in the Judaic, Christian and Muslim religions. And although it was the Assyrian Empire that evolved and refined these achievements, it is known that civilisations and empires flourished in Mesopotamia even before the rise of the Assyrians.