Mosul

Nineveh Governorate.

Republic of Iraq

March 19, 2022

Hello,

My journey in Iraq is a daily calendar of Highlights:  Dramatic ancient sites, abundant flavorful food, and the best of all: a population of welcoming, helpful, dependable men and women along with swarming, energetic children.  Everyone is pleased to meet an American.

Unfortunately, today, in the old city of Mosul, I find the heartbreaking skeletal, charred remains of the recent ISIS - Iraqi Army battle.

Erbil

Autonomous Kurdistan Region

Republic of Iraq

March 27, 2022

Erbil

Erbil, also called Hawler (Kurdish: ھەولێر ,Hewlêr Arabic: أربيل, romanized: Arbīl, Syriac:  and known in ancient history as Arbela, is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. There is no current census of the city and official population statistics are not available, its population is estimated to be around 1,200,000.

Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the fifth millennium BC.  At the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Erbil and Mudhafaria Minaret. The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Third Dynasty of Ur of Sumer, when King Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum. The city was later conquered by the Assyrians.