Marshland (al-Ahwar) in southern Iraq: protected area of biodiversity and relict landscape of Mesopotamian cities
| Marshland (al-Ahwar) in southern Iraq: protected area of biodiversity and relict landscape of Mesopotamian cities | |
|---|---|
UNESCO world heritage 
|
|
|
|
|
Marshlands, southern Iraq |
|
| National territory: |
 Iraq
|
| Type: | Culture, nature |
| Criteria : | (iii) (v) (xi) (x) |
| Surface: | 211,544 ha |
| Buffer zone: | 209,321 ha |
| Reference No .: | 1481 |
| UNESCO region : | Arabic states |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 2016 ( session 40 ) |
Under the title Marshland (al-Ahwar) in southern Iraq: Protected area of biodiversity and relict landscape of Mesopotamian cities , a serial world heritage was placed under protection in Iraq in 2016 . It consists of three archaeological sites and four marshland areas. It is the first mixed cultural and natural heritage site in the country. The unifying thought is that the Sumerian high culture , which is known from the excavation sites, emerged in the interplay with environmental conditions that no longer exist near the excavation sites, but in the landscape of al-Ahwar in southern Iraq.
description
The two cities of Ur and Uruk and the religious center Eridu emerged between the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. They once lay on the banks of the freshwater marshland of the Euphrates and Tigris . When the Persian Gulf began to expand in the 2nd millennium BC. Shifted southwards through tectonic movements, the fertile alluvial land in which the Sumerian cities were located dried up. That inevitably led to their downfall. At the same time, the present-day marshland of al-Ahwar emerged further south-east.
ICOMOS commented critically that the connection between the former marshland around the archaeological sites and today's Ahwar marshland is more symbolic than historical. Although 45 small settlement mounds are known in the marshland, there is no connection between these settlements and Sumerian urban culture. "The main cultural value of al-Ahwar is its connection to the March Arabs , which the World Heritage application does not address at all."
Components of the serial world heritage
The world heritage sites are located in the Iraqi governorates of Maysan, Dhi Qar, Al Basrah and Al Muthanna, with the Huwaizah marshland being located directly on the border with Iran. The serial world heritage consists of four natural heritage and three cultural heritage areas:
| Surname | location | Governorate | Size (ha) | Buffer zone (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huwaizah Marshland | Location | Maysan | 48 131 | 42 561 |
| Central marshland | Location | Dhi Qar, Maysan | 62 435 | 83 958 |
| Eastern Hammar Marshland | Location | Al Basrah | 20 342 | 12 721 |
| Western Hammar Marshes | Location | Dhi Qar | 79 991 | 68 403 |
| Uruk, archaeological city | Location | Al Muthanna | 541 | 292 |
| Ur, archaeological city | Location | Dhi Qar | 71 | 317 |
| Eridu, archaeological site | Location | Dhi Qar | 33 | 1,069 |
Uruk
Uruk, once located on the banks of the Euphrates, was the largest city in southern Mesopotamia. The city map shows areas that were dedicated to religion - including two ziggurats - and residential areas, classified according to occupation. Because of its canals, the city was given the modern nickname “Venice of the desert”. There was also a very well developed canal system around Uruk, which could be proven by magnetometry. Among other things, these channels were used to transport goods from the Euphrates to the city.
Ur
Ur was the most important Sumerian port city. It linked Mesopotamia with trading partners as distant as India. More than 80,000 cuneiform tablets give an insight into the economic system, religion and literary life. In addition to the outstanding buildings (temples, ziggurats, palaces), the artefacts from the royal tombs of Ur deserve special mention. ICOMOS noted that of the three known ports, all of which have not yet been excavated, two are in the buffer zone and the main port is even outside the designated area; it was promised to enlarge the world heritage area in the future.
Eridu
In the Mesopotamian tradition, Eridu was considered the oldest city and is said to have been founded before the great flood . Their center was a temple on a small island in the middle of the lagoon. Because of its special importance in Mesopotamian mythology, eighteen temples were built here over time.
Marshland areas
The Ahwar of southern Iraq are a wetland ecosystem in an extremely dry and hot environment. They are almost completely dependent on the inflow of water from the outside, which leads to pronounced fluctuations in the water level over the course of the year. The water temperature is high, in summer 30 degrees Celsius or more. The strong solar radiation and the high nutrient content of the water lead to a high productivity of the ecosystem. The strong evaporation goes hand in hand with a trend towards salinization, which has been intensified by human intervention in the past.
The marshland plays a key role in regulating the microclimate, reducing dust storms and the water quality of the wider area. With the Huwaizah Marshland, a wetland worthy of protection was designated as a natural heritage according to the Ramsar Convention .
World Heritage Criteria
Criterion III
The archaeological sites Ur, Uruk and Eridu, with their buildings and their finds, are examples of the contribution that the early high cultures of Mesopotamia made to the history of mankind. "The Sumerians are considered to be the first high culture with a complex social order, they invented bureaucracy and cuneiform writing and not only recorded business transactions on clay tablets, but also wrote down one of the oldest literary works - the Epic of Gilgamesh ."
Criterion V
Today Ur, Uruk and Eridu are in the desert, but if you look closely you can see that they were once built in the freshwater marshland and were adapted to this environment: slight depressions mark former swamps, the course of waterways and canals is recognizable, and settlement mounds once protruded from the water like islands.
Criterion XI
The marshland of al-Ahwar lies in an extremely dry region and is fed by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates. The amount of water fluctuates greatly over the course of a year. Precipitation and melting snow upstream cause floods, and the summer drought and heat cause the water level to drop sharply.
Criterion X
The variable ecosystem of al-Ahwar provides suitable spawning grounds for some marine fish species. Millions of migratory birds on the West Asian-East African migration route rest here before they cross the Arabian Peninsula. The protected natural heritage marshland is the habitat of endangered species such as the marbled teal and the Basrarohrsänger and threatened mammal species such as the soft-coated otter , the red short-tailed bandicoot rat and the Euphrates softshell turtle .
The Ahwar of southern Iraq as a theater of war
As early as 1985, the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein began to drain the swamp area on the border with Iran in order to gain better access to the combat areas. This drainage took on a completely different dimension from 1991 after the end of the Second Gulf War . The Shiite Arabs of the south rose against the central government in Baghdad. The crackdown on the uprising was so brutal that only a fifth of the population remained in the region; Tens of thousands were killed and many survivors fled to Iran. As a possible refuge for partisans, the marshes in southern Iraq should disappear completely. Drainage and embankments made the wetlands dry. “The area of the marshland shrank by ninety percent, and in 2003 healthy reeds only covered an estimated 1,500 square kilometers. ... At most, the Al Hawizeh swamp on the border with Iran is a reflection of the former splendor. The rest: barren salt pans, barren deserts with individual salt-tolerant bushes or silty areas baked rock-hard by the sun. "
After the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the dykes began to be pulled down and the marshland flooded again. The incoming water triggered a revitalization of the marshes. Due to the production of plant biomass, the number of fish increased and many species of birds also returned. After only three years, the marshland covered almost two thirds of the original area. But the residents of the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris are increasingly using the water for their own projects (agriculture, electricity generation), so that too little water flows into the southern Iraqi marshland, especially in dry years.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Interrelationship between nature and human innovation. In: German UNESCO Commission. Retrieved November 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d ICOMOS evaluation. In: The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. P. 36 , accessed on November 12, 2018 .
- ↑ Multiple Locations (7). In: The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. UNESCO, accessed November 12, 2018 .
- ^ Nomination text. In: The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. UNESCO, pp. 5–6 , accessed November 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b nomination text. In: The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. P. 10 , accessed on November 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b nomination text. In: The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. P. 11 , accessed November 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b nomination text. In: The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities. P. 12 , accessed November 12, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e Daniel Lingenhöhl: The return of Eden? In: Spektrum.de. February 21, 2005, accessed November 13, 2018 .
- ^ A b Daniel Lingenhöhl: How won, so melted away. In: Spektrum.de. July 29, 2009, accessed November 13, 2018 .
Heritage: Hatra (1985, R ) | Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) (2003, R ) | Archaeological City of Samarra (2007, R ) | Citadel of Erbil (2014) | Babylon (2019)
Cultural / natural heritage: Marshland (al-Ahwar) in southern Iraq (2016)
Map with all coordinates: