Masonry Magazine January 2017 Page. 66
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!=IGURE 1 -ERBIL, IRAO Euphrates rivers and is known as one of the cradles of civilization. Within this area lies Babylonia which traces back to c. 1800 BCE. How many civilizations have controlled this region and what wonderful developments have occurred?
Modern day Iraq was created in 1920 following World War I and administered by the British Empire. It became a kingdom in 1933 and now a republic in 1958. Since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussien and subsequent rise of the Islamic State, Iraq is very much divided with the government controlling the south, the Kurdistan Regional Government controlling the northwest and currently the Islamic State (ISIL) in the west.
Masonry construction is everywhere in Iraq, new and old. That's a natural result of not having forests; there is little timber and what does exist is mostly imported.
The masonry trade is passed down from one generation to the next. OSHA and regulations don't exist. You'd cringe watching workers walking barefoot or in sandals and climbing on bamboo scaffolding or light pipe scaffolding with no hand rails or toe boards. But, the masonry skill has been developed over years. Most of the construction is with lime mortar for new work and restoration. Sometimes cement is used in new mortar. As in many countries, new units are clay brick or tiles or concrete masonry units. Don't expect to find an ASTM designation for any of these.
MARKET PLACE
MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE CITADEL AS VIEWED !=ROM THE CITY
What got me to Iraq was working for The Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, Iraq. I teach repair and temporary stabilization of historic buildings to architects, engineers, conservators and managers of historic sites. Erbil provides a wealth of historic buildings to work on. Unfortunately, security concerns preclude traveling throughout the country.
Erbil is a modern city (Figure 1) and the capital of the Kurdish Regional Government in the north. However it has an historic center and many markets. In 2008, the Kurdish government teamed with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to bring experts from around the world to train Iraqi museum and heritage professionals in the preservation and conservation of their national treasures. The institute brings together Iraqi men and women, Arabs and Kurds, Muslims and Christians, Sunni and Shia-all drawn together by a shared passion for the preservation of one of the world's oldest civilizations and home to some of mankind's most ancient artifacts.
Let's look at some specific projects!
Figure 2 is an aerial view of the citadel in Erbil. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2014, the citadel sits on an approximately 100 feet high (Figure 3) "tell." A tell is a manmade hill created by civilizations building over the top of previous settlements. The United Nations believes
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