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The project we have set
ourselves is no less than the recreation of a well loved
Iraqi Harp of Ur, also known as the Golden Lyre of Ur
last played almost 5000 years ago in the city of Ur.
This time of early Iraq is little
known about, yet its craftsmanship and artistry created
objects of great beauty. Early Middle Eastern civilizations,
some of the earliest in the world, deserve to be better
understood.
Iraq was the birth place of
civilization, also known as the cradle of civilization.
The very first written words ever known to man evolved
and were developed in Iraq, the very first cities
throughout human history were built in Iraq. Ideas
like dividing time into months, weeks, days and hours,
music, schools, trade, religion, law and many other
ideas which govern our lives today were all started
in Iraq. By the time this harp was first made almost
5000 years ago, Iraq had already enjoyed more than
2000 years of history.
Successive and continuous civilizations
like the Sumerians, Akkadian, Chaldean, Babylonians
and Assyrians meant that Iraq was the centre of civilization
for almost 5000 years before the rise of the Greek,
Persian and Roman Civilisations. Even during that
time Iraq was a magnet and inspiration to these new
forces in the arena of history. Alexander the Great
in his pursuit to conquer the civilised world took
Iraq as the capital of his empire and built himself
a new city "Alexandria", just few miles away from
the ancient capital Babylon. When the Sassanid Persian
Empire expanded, they also made Iraq the home of their
capital "Ctesiphon ", again just few miles way from
the ancient Babylon.
In the seventh century, with
the rise of Islam, Iraq regained it place as the centre
of civilisation. During the Middle Ages, cities like
Baghdad, Kufa, Basra and Mosul became the centres
for learning of art, science, culture and innovation.
Schools, universities, hospitals, libraries were built
in Iraq to serve the ordinary person for the very
first time in human history, prior to that these were
only for the very privileged few. New ideas in science,
mathematic, philosophy, education, music, literature
and law flourished in Iraq. During the middle ages
no physician, mathematician, chemist, philosopher,
poet or historian would be able to acclaim fame if
they did not have recognition from their contemporaries
in Iraq.
We would not be far away from
the truth to say that Iraq gave the world the very ingredient
and the very essence of civilization. We would
like this project to be a tribute to Iraq and the Iraqi
People. |
