Iraq
Low Value Pictorial Definitives of 1923-1925
Low Value Pictorial Definitives of 1923-1925
After World War I, in 1920, the Turkish region of Mesopotamia consisting of three vilayets (provinces): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. These were consolidated under King Faisal of Iraq in 1921. In 1923 overprinted Turkish issues for Mesopotamia were replaced with issues inscribed "Iraq." There are thirteen values in this first set including a 1 rupee, 2 rupee (black), 5 rupee and 10 rupee not pictured here. In 1932 the Kingdom of Iraq was granted independence from Britain.
Sunni Mosque
Gufas on the Tigris
In Arabic, quffa means a basket woven from reeds and leaves. These boats resemble baskets and are used for transporting fruits, vegetables, and other goods as well as passengers. Modern vessels are are made of woven bundles of reeds waterproofed with bitumen and are typically between 4.5 and 10 feet wide at the opening with drafts of 2.5 to 4 feet and freeboards of 6 to 8 inches when fully loaded. They typically transport four to five people although they can carry up to 20.
They were in use up until the 1970's but became obsolete with the widespread construction of roads and bridges and widespread availablity of automobile transporation.
Assyrian Winged Bull
Ctesiphon Arch
The Ctesiphon Arch is a remanent of a circa 3rd to 6th-century Sasanian-era Persian monument. It is located near the modern town of Salman Pak and is the only visible remaining structure of the ancient city of Ctesiphon. The archway is the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world. The monument was in the process of being rebuilt by Saddam Hussein's government in the course of the 1980s but work stopped after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The University of Chicago's Diyala Project worked with the Iraqi government on site restoration from 2004 to 2008. A Czech company, Avers, was subsequently contracted to restore the site, completing its work in 2017. A partial collapse on On March 7, 2019 further damaged the arch.
Motif of Assyrian Origin
Colours of the Dulaim Camel Corps
Dulaim is an Arab tribe, with over seven million members residing today in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Jordan. They are the largest Sunni Arab tribe in Iraq, living on the Euphrates from a point just below Al Hillah and southern Baghdad to Fallujah, Ramadi, al-Qaim, Samarra and Mosul. During and after World War I, most of the clans of the Dulaim tribe were well-armed and had a reputation as raiders who displayed good fighting skills both against other tribes and against Ottoman troops before World War I. The Dulaim assisted the Ottomans in their operations against the British until the British forced the Ottomans out of the Dulaim’s tribal lands in September 1917. Some clans continued to assist the Ottomans until all of their lands were occupied by the British.
Following World War I, most Dulaim clans went their own way and fought the British and participated in the insurrection of 1920. The Dulaimis contributed to the political and economic stability in subsequent years by playing a prominent role in the army and police, especially during the monarchy.
Golden Shia Mosque of Kadhimain
Considered by some to be the third holiest in Shia Islam, the Al-Kadhimiya Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq contains the tombs of Musa al-Kadhim, the seventh Shia Imam Muhammad al-Taqi, the ninth Shia Imam as well as the graves of Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid
and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. In the second decade of the twenty-first century it has frequently been the target of terrorist car bombings.
Colours of the Dulaim Camel Corps
Sunni Mosque
Bibliography
"Al-Kadhimiya_Mosque." 
