Imagine the once in a lifetime experience of visiting the southern marshes of Iraq where the inhabitants live on floating islands and build reed houses similar to those that can be seen on the cylinder seals of the Sumerians who built the Ziggurat at Ur in the second millennium BC. Much of that Ziggurat still stands today and not surprisingly the enterprising Sumerians were also responsible for the development of the plough, the wheel and the sail. In Samarra, north of Baghdad, the author took the photograph of the couple descending the 9th century Ziggurat of the Grand Mosque built by the Abbasid Caliph al- Mutawwakil.

While walking through the ruins of Babylon she saw glimpses of its former glory in a replica of the Ishtar gate built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 575BC. In the desert south of Mosul in the north of Iraq she saw some of the wall sculptures that lined the palaces of the Assyrian Kings who conquered the known world over two and a half millennia ago. Carved with iron and copper tools from gypsum and alabaster they show scenes of the military conquests, religious rituals, the lion hunts and the court life of the people who established the world’s first empire. The image of a conquered people being driven into exile seen above is a stark reminder of how little the human race has changed when so many people continue to be similarly displaced by wars today. The ruins of Hatra, a Parthian palace also in the desert outside Mosul with its architectural decoration of a mother and baby camel and the well protected shins of its soldiers, can also be seen in the images above. The Romans tried but never quite managed to vanquish this Parthian fortification.

Travelling alone in Syria the author was enveloped by the hospitality of its people and enjoyed visiting many wonders including the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. With its beautiful mosaic cladding it was considered to have been the masterpiece of its day and by chance the author was there at the time of the visit of Pope John Paul II. You can read more about this and the splendours of Palmyra and its Queen Zenobia, the Crusader Castle of Krak des Chevalier which was surveyed by Lawrence of Arabia and view some related photos by clicking on Syria at the top of this page.

Turkey is represented with a piece about the classical mosque architecture of the Ottoman period their interiors decorated with colourful Iznik tiles. Built on seven hills like ancient Rome, the spectacular location of the imperial mosques was a deliberate attempt to impress visitors arriving by sea. Most of the credit for this captivating view which remains as glorious today as when it was first conceived, lies with Sinan chief architect to the court of Sultan Suleiman. With their cascading domes and lofty minarets the mosques were a daily reminder of the power of the Sultan to the European dignitaries who lived across the Golden Horn in the district of Galata, more famous today for its football team.

The author has worked as a nurse and as a psychotherapist. She completed an M.A. in The Art and Archaeology of the Middle East at SOAS in 2007.Since retiring from practice in Dublin in 2017 and moving to France she has completed an M.Phil. in the Archaeology of Mesopotamia at Cambridge University in 2022 and an M. Phil. on The Middle East in a Global Context at Trinity College Dublin in  2025. 

The author welcomes contact and comments about the articles from people who have a genuine interest in the areas covered.