Karbala & Najaf
The holy cities of Karbala and Najaf are in south of Iraq. Visitors to Najaf see the fine golden domes and minarets of the Mosque of Imam Ali, the Moslem Caliph and cousin of the Prophet, towering in the sky from a long way off. The "sahan" or great courtyard of the Mosque is of exquisite design architecturally and ornamentally.
In Najaf there are many famous schools which keep up the traditional methods of teaching, concentrating on Moslem theology and Arabic language.
The Shrine of Imam Al-Hussein Ibn Ali is in Karbala. This stands in the middle of a great chamber, which is the central part of a magnificent mosque with a golden dome and two minarets that shine wondrously in the sun.
In Najaf there are many famous schools which keep up the traditional methods of teaching, concentrating on Moslem theology and Arabic language.
The Shrine of Imam Al-Hussein Ibn Ali is in Karbala. This stands in the middle of a great chamber, which is the central part of a magnificent mosque with a golden dome and two minarets that shine wondrously in the sun.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
امثال واقوال حكمية Proverbs And Aphoristic saying
بعوض شربن دمي قهوة
وغنينني بضروب الأغاني
كأن عروقي اوتارهن
وجسمي الرباب وهن القيان
Mosquitoes drank my blood like a coffee and sang to me all sorts of melodies. It seemed that my veins were their strings, my body the violin (rebec), and they (mosquitoes) the singing girls.
رأيت آدم في نومي فقلت له
(أبا البرية إن الناس قد حكموا
إن البرابرة نسل منك) قال (إذا
حواء طالقة إن كان ما زعموا)
I saw Adam in my sleep and said to him "Father of mankind, there are people who judge that the Berbers are descended from you," and he said: "Eve is divorced if that be true".
Popular dishes in Iraq
No doubt each country is famous for some rare kinds of food. And delicious food is naturally preferable to anything else.
Iraq is characterized for its appetizing food, perhaps because it is a country of traditional hospitality.
As a matter of fact some Iraqi dishes are historical, dating back to few thousand years, and some are quite new.
Basically Iraqi meals depend on meat, vegetables, rice, wheat and fruit. From these some of the following dishes are cooked:
1-KUBBA
The northern areas of Iraq are famous for some of the best kinds of wheat. From wheat we get a certain substance known as "borghul", which is wheat boiled, pealed and crushed. From this "borghul" "Kubba" is made.
Borghul is mixed with minced meat and hammered well. This it is flattened and pieces stuffed with meat and filled with nuts, sultanas, spices, parsley and onion. They are formed in shape of flat platters or round balls, then boiled and ready to serve.
"Kubba" is ancient. It is mentioned in Assyrian and Sumerian writings. Scholars of these languages say it is can record that king Ashur Nsssir Bal II , once gave a banquet and "Kubba" was included in the menu. Be that as it may, "Kubba" today is at top of Mosulli foods. Until recently it was confined to the Mosulite families of Baghdad, but it has now become a popular dish in Baghdad and other cities.
2-DOLMA
"Dolma" is a very popular dish in most Iraqi cities. It is made from stuffed vine leaves, cabbage, lettuce, onions, eggplants, marrow, or cucumbers, often a combination of several of these. The stuffing is made of rice mixed with minced meat and spices.
3-KEBAB
Minced meat on skewers grilled on charcoal fire. Kebab is offered usually with pickles, salad, and Iraqi flat bread. It is considered one of the least expensive and easiest foods of prepare.
4-TIKKAH
Small chunks of mutton on skewers grilled on charcoal fire.
5-GUSS
Pieces of sliced meat piled up in a cone and grilled on an upright spit revolving against a specially arranged fire. When cooked, these mounted sliced are cut small with knife, then offered with the best of pickles…etc.
6-MASGOUF
If the season is right, one must not leave without sampling masgouf, the delicious fish from the Tigris which is cooked right on the river bank. To see the first dotting the river bank on warm evening under a full moon and then to taste the masgouf itself, crisp at the edges, white and succulent, is indeed an experience you will not soon forgot. A most fascinating place for this is Abu-Nuwas Avenue, in Baghdad.
7-BARBECUE
Barbecued Chickens are almost everywhere! You see them turning round on their spits inside a glass box before a raging gas fire.
8-QOUZI (Grilled whole Lamb)
Qouzi is a famous Iraqi dish consisting of a small lamb boiled whole and then grilled. It is usually stuffed with rice, minced meat, and spiced, and served on a large tray heaped with excellent rice.
Iraq is characterized for its appetizing food, perhaps because it is a country of traditional hospitality.
As a matter of fact some Iraqi dishes are historical, dating back to few thousand years, and some are quite new.
Basically Iraqi meals depend on meat, vegetables, rice, wheat and fruit. From these some of the following dishes are cooked:
1-KUBBA
The northern areas of Iraq are famous for some of the best kinds of wheat. From wheat we get a certain substance known as "borghul", which is wheat boiled, pealed and crushed. From this "borghul" "Kubba" is made.
Borghul is mixed with minced meat and hammered well. This it is flattened and pieces stuffed with meat and filled with nuts, sultanas, spices, parsley and onion. They are formed in shape of flat platters or round balls, then boiled and ready to serve.
"Kubba" is ancient. It is mentioned in Assyrian and Sumerian writings. Scholars of these languages say it is can record that king Ashur Nsssir Bal II , once gave a banquet and "Kubba" was included in the menu. Be that as it may, "Kubba" today is at top of Mosulli foods. Until recently it was confined to the Mosulite families of Baghdad, but it has now become a popular dish in Baghdad and other cities.
2-DOLMA
"Dolma" is a very popular dish in most Iraqi cities. It is made from stuffed vine leaves, cabbage, lettuce, onions, eggplants, marrow, or cucumbers, often a combination of several of these. The stuffing is made of rice mixed with minced meat and spices.
3-KEBAB
Minced meat on skewers grilled on charcoal fire. Kebab is offered usually with pickles, salad, and Iraqi flat bread. It is considered one of the least expensive and easiest foods of prepare.
4-TIKKAH
Small chunks of mutton on skewers grilled on charcoal fire.
5-GUSS
Pieces of sliced meat piled up in a cone and grilled on an upright spit revolving against a specially arranged fire. When cooked, these mounted sliced are cut small with knife, then offered with the best of pickles…etc.
6-MASGOUF
If the season is right, one must not leave without sampling masgouf, the delicious fish from the Tigris which is cooked right on the river bank. To see the first dotting the river bank on warm evening under a full moon and then to taste the masgouf itself, crisp at the edges, white and succulent, is indeed an experience you will not soon forgot. A most fascinating place for this is Abu-Nuwas Avenue, in Baghdad.
7-BARBECUE
Barbecued Chickens are almost everywhere! You see them turning round on their spits inside a glass box before a raging gas fire.
8-QOUZI (Grilled whole Lamb)
Qouzi is a famous Iraqi dish consisting of a small lamb boiled whole and then grilled. It is usually stuffed with rice, minced meat, and spiced, and served on a large tray heaped with excellent rice.
MOSUL
Mosul is situated on the Right Bank of the Tigris, 450 kms north of Baghdad and can be reached by road, rail or air. On the opposite bank of the river are the ruins of Nineveh.
Mosul is very old and is the centre of communications and commerce in the north, situated on the main-line railway that links Iraq with Syria, Turkey and the west. Visiting Mosul, one should not miss the museum, the old Nuri Mosque of Nabi-Jirjis and the 13th century palace of Qara Sarai.
The excavations at the three ruined cities of Nineveh, Khorsabad and Nimrod have disclosed a type of house, which Mosul has never ceased to build. The abundance of alabaster quarries in the suburbs and its special local treatment have created a type of decoration common to churches and mosques alike. Crude limestone, set in gypsum cement called "juss" and alabaster being the long used building materials in Mosul. The new houses mostly tend to follow modern European architecture.
Muslin, for which the city was famous in the past, is a derivation from the word Mosul.
Churches in Mosul
1-Shamun Al-Saffa Church
2-Al-Tahira (The immaculate)
3-Roman Catholic Church
Monasteries
1- Deir AL-a'ala
2- Deir Mariya
Deir Sheikh Matti
Deir Mar Behnam
Deir Sheikh Matti
Deir Sheikh Matti, one of the oldest monasteries in the world was first built in A.D. 359. Ruined and rebuilt innumerable times over the centuries, it perches high up on the rocky ledges of Mount Maqlob in Nirthern Iraq and still has its own Syriac Orthodox Bishop.
Mosul Museum
Built in 1952, it contains collections of antiquities excavated in the northern region of Iraq particularly in cities of Nimrod and Hatra, with samples to illustrate the development of civilizations until the advent of Islam. There is also a large hall devoted to the Arab relics of Mosul and its suburbs.
Other Historical Sites
ASSUR: It is the first Assyrian capital known to us. Its ruins lie about 110 km south of Mosul and about 280 km to the north of Baghdad. The historians believe that the city was inhabited for the first time in the third Millennium BC, and went on as an inhabited city up to the second century AD.
The important still standing monument of Assur is the ziggurat. The ziggurat is a great construction built of baked bricks on the top of a rectangular platform; a platform composed of several layers assigned to Assur; the main god of Assyria.
Khorsabad: 20 kms north of Mosul, capital of the assyrian king Sargon (721-705 B.C.)
Nineveh: Situated in the eastern part of Mosul, the third capital of the Assyrian
Nimrod: 35 kms south-east of Mosul originally called Calah, one of the capitals of Assyrian Empire; a great city especially during the reign of Shalmaneser 1 (1280-1260 B.C.). Here Layard made his first discoveries of winged bulls and other magnificent remains of Assyrian Kings.
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Two questions
Last night, while I was working on computer some thing happened. It was too dark. The electricity was cut-off. I thought about two things, the first: (where is the candle?). The second: (when will the electricity be better than now?).
I found the candle, but I couldn't found the answer for the second question… can you tell me the answer?
I found the candle, but I couldn't found the answer for the second question… can you tell me the answer?