Iraq’s al-Ahwar marshes recognized by UNESCO

Iraq’s al-Ahwar marshes, which were once drained by Saddam Hussein, have been added to the World Heritage List by the UN’s culture agency UNESCO. 

Iraq’s al-Ahwar marshes, which were once drained by Saddam Hussein, have been added to the World Heritage List by the UN’s culture agency UNESCO. 

UNESCO describes the site as a “refuge of biodiversity and the relict landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities.”

“The Ahwar is made up of seven sites: three archaeological sites and four wetland marsh areas in southern Iraq.

The archaeological cities of Uruk and Ur and the Tell Eridu archaeological site form part of the remains of the Sumerian cities and settlements that developed in southern Mesopotamia between the 4th and the 3rd millennium BCE in the marshy delta of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

It is worth mentioning that the marshes are a Shia inhabited areas, the area was persecuted and neglected by the different tyrants of Iraq.