The culture of Iraq (Arabic: ثقافة العراق) or the culture of Mesopotamia is one of the world's oldest cultural histories and is considered one of the most influential cultures in the world. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. Mesopotamian legacy went on to influence and shape the civilizations of the Old World in different ways such as inventing writing, mathematics, law, astrology and many more fields. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups who have contributed to the wide spectrum of the Iraqi Culture. The country is known for its poets, architects, painters and sculptors who are among the best in the region, some of them being world-class. The country has one of the longest written traditions in the world including architecture, literature, music, dance, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, stonemasonry and metalworking.
Additionally, Iraq embraces and celebrates the achievements of both its pre-Islamic past, as well as in Islamic times during the Islamic Golden Age when Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Languages
The main languages spoken in Iraq are Mesopotamian Arabic and Kurdish, followed by the Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialect of Turkish, and the Neo-Aramaic languages (specifically Sureth). Arabic and Kurdish are written with versions of the Arabic script. Since 2005, the Turkmen/Turkoman have switched from the Arabic script to the Turkish alphabet.
In addition, the Neo-Aramaic languages use the Syriac script. Other smaller minority languages include Mandaic, English, Shabaki and Armenian.
According to the Constitution of Iraq (Article 4):
The Arabic language and the Kurdish language are the two official languages of Iraq. The right of Iraqis to educate their children in their mother tongue, such as Turkmen, Syriac, and Armenian shall be guaranteed in government educational institutions in accordance with educational guidelines, or in any other language in private educational institutions.
Ancient Sumerian (𒅴𒂠 EME.G̃IR15 "native tongue") was the language of ancient Sumer and a language isolate that was spoken in Mesopotamia. The Sumerian language is the earliest known written language. The "proto-literate" period of Sumerian writing spans c. 3300 to 3000 BC. In this period, records are purely logographic, with phonological content. The oldest document of the proto-literate period is the Kish tablet. Falkenstein (1936) lists 939 signs used in the proto-literate period (late Uruk, 34th to 31st centuries). During the 3rd millennium BC, an intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Semitic-speaking Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian and the East Semitic language Akkadian on each other is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a substantial scale to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium BC as a Sprachbund.
Art
Iraqi art typically refers to artworks produced in the geographical region of the modern Iraqi territory and includes some works produced in ancient Mesopotamia. Most surviving works from this time are made from durable materials, including stone cylinder seals, moulded pottery, and small figurines. Frequent subjects of ancient Mesopotamian art included deities (sometimes shown with worshipers) and animals portrayed in detailed scenes. Of the few paintings that have survived, most appear to suggest that painting was reserved for sculptures and geometric or plant-based decorative motifs.Teissier, Beatrice (2023-11-15). Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from the Marcopoli Collection. University of California Press. doi:10.2307/jj.8501447. .
During the Abbasid period, pottery became highly sophisticated. Additionally, calligraphy began to be used to decorate the surfaces of objects and illuminated manuscripts, with Quranic texts in particular becoming more complex and stylised.Hillenbrand, R., Islamic Art and Architecture, Thames & Hudson, [World of Art series], 1999, London, p. 59 The first Islamic art school was established in the 12th century, allowing artisans and crafts guilds to flourish. From the late 12th century, Islamic art was influenced by a stylistic movement commonly known as the Baghdad School.Dabrowska, K. and Hann, G., Iraq Then and Now: A Guide to the Country and Its People, Bradt Travel Guides, 2008, p. 278 Yahya Al-Wasiti, who lived in Baghdad at this time, is a famous painter and calligrapher regarded as a preeminent artist of the Baghdad School. His most well-known works include the illustrations for the book of the Maqamat (Assemblies) in 1237, a series of anecdotes of social satire written by al-Hariri."Baghdad school," in: Encyclopædia Britannica, Online:; Esanu, O., Art, Awakening, and Modernity in the Middle East: The Arab Nude, Routledge, 2017, [E-book edition], n.p.
Literature
Pre-Islamic Sumerian literature constitutes the earliest known corpus of recorded literature, including the religious writings and other traditional stories maintained by the Sumerian civilization and largely preserved by the later Akkadian and Babylonian empires. These records were written in the Sumerian language during the Middle Bronze Age.
The Sumerians invented one of the first writing systems, developing Sumerian cuneiform writing out of earlier proto-writing systems by about the 30th century BC. The Sumerian language remained in official and literary use in the Akkadian and Babylonian empires, even after the spoken language disappeared from the population; literacy was widespread, and the Sumerian texts that students copied heavily influenced later Babylonian literature.
Poetry Poetry is the most dominant form of literature in Iraq and the country is known for having notable poets.
An ancient Mesopotamian poem gives the first known story of the invention of writing:Because the messenger's mouth was heavy and he couldn't repeat [the message], the Lord of Kulaba patted some clay and put words on it, like a tablet. Until then, there had been no putting words on clay.
— Sumerian epic poem Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta. Circa 1800 BCGilgamesh (Sumerian: 𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒈨𒌋𒌋𒌋, romanized: Gilgameš; originally Sumerian: 𒀭𒉋𒂵𒈩, romanized: Bilgamesh) was a major hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/) is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version dates to the 18th century BCE and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BCE and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru("He who Saw the Abyss", in modern terms: "He who Sees the Unknown"). Approximately two-thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.
Post-Islamic During the Abbasid Caliphate, the well established tradition of poetry continued to be the most dominant form of literature. In addition, Abbasid literature was characterized by the emergence of many new genres and of a scholarly and sophisticated critical consciousness.
Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center of the Muslim world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as hosting a multiethnic and multireligious environment, garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Centre of Learning".
Contemporary Some of the most important figures of 20th century Iraqi literature include Safa Khulusi, Maruf Rusafi, Daisy Al-Amir, Jamil Zahawi, Jawahiri and Khazal al Majidi.
Architecture
The ancient architecture of Mesopotamia encompassed several distinct cultures and spanned a period from the 10th millennium BC, when the first permanent structures were built in the 6th century BC. Among the Mesopotamian architectural accomplishments are the development of urban planning, the courtyard house, and ziggurats. No architectural profession existed in Mesopotamia; however, scribes drafted and managed construction for the government, nobility, or royalty. The local architecture of Iraq was often based on vernacular architecture inherited from one generation to the next. Since the Iraqi society is composed of multicultural social groups with different architectural heritage, old Iraqi cities have several types architecture and urban forms.
Iraq is known for having world-class architects, such as Zaha Hadid, Rifat Chadirji and Hisham N. Ashkouri among others.
Cinema While the first Iraqi film projection took place in 1909, cinema was not truly regarded as a cultural activity or pastime until the 1920s. The first cinemas, like the famous al-Zawra cinema on Baghdad's bustling thoroughfare al-Rashid, played mostly American silent films for British citizens. In the 1940s under the rule of King Faisal II of Iraq, a real Iraqi cinema began. Supported by British and French financiers, movie production companies established themselves in Baghdad. The Baghdad Studio was established in 1948, but soon came apart when tensions between the Arab and Jewish founders flared up. For the most part, the product was purely commercial, fluffy romances with plenty of singing and dancing often set in small villages. The World of Arts (Dunyat Alfann) studio, which was founded by actors, reached for more serious fare. In 1955, they produced Haidar Al-Omar's Fitna wa Hassan, an Iraqi retelling of Romeo and Juliet, that received international attention. But for the most part, the strong-fist rule of the state discouraged any socially relevant films. In 1959 when King Faisel II's government was overthrown, the Cinema and Theater General organization came into existence with the purpose of promoting the political goals of the new regime both in documentaries and features. Typical were documentaries like the 1969 Al Maghishi Project, which showcased the government's irrigation campaigns and the 1967 A Wedding in Heaven, which celebrates the air force and their weapons system. The 1968 revolution that put the Ba'ath party in power further solidified the government's control of film material, and the state's need to make all films validate its power.