Talk:Iraq

Romans annexed Iraq?

There is a problem with this sentence in the first subsection of the History section of this article:

A Central Asian tribe of ancient Iranian peoples known as the Parthians later annexed the region, followed by the Romans, then the Sassanid Persians.

Did the Romans officially annex Iraq, or rather, Mesopotamia? I think not. The invasions by the Roman emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and Caracalla amounted to very brief and fleeting moments of Roman control, with Parthian authority established soon after in each case. Indeed, when Trajan invaded, he explicitly did not annex Iraq, but instead tried to install a loyal client ruler, i.e. Parthamaspates of Parthia, who was quickly overthrown by the Parthians because they considered him a turncoat, not a legitimate ruler. The Romans also pillaged and burned the Parthian capital Ctesiphon to the ground on more than one occasion before withdrawing, which is certainly not the act of those intending to stay. This sentence is also misleading in another way, since it asserts the Sassanids "annexed" the region after the Romans. When the Sassanids under Ardashir I conquered Iraq, Artabanus IV of Parthia was the defender of this region, not the Romans! In fact, the easternmost settlement the Romans were able to capture from Parthia and maintain for any significant amount of time was Dura-Europos, taken during the invasion of Avidius Cassius in 164 AD and never returned to Parthian hands. There's just one problem: Dura-Europos is in eastern Syria, not Iraq. This sentence certainly needs some reworking; the Roman invasions should certainly be mentioned, but annexation is a fantasy inserted by someone who is unfamiliar with historical subjects.--Pericles of Athens^Talk 02:53, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Oh, and to anyone who asserts otherwise, I would suggest reading Bivar, A.D.H. (1983). "The Political History of Iran Under the Arsacids," in The Cambridge History of Iran (Vol 3:1), 21-99. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, and Sydney: Cambridge University Press.--Pericles of Athens^Talk 04:12, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Right, since no one else seems to object or care about this issue, I'll be bold and take care of it.--Pericles of Athens^Talk 07:30, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. It seems that the creation of a Roman province in central Iraq is actually debatable, although derived from the scanty amount of later (4th century) sources on Trajan's invasion. Look to C.S. Lightfoot's article "Trajan's Parthian War and the Fourth Century Perspective," (1990: 121-123). Trajan may or may not have established an Assyria province; there's just not enough evidence to say with much certainty either way.--Pericles of Athens^Talk 20:55, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

Who are you talking to? 12.86.230.202 (talk) 17:33, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Photoshopped pictures?

Could we replace those two obviously processed pictures with something a little less absurd looking? Amber388 (talk) 16:35, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

-agreed! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.202.251.237 (talk) 14:57, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Can you specify which pictures? Looking at the page now, I don't see any obviously processed shots (a la HDR, etc).And perhaps you could suggest new pictures with appropriate content licenses to replace them. Flickr creative commons might be a good place to check. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.65.34.246 (talk) 13:49, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Please add Iraq

Iraq is missing from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_colors_of_national_flags

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.80.113.143 (talk • contribs) 23:31, April 28, 2010 (UTC)

What was the population of Iraq during the 1940s?

Roughly, how many people lived in Iraq during that time? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.92.163.24 (talk) 12:30, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

http://esa.un.org/UNPP/p2k0data.asp

Based on this, I'd say about 4-5 million. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.164.224.208 (talk) 22:15, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

No longer cradle of civilization?

In light of the archaeological discoveries at Göbekli Tepe perhaps the phrase "cradle of civilization" should no longer be applied to this region? Historian932 (talk) 20:33, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Factual Errors

The preponderance of what has been stated here appears to be correct however Mesopotamia has also been a part of modern day Kuwait, I’m a little suspicious on why that has not been included. Many of the kingdoms of ancient Iraq have historically been part of Kuwait.

Also, Mesopotamia is not the “Cradle of Civilization” it’s the birth place of civilization and saying things like the birth place of “Western Civilization” started in Greece is not going to alter that fact, sorry.