Iraq is perhaps the most historically significant piece of land on the planet — the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of writing, law, and organized urban life. Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians built societies that shaped every culture that followed.
Babylon, south of Baghdad, was one of the ancient world's great cities. The ruins of Nebuchadnezzar II's reconstruction, including the site of the Ishtar Gate and the processional way, are now under UNESCO protection.
Ur, in the far south, is one of the oldest cities ever excavated. The Great Ziggurat of Ur, built around 2100 BCE and remarkably intact, is the oldest standing temple structure in the world — the city of Abraham, foundational for three world religions.
The Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are home to the Marsh Arabs whose reed-house culture on floating islands has been practiced for thousands of years. The marshes partially recovered after decades of drainage and are now one of the world's great wetland environments.
Erbil, in the Kurdistan Region, is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, its citadel rising above the modern city on millennia of accumulated human settlement. The Kurdistan Region has a strong tourism infrastructure and significantly different travel conditions from the rest of the country.
Iraqi food is deeply satisfying: masgouf (grilled river carp), quzi (slow-roasted lamb over rice), and the date syrup drizzled over everything in the south. Iraq is not easy, but it is irreplaceable.
