Alqosh Orphanage

 Unfortunately, we were unable to see the children.

Entry

Chapel

Alqosh, Kurdistan Scenes

 

Yazidi Wedding prep, Algosh

Tomb of Nahum in private museum, Algosh

Algosh cemetery

Algosh alley

Monastery in Hills above Alqosh, Kurdistan

A steep climb, but worth it.

Alqosh, Kurdistan Scenes

From Rudaw.net:

'Alqosh, a historic example of coexistence in Kurdistan

ALQOSH, Kurdistan Region – The district of Alqosh in the Nineveh Plains is home to a multitude of ethnic and religious groups, including Christians, Yezidis, Shabaks and Muslims. 

Although the town of Alqosh is exclusively Christian, many other groups live in the surrounding villages.

“Alqosh is well-known for being home to different ethnic groups. Christians, Yezidis, Muslim Arabs and Muslim Kurds live across the 42 villages around Alqosh. Jews also lived here in the past,” Mayor Lara Zara told Rudaw.'

Door and alcove of Monastery of Our Lady of the Seeds in Algosh

Detail of olive tree, Algosh

UNICEF Refugee Camp

 A camp for girls in the Alqosh region of Kurdistan. They put on some pretty good dance performances for us.

Kurdistan: Duhok-Alqosh

A few grab shots from our bus.

One rarely sees such a vivid and large-scale example of molten rock flow frozen into geology.

As you'll see in a couple of weeks, we complained about Iraq being dirty, but Kurdistan (northern Iraq) is not spotless, either - though it's considerably better than the south.

Lalish Pilgrimage: The eternal fire in the hills

 

A natural gas fire burning in the hills surrounding the Lalish temple.

Yazidi Pilgrimage to Lalish (3)

 Inside the holy Yazidi shrine at Lalish. A much freer atmosphere than in Moslem mosques.

Our local guide, Haana

Elsa with a television personality who was reporting on the pilgrmage

A Yazidi man with a snake. From Google: "The snake is particularly symbolic for Yazidis who believe that after Noah's Ark sprang a leak when it came to rest on the peak of Mount Ararat, a serpent plugged the hole with its body and saved the ship from sinking and all those on board from drowning."

Yazidi Pilgrimage to Lalish (2)

Outside the holy shrine of the Yazidi religion in Lalish, Kurdistan.

Yazidi Pilgriimage to Lalish (1)

We completed our rich day of touring on October 10 with an afternoon and early evening at the pilgrimage of Kurdistan's Yazidi faithful to Lalish, their equivalent to Mecca. This first group of photos is intended to show the good nature and largely contemporary aspect of the pilgrims, rather different from the Moslems we encountered in this part of the world.

Jerwan Aqueduct Cuneiform

 Close examination of the Jerwan Aqueduct stones reveals incised cuneiform writing.

The Jerwan Aqueduct

Dating to 690 BCE, this is perhaps the oldest aqueduct on the planet. It was built by Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, to provide water to his capitol, Nineveh. As we approached the site, a TV reporter and cameraman were recording a program segment.