Erbil

Akavo klah


One of the oldest cities in the world. It had been mentioned in Sumerian writings as Erbilium . Now it is the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan.

I never visited Kurdistan before. Till this April when suddenly I got an unbelievable opportunity to visit it. I was so happy to see all these Kurdish people with their characteristic costumes, music and accent in speech. I even knew some Kurdish psychiatrist and one psychotherapist. Their names weren’t that easy for me to remember at the first time, but after few days I found it so easy and so beautiful. Their names got some musical tone that is really characteristic.
Erbil is called by Kurdish people as Hewler. Hewler means “the place of the sun” as I can remember somebody told me. When I knew its meaning I remembered that this city got a rich heritage full of civilizations and religions. Some old religions in the area worship the sun, or regard it as something holy. From those old believes, I think, came the name.

I went to the old castle. I took many photos. I was unlucky in that the most beautiful photos were damaged during transferring them from the camera to the computer. The rest are not my best shots but they were wonderful cause Hewler is wonderful. Hewler got many secrets and untold stories. It wasn’t enough for me to get close to it. I spent just 5 days there.
But am happy I visited a part of Kurdistan at last. Hope in the future I can visit more.

These are some photos. The music accompanying them is a traditional Kurdish music called “Akavo klah” played by the great Iraqi Auth (3ud) player Muneer Basheer.