Ancient Ruins in Iraq Open to Visitors After War Damage

Once, the Iraqi town of Hatra was under the control of the Islamic State (IS) militant¹ group. Now, visitors can walk peacefully through the UNESCO world heritage² site in the northern part of Iraq.

Local leaders are trying to bring tourists back to the area after the invaders³ almost destroyed the ancient ruins.

Hatra dates back to more than 2300 years ago. It takes about two hours to drive there from Mosul, the former "capital" of IS. Iraqi and coalition⁴ forces recaptured Mosul in 2017.

On Saturday, the first group of tourists arrived. A private museum in Mosul arranged the trip for about 40 visitors, most of them Iraqis. They walked around the more than 2,000-year-old ruins as the sun began to go down.

The tourists took photos of themselves in front of walkways. They inspected the stone structures that the IS extremists damaged.

Luna Batota is a 33-year-old visiting Hatra with her Belgian husband. "It has great history," she said.

A native of Iraq, Batota left her homeland 24 years ago. This is the first time she has returned. Visiting Hatra caused her to have "mixed feelings," she said. "You see bullet holes; you see many empty bullets."

Hatra was an important religious and trading center under the Parthian empire. It had high, thick walls for defense⁵ and magnificent temples. The buildings combined Greek and Roman building designs with Asian decorations.

In 2015, IS released a video showing its militants⁶ destroying some of the sculptures at Hatra, firing guns at them and cutting them with tools. Some of the sculptures have been repaired. In February, officials showed three figures experts had returned to their earlier appearance.

Tourists at risk

Five years after the defeat of IS, Mosul and its surroundings have gone back to feeling more normal. But efforts to make repairs have met with problems and many areas still show the results of the fight against the extremists.

Many visitors — especially ones from the West — are now exploring the country. Some even go into Mosul.

The Mosul Heritage House is a private museum that opened in June.

It organized the tour of Hatra.

Those in the Hatra group were among the first visitors. They came at a time when the US, British and other governments are warning their citizens against travel to Iraq. They say there are still risks of terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict and civil unrest.

An incident involving a British tourist, James Fitton, may have hurt tourism in Iraq. Fitton was arrested in March and condemned⁷ to 15 years in jail over pieces of pottery⁸ he picked up at an archaeological site. In July, a court reversed⁹ the decision and he flew back home.

Religious tourism to the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf has been growing, mostly from Iran.

Not only war

Some major problems remain, however. Services and transportation for tourists are still basic in Iraq. Although the country is rich in oil, there has been much damage from the years of fighting.

Beriar Bahaa al-Din is a doctoral student in anthropology¹⁰ at the University of Exeter in Britain. He was part of the group visiting Hatra.

He said: "Mosul isn't only war, IS, terrorism. Mosul is a civilization, heritage, culture." It "should be full of tourists from across the globe."

Words in This Story

site – n. the position or location of a town, building, or the like

tourist –n. someone who travels to a place for enjoyment¹¹ and not for business

decoration – n. an addition that makes something more attractive

sculpture – n. a work of art that is produced by carving¹² or shaping stone, wood, clay, or other materials

pottery – n. pots, dishes, and other objects which are made from clay and then baked in an oven until they are hard.

anthropology –n. the study of human, their society and culture

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

3 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

8 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

9 reversed   

v.（使）反转( reverse的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）颠倒；（使）翻转；推翻adj.颠倒的

参考例句：

• The new president reversed many of the policies of his predecessor. 新任总统彻底改变了其前任的许多政策。
• The appeal court reversed the original verdict and set the prisoner free. 上诉法庭撤销了原判，把那个犯人释放了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

11 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

12 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。