Al-Qurnah (Kurnah orQurna, meaning connection/joint inArabic) is a town in southernIraq about 74 km northwest ofBasra, that lies within the conglomeration of Nahairat. Qurna is located at theconfluence point of theTigris andEuphrates rivers to form theShatt al-Arab waterway.[2] Local folklore holds Qurnah to have been the original site of biblical paradise, theGarden of Eden, and location of theTree of Knowledge.
Local folklore holds Qurnah to have been the site of theGarden of Eden and the location of a city built by generalSeleucus Nicator I.[3][4] An ancient tree is celebrated locally and shown to the tourists as the actualTree of Knowledge of theBible.[5] The tree died some time ago and replacement trees were planted. Thetomb ofEzra is also described to be nearby and found further upstream on the river Tigris.[6][7]
In 1855, Al Qurnah was the site of theQurnah Disaster, in which local tribes attacked and sank a convoy of a ship and rafts carrying 240 cases of antiquities discovered by Victor Place's mission toKhorsabad,Rawlinson's toKuyunjik andFresnel's toBabylon.[8][9] The loss of priceless antiquities was a notable disaster for those researching the antiquities of the region.[8][10] Subsequent efforts to recover antiquities lost in theQurnah Disaster, including a Japanese expedition in 1971-2, were largely unsuccessful.[11]
River rafts loaded with antiquities floating down River Tigris (V Place, 1867)
1994 map of the Al Qurnah area showing drainage of Marshes
After theFirst Gulf War (1991), the Iraqi government underSaddam Hussein diverted river water away from the localmarshes causing them to become completelydesiccated.[18] The wetlands have since shrunk to 58% of their pre-drainage area and are projected to drop below 50%.[19] This loss has also been a result of Turkish and Iranian damming of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.[20][21] TheUN has reported that the combined volume of these rivers has been reduced by 60%.[22] These developments are said to have made the area more vulnerable to degradation anddesertification.[23]
As of the start of the 2003US invasion of Iraq, conditions of the city were already reportedly woeful.[26][27] Cracked pavements and bullet holes in local properties, the looting of the local hospital[28] and the poor condition of thetree of knowledge[29] made the return of tourism to the area challenging.[30][31] The local economic, environmental and social conditions inAl-Qurnah district have since been described as fragile.[32]
^Al-Jaburi, Kamel Salman (2003).Mu'jam Al-Udaba' min Al-'Asr Al-Jahili Hatta Sanat 2002معجم الأدباء من العصر الجاهلي حتى سنة 2002 [Dictionary of writers from the pre-Islamic era until 2002] (in Arabic). Vol. 6 (first ed.). Beirut: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah. p. 393.
Iraq
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