Blogs from East, Iraq, Middle East

The Swahili City states went through their collective apex from 600-1450 AD because of the Indian Ocean Trade Networks. The majority of these city states went under the control of the Sultan empire. After this all were later conquered by the Portuguese empire where their trade economies all remained relevant but their roles were diminished in some capacities. While the Portuguese never gained full control of the cities, their dominion was enough to weaken the independent cities' trading power, and after the Portuguese threat had been removed, the city-states never fully regained their dominance or significance in trade. Today the cities mentioned in this blog have vastly different economies from one another, however, areas along the East African coast are still very involved in international trade, some of which occurs on the same trade routes used ... read more

When the lofty Anu, King of the Anunnaki, and Bel, lord of heaven and earth, he who determines the destiny of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk, the chief son of Ea; when they made him great among the Igigi; when they pronounced the lofty name of Babylon; when they made it famous among the quarters of the world and in its midst established an everklasting kingdom whose foundations were firm as heaven and earth – at that time, Anu and Bel called me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, the worshiper of the gods, to cause justice to prevail in the land, to go forth like the Sun over the Black Head Race, to enlighten the land… These are the first lines of cuneiform trail known as the Code of Hammurabi, sixth king ... read more

Originally posted December 2, 2004 An Aggie's letter from Iraq: Homemade bombs at 0-dark-30 Editor's Note: David J. Jenkins is a 1998 graduate of Utah State University's English department. His current home of record is Moses Lake, Wash., but he is serving in Baghdad, Iraq, with the Oregon Army National Guard. Today he presents the first of an occasional series of letters from Iraq to his fellow Aggies. By David J. Jenkins, USU class of '98 December 2, 2004 � Hello everyone. Greetings from Baghdad . . . The advent... read more

By David J. Jenkins, USU class of '98 December 20, 2004 � Hello everyone. Greetings from Baghdad . . . Ramadan was coming to a close, and we were entering the last three days. These are known as the days of power. Command issued a warning and recommended that all soldiers wear all their protective gear, even while conducting routine business around the patrol base. These commands to gear up aren't always received with exhuberance, but are always followed to the letter. We received the order sometime in the afternoon. Our squad was scheduled for a "re-fit" day, and weren't required to go out on mission that day. One of our soldiers was here at the internet lab and I was off trying to locate a phone (since the phone building burned down), when the first ... read more

January 31, 2005 � Hello everyone, Greetings from Baghdad . . . It was a dark and eerie night. . . . We staged this morning, the day of the first Iraqi elections, at 0545. We readied our gear, double checked our equipment, and rolled out into the streets of Baghdad at 0600. The streets that are normally jammed, bumper-to-bumper, are on this day vacant and the air still. Aside from us, the only other sign of life was the Iraqi Army positioned near the 3rd ID bridge, directly across the river from yesterday's attack on the International Zone. We continued to move through the streets; blank windows stared back at us, and ownerless slips of paper blew haphazardly along; We were on patrol yesterday ... read more