Beyond KUN: Retracing Historical Streetscapes in Iraq

Ancient cityscapes offer innovative learning experiences in how they cater to the pedestrian. For instance, they indicate their functionality with the absence of advanced transportation modules. Together, they evince a complex interplay of street design and mobility withstanding territorial rule, religion, preservation of place and socio-economic considerations.

The first civilisations in the world appeared in Mesopotamia following the Neolithic Revolution circa 7500 B.C.E. Evidence of the world’s first stone-paved streets dates back to 4000 B.C.E., appearing in the ancient City of Ur and Babylon (Longfellow, 2017). Other ancient cities including Uruk and Eridu and the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf — all currently in present-day Iraq — have emerged from unique geographical opportunities and diversity. Their significance reveals layers of territorial sovereignty, creation of holy shrines and architectural monuments and centres of trade. While these primal civilisations have continued to operate in this manner, their streetscapes have developed routes that have metabolized an ancient portrayal of city life for a host of activities. Like many cities in the Middle East, streets have been configured around major central developments such as institutions and religious spaces, including mosques, synagogues, temples and mausoleums.

The focus of this article explores the historical streetscapes of the cities of Karbala and Najaf. Located in the heart of southern Iraq, approximately 80 kilometres apart, they accommodate several of the world’s holiest Islamic shrines and religious artifacts (Figure 1). This paper further examines a geographical understanding of the country’s complex semblance of street infrastructure by gauging both the meaning behind its strategic design and the rich urban legacy we see today.

A Culture of Innovation in a Small City

The word KUN is derived from the phonetic sound of Karbala and Najaf. Both cities owe their existence to Shi’ite Islamic shrines. The dialogue between the street and the shrine is primary. KUN attracts more than 20 million Muslims throughout the year to commemorate the shrine of the first Imam, Ali ibn Abu Talib (A.S.) in Najaf and his great mosque in Kufa, approximately 11 kilometres from Najaf. The second shrine is located in Karbala where the third Imam, Hussain (A.S.) and members of his progeny have been buried (Figure 2). Muslims travel across the world to participate in pilgrimages and supplicate prayers to the holy shrines by attaining blessings and forgiveness and seeking guidance in life and redemption in the world after.

The city’s regional landscape is characterized as a desert ecosystem: dry and arid temperatures are frequent throughout the year. Currently, Karbala accommodates nearly 430,000 inhabitants and Najaf also less than 500,000 (World Population Review, 2019). 

The cities of Karbala and Najaf reflect a vibrant history that is both bewitching and tragic. Both cities have had good fortune of being salient and endowed with pilgrimage sites, but an ill-fated history has been the subject of past and present destruction, notably the attacks of the Abbasid Dynasty in 850 A.D., the strike against the Wahhabi Muslims in 1802 A.D., the widespread violent repression by Saddam Hussein’s regime during the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988 and the devastation between Iraq’s Republican Guard and Shi’ite rebels in 1991 resulting in the Gulf War (Sardar, 2018).

Under these complex and sensitive urban settings, the gradual development around the holy shrines of Karbala and Najaf has resulted in a unique and historic pattern. Near the end of my pilgrimage to these cities, I witnessed that their urban spatial structure, as in many traditional cities in the Middle East, captures a timeless sensation where only a superlative design of asymmetrical layout of buildings balance the symmetrical setting of a central area. Narrow and winding passages appear, endlessly forcing pedestrians to navigate through derelict buildings, while simultaneously being introduced to a host of residential quarters and commercial spaces. It clearly conveys an orchestrated pedestrian movement system that powerfully influences the marketplace. Although there is no sense of hierarchy of the streets, a maze-like structure of street vendors and hawkers entice passers-by with a variety of goods and food. However, Karbala and Najaf are devoted to a part of an urban landscape that is often overlooked: bazaars and souks (marketplaces) create a vibrant spatial phenomenon that surreptitiously opens to main street corridors which direct you into a throng of pilgrims walking feverishly towards the centre. The climax is the sacred shrine (Figure 3).

It is here that the present built environment manifests the premise of how urban history, architecture and streets have melded together without being designed by zoning regulations and street design requirements. To the Western world, the city’s streets may appear highly inefficient — incomplete and incongruous, congested and fragmented, rocky and turbulent with faults, a lack of hierarchy where some are too narrow while others are wide, a lack of safety measures with a sporadic distribution of trash and junk yards assemble on and along the streets (Figure 4). The relationship between transportation and land use is very complex. However, another look into the streetscape reveals a deep cultural underpinning that conveys a brilliantly developed scheme — both in conflict and accord — to assist the public and is also a testament of time from the ancient world. Today, multiple checkpoints at various street intervals exist toward the city centre, which are continuously regulated by military personnel. Once pilgrims arrive near the shrine’s centre, no motorised vehicles are allowed except for freight services. The sustainable urban structure of these cities emphasise walking.

Streets as places of ritual and remembrance 

Karbala, which translates to ‘a place of pain and torture’, is the cornerstone of Shi’ite Islam history (Unknown, 2014). On the 10th of Muharram ul Haram — the first month of the Hijri Islamic Calendar year — in 680 A.D. (61 Hijri), Imam Hussain (A.S.), the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W.), and his family members were killed in Karbala against the regime of the second leader of the Umayyad Dynasty, Yazid I (Sardar, 2018). The battle occurred due to the question of the succession of the next leader of Islam after the Prophet (S.A.W.). The Imam’s half-brother, Abbas (A.S.) is also buried across his shrine. Every year, millions of Shi’ite Muslims gather to lament the tragedy leading to the days of ‘Ashura’ or the ‘10th of the month’. The event transforms the streets into ‘place of ritual’ with a frantic parade of believers, often crying and performing matam or the beating of their chest in reverence of the tragedy. Sermons and prayers are conducted within and outside the shrine and its courtyard area. Thus, the street becomes a staging area for the mourning period and is communalised as a place for remembrance.

On an ordinary day, thousands of Muslims can be seen walking feverishly towards the shrine. The shrines remain open at all hours. After crossing the security checkpoint, pilgrims enter a magnificent pedestrian promenade. The street, which serves as the centre’s public space, has a bustling atmosphere that enlivens all daily activities. It is divided into four sections in a symmetrical form based on an axial development around two shrines. The most inner street is a marble-based facade allowing pilgrims to travel from one shrine to the other. It can also be used for processions and communal gathering areas. 

A row of date palm trees separate the interior street to the loggia spanning approximately 600 feet. The loggia, while simultaneously used as a walking corridor, is commonly used for a host of sedentary activities: families can often be found sleeping or resting after the daily prayers, women and children eating and playing, while others occupy it as a religious space. 

Outside of the loggia, a wide gravel pathway is commonly used for directing traffic. It is abutted by a linear row of retail and food establishments and further feeds into narrow passages furtively leading into residential and commercial quarters (Figure 5). This existing streetscape creates a vibrant street life while merging the creative process of living, socializing, praying and eating. The street is designed for inclusivity and the cultural production of a hyper-diverse community for a multitude of Shi’ite Muslim factions. As a result, the street and its surrounding area serve as a place of ritual and remembrance by pulling the mourner towards the holy shrines and evoking the powerful events that occurred in the 7th century.

The sister city, Najaf, is approximately 190 kilometres south of the country’s capital, Baghdad, and is considered Shi’ite Islam’s third holiest city following Karbala as second and Mecca, Saudi Arabia being the first. Najaf lies on a ridge, seven kilometres west of the Euphrates River on a historic trade route between Basra and Baghdad. The city was founded in 791 A.D. by the Abbasid caliph, Harun ar-Rashid who subsequently built the shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (A.S.) in 979 A.D. (Watt, 2019). Imam Ali (A.S.) is the founder of Shi’ite Islam and both the father of Imam Hussain (A.S.) and the son-in-law of the Prophet (S.A.W.). A few scholars claim that Najaf is one of the ancient civilisations in the world and its sanctity is also derived from the burial place of the Prophets, Adam and Noah.

Najaf shares a different fate than Karbala. The aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and European nations led to the city’s demise with the illegal use of the land by changing the buildings and their functions. 

This led to its unplanned and debilitating growth, and an absence of a functional hierarchy, which negatively affected transportation planning (Fuad, 2011). Presently, the major arterial roads in Najaf indicate more than 60% are in bad condition and have very low serviceability indices, while nearly 90% of local roads are out of serviceability (Asim, 2014). However, the streetscapes in Najaf similarly resemble Karbala’s spatial layout, but there is only one shrine that fuses street life. The shrine of Imam Ali (A.S.) has three entrances that can be accessed from seven routes. A primary entrance exists on a central line of movement where the passer-by enters a semi-circular courtyard that leads into a pedestrian mall. The entrance offers a dramatic effect where one can see a glimpse of the shrine, while witnessing the marketplace and surrounding environs along its course.

Symbolism in streetscapes: The Arbaeen Pilgrimage

These symbolically-charged landscapes serve as a place that evokes memory. Evidently, urban streets in the Middle East can be classified into two categories: the physical and the non-physical. While the physical is self-explanatory, the non-physical portrays traditional and processional routes that give shape and meaning to the identity of streets. These processions reflect beliefs, religion and history. For example, the Arbaeen Pilgrimage narrates the power of faith and resilience. Arbaeen, which means ‘fortieth’ in Arabic, commemorates the end of the 40-day mourning period after Ashura. Each year, nearly 25 million Shi’ite Muslims organize a march several days before approaching the ‘fortieth’ day (Garthwaite, 2018). The event also commemorates the journey the Imam (A.S.) and a few members of his family who trekked nearly 1,800 kilometres by foot from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to Karbala before his martyrdom. The commencement of the Arbaeen pilgrimage begins from the holy shrine of Imam Ali (A.S.) in Najaf to the holy shrine of Imam Hussain (A.S.) in Karbala. The journey spans 92 kilometres becoming the world’s longest and most populous pilgrimage (Figure 6). The route is divided into 1,452 poles where the distance between each pole is 50 metres. The street is divided in three sections during the event: one for pedestrians, the second for distribution of food and the third for vehicles (Figure 7).

Pilgrims, including men, women and children, journey on the side of the main Highway Route 9. The procession ranges between three to five days while taking multiple rest points. Throughout the journey, Iraqi locals, charity groups and mosque organisations also commune by eating and praying together and offering hospitable means such as free shelter, food and medical attention. Along the side of the roads, mawakib, or tents, are often clustered together for pilgrims to sleep or rest after the strenuous walking (Garthwaite, 2018). Local guides and army soldiers also provide guidance and security throughout the route. The procession is not primarily to provide a spectacle for the onlooker, but rather creates an event while bringing peace and solidarity.

The Arbaeen creates the street as a collective action involving religious rituals with recitations, chants of elegies, or marsiyas, and lamentations. There are also posters written in the name of the Imam (A.S.) and speakers that broadcast religious sermons, giving pilgrims the strength and courage to complete their journey. 

The procession also serves as a means of societal empowerment. For example, Muslim women will often travel in female-only groups or with their families and children. Women are encouraged to actively participate in the procession, leading rituals and regulating the pedestrian traffic towards the holy shrines as a means of expanding women’s societal roles.

Beyond KUN: A blueprint for creative restoration

KUN is a landscape of extraordinary potential that is full of vibrant pedestrian activities at varying levels. While the most distinguishing physical characteristic are the holy shrines, streetscapes are shaped by them and in return it has underlined the importance of city life. Therefore, the premise of understanding traditional streetscapes in the Middle East posits us to consider how we can think of a holistic street design underpinned by its historical context, socio-spatial considerations and geographical setting. The modern preservation of the 7th century streetscape in both cities remains a quintessential example of pedestrianism and resilient landscapes.

Looking beyond the street from its daily use, the beauty of the streetscapes lies in the ability to transform the dimensions and layout of street design as a forum for religious and ceremonial spaces. Consequently, these streets are re-shaped by a global and unified phenomenon that characterise the identity, history and culture of Shi’ite Muslims. These streets confront us with the task of becoming more than a city street and awaken the sensations of those taking part in it to fulfill memory, remembrance and purpose.