Folklore and Mesopotamian Culture

Shortly after the Ba‘th accession to power, activities to promote Iraqi folklore received an enormous official boost,1 which found its initial expression in legislation. A law promulgated early in 1969 created the ‘General Directorate for Cinema and Theatre’, whose province was to include festivals and congresses devoted to folklore, and the fostering of that art and its preservation on film ‘so as to protect our historical, artistic and literary heritage’.2 The first practical undertakings of this nature to enjoy official support were folklore museums. In 1969–70, a museum of folklore handicrafts was founded in Kirkuk, and a small folklore museum in Mosul was greatly expanded.3 Apparently in response to an open letter to the president calling for the establishment of a special museum to preserve and exhibit ‘life in old Baghdad’,4 such a museum was, indeed, established, housing traditional crafts, apparel, models of living quarters and domestic utensils, and scenes from social life in Baghdad, commencing from the city’s foundation in the days of al-Mansur in the 8th century AD and up to the twentieth century. The museum was honored with visits by Iraqi leaders and quite frequent mentions in the press.5

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