Al-Chibayish is a town on the

Euphrates River The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

Al-Chibayish District Al-Chibayish District () is a district of the Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, located to the east of Nasiriyah and northwest of Basra Governorate. The district capital is Al-Chibayish. The district's geography is dominated by the Hammar Marshes, a su ...

, Dhi Qar governorate, in southern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. It is the capital of its eponymous district. Al-Chibayish is inhabited primarily by

Marsh Arab The Marsh Arabs (Arabic: عرب الأهوار ʻArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also referred to as Ahwaris, the Maʻdān (Arabic: معدان "dweller in the plains") or Shroug, Shroog ( "those from the east")—the latter two often ...

s of the

Banu Asad Banu Asad () is an Arab tribe, descended from Asad ibn Khuzayma. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous and influential tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...

tribe. Al-Chibayish has historically been an important hub for the Marsh Arab people and a traditional boat-building center for their

mashoof A mashoof (Arabic: مشحوف), also transliterated , is a long and narrow canoe traditionally used on the Mesopotamian Marshes and rivers of southern Iraq. It was widely used by the Marsh Arabs, or Ahwaris (عرب الأهوار), as a fishing bo ...

canoes.

History

Al-Chibayish was historically home to a community of

Mandaeans Mandaeans (Mandaic language, Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ) ( ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and ...

, as well as

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

. In 1895, Sheikh Ṣaḥan ibn Sheikh Ṣagar (''Ṣaqar'' in standard Arabic), a

Mandaean priest A Mandaean priest or ''Tarmida'' () refers to an ordained religious leader in Mandaeism. Overview All priests must undergo lengthy ordination ceremonies, beginning with tarmida initiation. Mandaean religious leaders and copyists of religious text ...

, was arrested near Chabāyish in Iraq and imprisoned in Basra. He was accused of supporting an Arab tribal rebellion led by Jāsim al-Khayyūn (of the Bani Asad tribe, one of the largest tribes affiliated with the

Al-Muntafiq Al-Muntafiq () was a large Arab tribal confederation of southern Iraq and Kuwait. The confederation's tribes predominantly settled in Iraq's southern provinces and northern Kuwait. The confederation is not homogeneous in terms of sect/religion. ...

), as well as killing his nephew. Although a petition was delivered to the British authorities to have him released, and the British attempted to assist Sheikh Sahan, he was not released and died in prison in 1898. Al-Chibayish was the subject of a groundbreaking 1955

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

study, ''Marsh Dwellers of the Euphrates Delta'', by Iraqi anthropologist

Shakir Mustafa Salim Shakir Mustafa Salim (1919–1985) was an Iraqi social anthropologist who taught in the Department of Sociology at Baghdad University.Eric Davis, ''Memories of State: Politics, History, and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq'' (University of Calif ...

. Al-Chibayish was home to about 11,000 people in 1955. Al-Chibayish's population dropped to less than 6,000 by 2003 as a result of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes The Mesopotamian Marshes were drained in Iraq and to a smaller degree in Iran between the 1950s and 1990s to clear large areas of the marshes in the Tigris-Euphrates river system. The marshes formerly covered an area of around . The main sub-ma ...

and his associated campaign of violence against the Marsh Arabs, during which Al-Chibayish was attacked by military helicopters. However, the population recovered and quintupled between 2001 and 2009, when it reached an estimated 30,416 people.

References

External links

* Dr. Kamaran Aziz and Asaad Niazi / AFP
Photo Gallery: Exploring the Al-Chibayish Marshes
Kurdistan24.net, July 2024 {{Iraq-geo-stub Populated places in Dhi Qar Province District capitals of Iraq Marsh Arabs