Mesopotamia World-Phila: 2008.03

Thursday, March 27, 2008

A Survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Iraq.

The earliest postal service known in the area of present-day Iraq was operated by Assyria; archeologists have found a large number of commercial letters written in cuneiform on clay tablets, and enclosed in addressed clay envelopes. The Ottoman Empire had post offices at Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, and Kirkuk around 1863. India operated post offices in Baghdad and Basra from 1868 to 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos. During World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of, British and Indian troops fought their way from Basra to Mosul; they used stamps of India overprint An overprint is the addition of text (and sometimes graphics) to the face of a postage stamp after it has been printed. Overprints have been used for many purposes over the years. They have been used as surcharges, commemorations, and control marks. A sured "I.E.F." on their military mail . The British overprinted a variety of Turkish stamps during the occupation, a grouping now conventionally called the issues of "Mesopotamia"; for details, see postage stamps and postal history of Mesopotamia . The postal service of Iraq proper began with the British mandate granted by the League of NationsThe League of Nations was an international organization founded after the First World War with goals of reducing armaments, settling disputes between countries and maintaining living conditions, but The League proved incapable of preventing aggression by in 19201920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. January 9 Britain announces it will build 100,000 homes for war veterans. January 10 Leagu. The first stamps of Iraq were a definitive series that appeared in 1923Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 Events January 1 Grouping of all UK railway companies into four larg; the set of 12 included eight different designs depicting scenes and images from ancient history and the present day. They were denominated in annaThere are a number of people named "Anna": Anna was the sister of Dido in Roman mythology and later literature. See Dido and Anna Perenna with whom Ovid identitfied her in one account. Anna Perenna, the Roman goddess Queen Anne I of the United Kingdom, sos and rupees, inscribed with "IRAQ" and "POSTAGE & REVENUE". The first stamp depicting Faisal I of Iraq was a 1-rupee value in 1927, followed in 1931 by a series of 13 values. Independence in 1932 brought a new currency ( fils and dinar), and the existing Faisal stamps were surcharged accordingly, and issued on 1 April 1932. These were followed soon after ( 9 May) by stamps of the previous design denominated in the new currency. The accession of King Ghazi necesitated new stamps, which appeared in 1934; they were of the same design as the Faisal stamps, but with a profile of Ghazi in the vignette. Due to Ghazi's unexpected death and the infancy of his son, in 1941 a new series was issued featuring local scenery. Along with additional values and color changes issued the next year, the series totals 23 stamps. 1942 also saw the first stamps depicting Faisal II, who was still a young boy. He appears as a teenager in the next series, which was issued in 1948. Iraq's first commemorative stamps came out in 1949 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union. Faisal's 1953 coronation was also marked by a set of three, along with a souvenir sheet . The last of the Faisal definitives had only partly appeared before the revolution of 1958, and both issued and unissued types were overprinted. General Qassim's period was noted by the usual round of commemoratives, many featuring him as benevolent leader. Later presidents also appeared, though less frequently. Saddam Hussein, as vice-president, makes a first appearance in a souvenir sheet of 1976, and by the mid- 1980s appeared on a great many Iraqi stamps. The Iraq invasion of 2003 brought the stamp program to a sudden halt, the last Saddam-era issue being a Saddam University stamp on 5 February 2003. Two additional issues were planned, themed "Old Methods of Transportation" and "Popular Industries", and proofs had been made. The printing works were destroyed in the looting, but not the Post Office building, and the proofs survived. The Coalition Provisional Authority subsequently approved the printing of the Transportation stamps, and they were issued 29 January 2004. In the meantime, overprints appeared on various stamps, but none were officially authorized.