Ngaya e-Iraq—hhayi ukufakazela okuthile, kodwa ngoba iBhabhiloni yayisekhona

IBaghdad. UMfula iTigris. Ihora lesithandathu ekuseni. Umdobi umi emaphethelweni esikebhe senkuni, isenzo sakhe sokujikijela inetha ngesandla sokudla sifana ncamashi nomfanekiso oqoshiwe wase-Asiriya eminyakeni eyizinkulungwane ezimbili edlule. Umugwaqo iMutannabi ngaphesheya komfula uyaqala ukuvuka—abathengisi bezincwadi bakhipha izincwadi ezindala eziphuzi embozweni yamanzi, bazibeka ezitendeni ezivulekile. Indlu yetiye ebheke ngaphesheya ikhipha intuthu yamalahle yokuqala yanamuhla. Iphimbo elisemgwaqweni likhipha izindaba zasekuseni ngesi-Arabhu—iPhalamende lase-Iraq lizoxoxa ngomthetho othile namuhla, isivinini sommemezeli sishesha sengathi ufuna ukuqeda izwi ngaphambi kokuzila ukudla kweRamadan. Izindiza zempi ezikude kanye namajuba adlula ngezikhathi ezithile kuphela okukukhumbuza ukuthi lena akusona isihlobo sasekuseni sasendulo saseMesophothamiya, kodwa i-Iraq yango-2026.

Angizanga lapha ngenxa yobuqhawe. Hhayi ngoba ngifuna 'ukubekela inselelo' izwe elichazwa ngabezindaba baseNtshonalanga njengengozi. Kodwa ngenxa yokuthi ngemuva kokusesha 'Iraq World Cup 2026', isikrini asikhiphanga nje izexwayiso zokuhamba, kodwa nesithombe sezinsalela zaseBhabhiloni—ibhubesi elenziwe ngezitini eziluhlaza okwesibhakabhaka ezineminyaka eyizinkulungwane ezinhlanu namakhulu amabili, libiyelwe ngocingo egcekeni eligcwele uthuli, lingenamuntu cishe. Umcabango wami ngaleso sikhathi kwaba: Uma iBhabhiloni isekhona, kungani kungekho muntu oya khona?

I-Iraq iseMpumalanga Ephakathi, eyaziwa ngokuthi iMesophothamiya kudala—'umhlaba ophakathi kwemifula emibili'. UMfula iTigris ne-Euphrates bahlangana lapha bakha impucuko yokuqala yomuntu: umbhalo we-cuneiform, iKhodi kaHammurabi, iNgadi Elengayo. Izimpi nezingxabano kusukela ngo-2003 ziguqule igama laleli zwe lisuka 'embhedeni wempucuko' laba 'indawo yezingxabano'. Kodwa iBhubesi laseMesophothamiya—iqembu lesizwe lase-Iraq—lizomela leli zwe esiteji seNdebe yoMhlaba ngo-2026. Kubantu abaningi abangakaze baseshe i-Iraq, ibhola liyisizathu sokuqala sokuvula lo mnyango.

Umugwaqo iMutannabi unemakethe yezincwadi ehamba phambili eBaghdad ngoLwesihlanu. Izinhlobo zezincwadi zifana nomugqa wesikhathi ophazamisekile: eduze kwezincwadi zezinkondlo eziphuzi kunezincwadi zesiNgisi ezingabizi, eduze kwamapheshana ezombusazwe enkathi kaSaddam kunezincwadi ezihunyushwe ngesi-Arabhu zika-Harry Potter ezisetshenziswe izikhathi eziningi. Umnikazi wesitolo sezincwadi—wayegqoke izibuko ezindala, iminwe yakhe yaba mpunga ngumthunzi wamanyala ngenxa yoboya beminyaka eminingi—wangitshela ngesiNgisi: 'Ngesikhathi sikaSaddam izitolo zezincwadi kulomgwaqo zashiswa. Ngesikhathi abaseMelika behlasela zaphinde zashiswa. Kodwa izincwadi azifanga, umfula awushintshanga.' Wakhomba umfula iTigris ngaphandle: 'Lo mfula mdala kunayo yonke imibuso yethu ihlangene. Wabona amakhosi aseBhabhiloni, izimbongi zoMbuso wama-Abbasid, amathangi abaseMelika—manje uyasibuka.'

Izinsalela zaseBhabhiloni zingamakhilomitha angaba ngu-85 eningizimu yeBaghdad, kuthatha amahora amabili ngemoto. Kodwa la mahora amabili adlula okungenani izindawo zokuhlola ezine zamasosha kanye nomkhathi owawugcwele izindiza ezingenamuntu zaseMelika. Lapho sifika, epaki kwakunezimoto ezimbili kuphela—enye ingeyomqondisi, enye ingeyesisebenzi se-Arhente Yezinto Zasendulo yase-Iraq. Umqondisi ogama lakhe nguHassan, ungumdabu wesifundazwe saseBhabhiloni, wavula isango elikhulu lensimbi lezinsalela kalula sengathi uvula isango lendlu yakhe yangemuva: 'Manje akusona isikhathi sokuvakasha—iBhabhiloni ayisoze yaba isikhathi sokuvakasha.' Wakhomba izinsalela zeSango lika-Ishtar—amadragoni nezinkunzi ezakhiwe ngezitini eziluhlaza okwesibhakabhaka zisaphelele—wathi: 'Ngesikhathi uNebuchadnezzar II eyakha leli sango, iBhabhiloni yayiyidolobha elikhulu kunazo zonke emhlabeni. Manje—manje ayinalo ngisho umzila webhasi.' Izwi lakhe lalingenalo ukuzidabula, kwakuwukusho nje.

ENyakatho, i-Erbil (Erbil) iyinhloko-dolobha yesifunda esizimele saseKurdistan e-Iraq, isivinini nokuphepha kuhluke ngokuphelele. I-Citadel—enye yezindawo zokuhlala ezindala kunazo zonke emhlabeni, engakaze ishiywe iminyaka eyizinkulungwane eziyisithupha—iphakama phakathi kwedolobha, ifana nekhekhe elikhulu elinombala wesanti. Umfundi waseKurdistan wangiyisa endaweni yakhe ayithandayo yokosa inyama, edla ngokushesha ekhuluma izindaba zokushaya amagoli kuka-Aymen Hussein (umgadli wase-Iraq owakhulela e-Hawija). 'Washaya igoli ngekhanda emdlalweni wakwa-Oman,' esho, 'Ngalolo suku ngangibukele umdlalo obukhoma endlini yetiye e-Erbil. Wonke umuntu endlini yetiye wagxuma—amaKurd, ama-Arabhu, amaTurkmen—ngalolo suku kwakukhona ubuzwe obubodwa.' Wasebenzisa umkhonto wokosa inyama ukudweba umumo webala lebhola etafuleni, wabhala amagama amabili phakathi: i-Iraq.

南部美索不达米亚湿地——传说中的伊甸园所在地——是我在伊拉克看到的最后一个，也是最不真实的地方。芦苇搭成的浮动房屋（Mudhif）在水面上轻轻晃动，水牛只露出一个鼻子和一对弯角。一个船夫站在他的独木舟上用简单的英语说：'萨达姆曾经想过把这片湿地全部抽干——惩罚这里的沼泽阿拉伯人。水退了十年。然后美国人来了，水又回来了。现在——水退了又涨，涨了又退。湿地还是湿地。'他划了一下桨，前方惊起一群白鸟。不需要任何评论，事实本身已经有足够的分量。

在巴格达的最后一个晚上，我回到了Mutannabi街的茶馆。同一个位置，同一壶阿拉伯咖啡。旁边桌上，一个年轻人正在用阿拉伯语给朋友们翻译手机上关于伊拉克世界杯预选赛的新闻。偶尔蹦出'Mbappé'和'Messi'这样的单词——足球是全球通用的方言。我写下这最后一页笔记的时候，茶馆外面传来了宣礼声。底格里斯河在夜色中什么都看不见了，只能听到水流声。我想把一切都写在一个句子里，但Hassan——巴比伦的导游——在我离开时已经替我写好了：'你知道吗，尼布甲尼撒二世死后不到一百年，巴比伦就空了。但今天的旅游手册上，伊拉克只有'禁止前往'。这座城市的运气不太好——它被历史封了一个太高的头衔，又被现实压了太低的评语。'我付了咖啡钱。留言簿上签了名——虽然没有人会看。