#21: Third postcard from Iraq

Views of Iraq

Voting stamps

Received from David from Dublin, Ireland. Please check out David's amazing blog and adventures here.

During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the words “Allah Akbar,” meaning “God is great,” were added to the Iraqi flag.

#126: Seventh postcard from Palestine

Bethlehem

Olive tree stamps

Received from Bahjat from Gaza City.

Palestine is called “Peleset” in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

#125: Second postcard from Iraqi Kurdistan

Buildings in Erbil?

Kurdistani and Iraqi stamps

Received from Oliver from Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

The Tigris and the Euphrates begin in Kurdistan.

#126: Sixth postcard from Palestine

Lighting the lamp - Oriental paintings

Coin stamps

Received from Bahjat from Gaza City.

Palestine hosts the lowest natural point on dry land - the shores of the Dead Sea at 423 metres below sea level.

#126: Fifith postcard from Palestine

Flowers

National unity stamp

Received from Bahjat from Gaza City.

Just under a half of Palestinian land is dedicated to olive production.

#150: Second postcard from Kuwait

The Souk al Jadeed

Technology stamp

Received from Huda from Al-Sha'ab.

Kuwaiti men usually wear the national dress of long white dishdashes with white head-cloths, while women wear yashmaks.

#150: First postcard from Kuwait

Safat Square

"Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry" stamp

Received from Huda from Al-Sha'ab.

Kuwait shares borders with Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south.

#126: Second cover and second, third and fourth postcards from Palestine

Bethlehem stamp

Handstamps on back 

Beireh Park

The Municipality Public Garden

Palm trees

Received from Bahjat from Gaza City.

"Palestine” originates from the word “Phillistia”, given by the Greek writers to the land of the Phillistines.

#144: First postcard from Saudi Arabia

ad-Dir'iyah Castle

Flower and Royalty stamps

Received from Ian from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, and Yemen in the south.

#21: Second postcard from Iraq

Nimrud - Nineveh

The Ziggurat of Ur

Received from Milad from Baghdad.

See this article in the "Daily Fail" for research on the origins of ethnic Britons. I never would have thought Iraq and Syria.

#126: First cover from Palestine

Art stamp

Handstamp on back

Received from Bahjat from Gaza City.

Bethlehem celebrates Christmas 3 times a year: on December 25 as per western tradition, on 6 January as per the Greek Orthodox Church and on 18 January, as per the Armenian tradition.

#126: First postcard from Palestine

Jerash, Jordan

National unity stamp

Received from Bahjat from Gaza City.

Palestine shares a border with Israel, the other borders are currently undefined.

#46: First cover from Armenia

Commemorative stamp, unfortunate marker

Received from Inga from Yerevan.

Currently there are 38 letters in the Armenian alphabet. In the seventeenth century there were only 36, until the letters representing 'o' and 'f' were added.

#125: First postcard from Iraqi Kurdistan

Architecture (of Erbil?)

Monument stamps

Received from Oliver from Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region of northern Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south.