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in the
Islamic faith. Inside the layers of metal are sheets of red acrylic, said to represent the blood of the slain Iraqi soldiers. The cube itself is connected to the underground museum by a long shaft with windows that allow light to shine in from above. Inside the museum, visitors can look up
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The monument sits on top of an artificial hill, shaped like a low, truncated cone of 250 m diameter. The monument itself consists of several elements grouped on the hilltop. The centrepiece is a cantilevered dome, 42 m in diameter, with an inclination of 12 degrees and made of reinforced
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finished with pyramidal modules alternating steel and copper. The promenade is covered by a semi-circular, flat roof supported on a triangular steel bracing. The roof is covered with a copper sheet and the soffit displays V-shaped panels of stainless steel and Murano glass. It is surrounded by
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Sketches of the design found at the
Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, reveal the inspiration for the design which represents a mother bending over to pick up her martyred child. Described as a simple, symbolic, modernist structure, a comparison between the original and its later replacement
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another concept, also by the sculptor, Khaled Al-Rahal, to be built in the same vicinity (commenced in 1983 and completed in 1989 after the sculptor's death). The three monuments form a visual and psychological unit, and all represent the pain and suffering of the eight-year war.
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Reports that
Chadirji had been invited to rebuild the monument circulated for many years, but no progress has been evident, and the elderly Chadirji has since emigrated to England, where he lived with his wife, and where he died on April 10, 2020.
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The original was removed from al-Fardous Square to make way for a statue of Saddam
Hussein in the early 1980s. The replacement statue was destroyed by the American forces after they captured Baghdad in 2003 while the world watched via television.
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was commissioned in 1979 and completed in 1982. It was part of a broader Ba'athist government program to build a number of public works that would help instil a sense of national pride, and at the same time immortalise
212:'s reputation as a powerful leader. Saddam turned to his favourite artist, Khaled al-Rahal, who did more than any other Iraqi artist to incorporate ancient motifs in his work, to devise the concept for the monument.
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slanting girders of triangular section that are covered with marble. Red granite, stepped platforms of elliptical form lead to the dome and cubic sculpture. The steel flagpole is entirely covered with
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The Middle East
Studies Association of North America, 2009, Vol. 42, No. 1-2, p. 4; Simonowitz, D., "Head Trips: An Intertextual Analysis of Later Architecture and Sculpture Under Saddam Hussein,"
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The original concept was the work of Iraqi sculptor, Khaled al-Rahal, with the architectural designs developed by the
Italian architect, Marcello D'Olivo.
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was not the first of such monuments to be constructed in
Baghdad. In 1959, an arched monument to the Unknown Soldier was erected in Baghdad's
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709:
679:
375:
724:
510:
Pieri, C., " Modernity and its Posts in constructing an Arab capital: Baghdad’s urban space and architecture, context and questions,"
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December, 2016, pp. 78–87; "Before
Monument to the Unknown Soldier (1980–) there was the Unknown Soldier Monument (1961–1982),"
179:, was built near the monument, and two other monuments were built close to the square in memory of the martyrs. In 1983, the
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Bernhardsson, M.T., "Visions of the Past: Modernizing the Past in 1950s
Baghdad," in Sandy Isenstadt and Kishwar Rizvi,
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195:) dropping from the dying grasp of an Iraqi warrior. The monument also houses an underground museum.
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illustrates the increasing level of abstraction and sophistication in Iraqi art during the period.
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Beneath the shield is a cube, made of seven layers of metal, said to represent the seven levels of
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Dome is 42 m (138 ft) (diameter) on a hill 250 m (820 ft) in diameter
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At the side of the dome, is a spiral tower, which is reminiscent of the minaret at
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225:(1983) was opened in the same area, and Saddam commissioned a third monument, the
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Modernism and the Middle East: Architecture and
Politics in the Twentieth Century
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panels fixed on stainless steel arms and displaying the national flag colours.
256:. Its external surface is clad with copper, while its inner surface features a
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and constructed between 1979 and 1982. It was dedicated to the martyrs of the
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The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Saddam Hussein's Iraq,
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The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Saddam Hussein's Iraq,
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Middle East Editorial Associates, 1985, p. 43; Borden, I. and Hall, R.,
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The statue of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that replaced the original
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at the ceiling and see through the openings leading to the cube above.
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Steel, copper, marble, glass, granite, reinforced concrete and acrylic
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GlobalSecurity.org "Monument to the Unknown Soldier, Baghdad, Iraq"
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Al Arabiya News, November 2, 2010, retrieved September 20, 2015
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State-Society Relations in Ba'thist Iraq: Facing Dictatorship,
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Psychology Press, 2000, p. 104; Makiya, K. and Al-Khalilm S.,
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Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 251; Baghdad Writers Group,
359:(1959) was removed by Iraqi protesters and US soldiers in 2003
560:
Younis, A., "Monuments (by) Architects (for) Governments,"
249:(Iraqi shield) falling from the grasp of a dying warrior.
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The Monument: Art and Vulgarity in Saddam Hussein's Iraq,
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Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture,
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Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture,
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Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture,
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on the River, was opened and in 1989 the newly built
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471:Routledge, 2010 p. 120; King, E.A. and Levin, G.,
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632:"The death of the Iraqi architect Rifa'a Chadirji"
607:"Iraqi architect Rifat Chadirji dies of COVID-19"
594:"Famed Iraqi architect rebuilds Baghdad landmark"
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516:International Journal of Islamic Architecture,
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685:Buildings and structures completed in 1982
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512:Middle East Studies Association Bulletin,
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412:Brown, B.A. and Feldman, M.H. (eds),
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167:based on a concept by Iraqi sculptor
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376:Lists of war monuments and memorials
82:Khaled al-Rahal and Marcello D'Olivo
700:Buildings and structures in Baghdad
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484:"Marcello D'Olivo (1921–1991)," in
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475:Skyhorse Publishing, 2010, p. 105
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463:Makiya, K. and Al-Khalilm S.,
450:Makiya, K. and Al-Khalilm S.,
416:Walter de Gruyter, 2014 p. xix
308:in the ancient capital of the
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710:Military history of Baghdad
680:1982 establishments in Iraq
580:King, E. A. and Levin, G.,
534:Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S.,
473:Ethics and the Visual Arts,
425:Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S.,
399:Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S.,
381:Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
156:built by Italian architect
152:) is a monument in central
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695:Anti-Iranian sentiments
441:IB Taurus, 2004, p. 28
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122:Fallen Iraqi soldiers
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340:(1959) by
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254:Samarra
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284:First
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247:dira'a
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