Taphophilia.(dot) Com - Najafs hallowed cemetery

Welcome

Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.

What's at Taph?

Taphophilia Home

Thanatology Forums

Taphophile Weblinks

Taph's Article Archive

Contact Deadgirl

Donating to Taphophilia

Book Library

Deadgirl Recommends

Dig Deeper

Literature

Topics at Taphophilia

Deadgirl's Dictionary

Cemetery Photography

Industry News

Carved in Stone

A Taphophilia Thank You...

Taphophilia (dot) Com would not be possible without the knowledge, experience and talent of DarkestWeb. From
its conception and early development, DarkestWeb
was faced with many challenges; from inspiring and motivating, to providing guidance and direction. The continued dedication and support has produced results greater than ever expected, and for this, I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

Cemetery Snapshot

Announcements

Graveyards of Chicago:
The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries
By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!

Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery and to browse other available titles!

Men of Mortuaries Calendar
To purchase your 2008 calendar, learn more about the KAMMCARES Foundation, or to be featured in the 2009 calendar, please visit Men of Mortuaries.

Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.

Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman is now
available. Please visit
Studio Indiana for more information.

West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.

Najafs hallowed cemetery

Written by DeadGirl
Monday, 24 May 2004
The sight of tanks prowling along a cemetery's paths and gunmen crouching behind tombstones would be alarming in any circumstances but it has a special resonance in Iraq's great burial ground of Najaf. This vast tract of domes and humbler tombs is on a site which Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's most revered figures, is said to have decreed to be the entry to Paradise itself. For centuries, Muslims from across the Shia world have sought to be buried here, within sight of the city's gilded Imam Ali Shrine. Known as the Valley of Peace, it is said to be one of the largest, if not the largest, graveyards on the planet. If Najaf itself is one of Iraq's biggest cities, with a population of nearly 600,000, then the city of the dead down upon which it looks holds the remains of millions, stretching for up to 10 kilometres (six miles) along the valley. Sheltering tombs Since the eruption of anti-coalition violence among the followers of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr in April, heavily-armed fighters from his Mehdi Army militia have periodically appeared in the cemetery - for the cameras at least. "We ambush their patrols and the Americans cannot get into the area because it's full of winding lanes and underground mausoleums," gunman Abdul Zahra Hadi told Reuters news agency from inside the cemetery this month. "We can hit and run and hide inside the many tombs." The Valley of Peace has a much longer history as a place of shelter, harbouring fugitives, for instance from Saddam Hussein's security forces, inside crypts among the estimated five million graves. Despite dating back to the 7th century, the cemetery is still functioning. Before the fighting erupted, it was witnessing dozens of burials each day. Some of those buried in Najaf most recently were victims of Saddam's secret executions, recovered by their families from anonymous mass graves to be moved, at the last, to the ground which is said to border Paradise. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3716143.stm

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

SEO by Artio

Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries