A nod to the legendary Bayt Al Hikma (House of Wisdom) of Baghdad, HIKMA: Iraq Source is an online repository and library for research, inspiration and education on Mesopotamia and modern day Iraq, and the ancient Babylonian, Sumerian, Assyrian and Akkadian cultures of the region.

For too long, the Western gaze has been the author of our heritage and histories, attempting to fit Iraq and its people into its limiting and dehumanisaing framework. It's time we begin to take ownership and creative authorship of our collective histories. Iraq's rich, diverse and ancient culture has been rapidly disappearing since the Gulf war. Today, facing economic, social, political and ecological challenges from decades of brutal exploitation, Iraq is rebuilding and we, both in diaspora and at home, are in the process of reestablishing and remembering our Iraqi identity. It's imperative that our creativity remains at the core of the future of Iraqi identity.

HIKMA is not just an archive but an intervention and reclamation of the colonial gaze on Mesopotamia.

We exist to enhance and expand the world’s knowledge on Iraq and Ancient Mesopotamia. We exist to challenge Western narratives of Iraq, to decolonise Iraq’s heritage, and to resist against cultural erasure and collective memory loss of the region. We exist to keep the memories of our ancestors alive.

We acknowledge and appreciate the complexities and diversity of the region. Our definition of ‘Iraqi’ includes the many minority ethno-cultures of the region such as Kurds, Armenians, Iraqi Jews, African Iraqis and so on. Please be patient and understanding with us if we make a mistake in captions or references: we will respond promtply to feedback.

Please reference HIKMA Iraq Source or tag @hikmairaq where appropriate in your research and usage. If you wish to request scans of a book, please submit a request on the project page and we will get back to you within 10 days. Disclaimer: we are a one-person platform, so some errors or mistakes may occur in archiving i.e. dates, locations, names, spelling etc. Please do your own research if unsure. Please be patient with us, we are an independent and non-profit platform. If you’d like to support us, you can donate to our Patreon.

Find us through: Instagram, Email, Patreon

HIKMA is founded and managed by Dalia Al-Dujaili
Supported by British Institute of the Study of Iraq
Website by Chris Boender, logo by Saadia Mebchour