ABABAELIE
Ababaelie is an ancient village located at the foot of Shnrwe Mountain close to Halabja in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The village is divided by a valley into two sides: one of them is called Qala the other one is Bahara Spring. Several ancient graves were found with interred tools as an indication of the pre-Islamic history of the village. The original name of the village was Sazgar, which was changed after the invasion of Islam in 639 AD to Ababaelie after the Islamic leader Abu Obaida Alansari who was killed in the village. Between the years of 1960-1970 the population of the village counted around 500 families, but after Saddam Hussein’s brutal chemical attack on Halabja during the Anfal campaign, everybody left the village. Today 14 families, who were forced to leave have gone back to inhabit Ababaelie and to restore the traditional lifestyle of these villages, dominated by hard work in the fields and the herding of animals. The village is well known for the cultivation of pears, peaches, figs, grapes, pomegranate and walnut. It furthermore counts 1400 head of sheep and 110 cows. This photo-story is an attempt to reconstruct the history of the ancient village while documenting the return of people to it, and the traditional lifestyle which they are trying to restore.
28/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. A view of Ababaelie and Halabja. Ababaelie is an ancient village located in a mountainous area and specifically at the foot of Shnrwe Mountain in Halabja area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The village is divided by a valley into two sides: one of them is called (Qala) the other one is (Bahara Spring). Several ancient graves were found with interred tools which indicates the pre-Islamic history of the village. Sazgar was the original name of the village before the invasion of Islam in 639 AD and was later changed to Ababaelie after the Islamic leader Abu Obaida Alansari who was martyred in the village. Between the years of 1960-1980 the population of the village was around 500 families, but after Saddam Hussein’s brutal chemical attack on Halabja during the Anfal campaign, it was reduced to 14 families. 
12/09/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. -- Traditional village breakfast with tea, yoghurt, cheese and bread. Everything in the photo - except for the tea - is produced locally. 
28/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. Ruqya Abdulrahman was born with serious disabilities in 1978. She always lais down in bed as she can't move her body and she is also not able to talk. There is no treatment for her disabilities. 
28/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. Portraits of Awrahman Arf Fatah from 1962 and 1974 hang on the wall of his house in Ababaelie village. 
29/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. -- The traditional way to build houses in Ababaele was very beautiful. The houses had shared roofs. They were built on each other in a way that the roof of the lower ones would become the front yard of the higher ones. They had stairs and they used big stones for decorating the houses. 
29/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. Zanyar Saadun was born in Halabja in 1993. He studies at the third grade of Agriculture college in Halabja. He always helps his father with the work in the garden in Ababaelie. Every afternoon they come from Halabja to Ababaelie to water their garden and collect their fruits: fig, pomegranate, grape, nuts. 
29/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. The villagers are all working in farming. They farm. - Peach - Pear - Pomegranate - Fig - Walnut 
29/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. -- A view of the village where once was 2 tea houses bakeries a butcher a small restaurant and a public toilet. 
28/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. Mala Hamid wash before prayers at Ababaelie's mosque. He was born in 1974 in Ababaelie. After coming back from Iran, he returned to Ababaelie. He got married in 1996, and he is the father of 6 children. He has 2 daughters and 4 sons. He is an accountant and he is also busy farming. The mosque was much bigger than now, and also included a place for prayers for the women. There were two tea houses next to the mosque and three public bathrooms. Today there stills a spring of fresh water. 
29/08/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. -- Hama Haji Sadq(right), born in Ababaelie in 1961 returned to Halabja after being displaced in 1991. Every morning he herds his sheep in Ababaelie. Warzer Rashid (centre) and his brother Jutyar live in Ababaelie and enjoy the company of Hama. 
12/09/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City, Iraq. Hayat Hama Ameen was born in 1944. She wakes up at 5:30 am every morning. She does her morning prayer and goes to milk the cows. Then she takes the cows to the end of the village, near to a spring which is called Kaniabare and spend the rest of her day taking care of her cultivated garden. 
12/09/15. Ababaelie Village, Halabja City. Hayat Hama Ameen was born in 1944. She wakes up at 5:30 am every morning. She does her morning prayer and goes to milk the cows. Then she takes the cows to the end of the village, near to a spring which is called Kaniabare and spend the rest of her day taking care of her cultivated garden.
