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anthony legg | all galleries >> Galleries >> Kurdistan, Iraq, August & September, 2006 > Dalal Bridge
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22-SEP-2006

Dalal Bridge

Zakho, Kurdistan, Iraq

I have yet to find out any more information about this bridge other than its' name.
Nobody seems to know how old it even is.

Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel
1/200s f/9.0 at 85.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Guest 11-Jan-2012 17:11
maybe repaired by him? The origins of Dilal bridge are more ancient. The bridge was built three times. The first time it was built it broke, the second time it broke as well. The Kurdish people were superstitious at the time so they said that there was a curse on the bridge and that to remove the curse it needed a human sacrifice. The scape goat was a sick person who was already dieing. The built a small room inside the bridge and that is where the sacrifice was kept. The religion at the time was unknown. The bridge did not collapse after that. A photograph using non-light radiation could find out for sure if there was a small room or not. The bridge is impressive because the currents are very strong in Kurdistan and it must have been a great logistics challenge to build it.
Charlie Mercer 03-May-2007 21:34
In April 1991, I stood on the Dalal Bridge near Zakho with a Turkish translater. He said the bridge was built by Alexander the Great's engineers. It was unique in that no mortar was used. It was built with a wide enough span so that it would not wash away if the water surges in the river below it from heavy rain fall. It was built wide enough for two chariots to pass. The translater seemed like he knew what he was talking about.

Thanks, Charlie Mercer, US Army Retired