Iraqi Musical Instrument Stamps 1982

This article features a set of Iraqi musical instrument stamps from 1982. Sets of instruments are very popular features from countries around the world. On this blog, you can see sets from Thailand, Gabon, Norway, El Salvador, Papua New Guinea, among others. I have even a stamp set from Turkey that is also from 1982!

It seems clear that there are multiple purposes for such sets. First, they typically celebrate the culture of a country. Secondly, they can help to create a sense of national unity through pride of this culture. Third, they can highlight the traditions of different, sometimes minority, ethnic groups. Finally, I think that there is also an aesthetic reason. Such sets have a natural cohesion that can be easily identifiable as a part of a set, while different enough to be useful, for example, on different prices of stamps.

Iraqi Postage Stamps

The country of Iraq is in a part of the world that has an ancient history. It is the place of the ancient region of Mesopotamia, which gave rise to several of the world’s earliest civilizations. However, the modern country of Iraq with the basic borders of today only dates back about a century. These borders were made by the British Empire that long controlled the area. Of course, its modern history under Saddam Hussein, and then two wars with the United States is tragic and well known.

Amazingly, there is evidence of some kind of a postal system in ancient Assyria. There are letters written on cuneiform clay tablets, within clay envelopes with addresses. Under the Ottoman Empire, more regular postal operations began in 1863. Under British control during World War One, stamps from India with the overprint of I.E.F. were necessary to send mail within Iraq. The very first stamps from Iraq are from 1923. Of course, Independence from Britain brought about new motifs and designs for stamps from Iraq.

Musical Instrument Stamps

The Iraqi set of four stamps featuring musical instruments are aesthetically rather pleasing. Each stamp features one or two instruments on a solid color square (with round corners) with a white background. They are not the most complex and intricately beautiful, but they are also far from the simplest and homeliest of stamps. They are utilitarian. That makes much sense, especially as they were are from the midst of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88).

Drums

The first stamp of the set, meaning the one with the lowest denomination, features two drums, both “goblet-shaped” with a single skin head. They are darbukas. One darbuka rests on a surface while the other, strangely, floats above. The background of the stamp is an olive green. Additionally, the stamp has a denomination of 5 fils. Instruments with a similar shape can be found in Egypt, across North Africa, West Asia, and even into South Asia. Typically, in Iraq and the Middle East, they drums rest on a player’s leg. The player uses different touches and strokes to create a wide variety of sounds.

It is worth stopping mid-article to check out a good player and the music that such a drum can make.

Santur

The second stamp in the set has a value of 10 fils. It features a zither, or dulcimer-type instrument that is played with wooden mallets. The name for this instrument is the santur. On the stamp, the santur sits against a blue background, the two wooden mallets rest below. The version of the santur from Iraq has a trapezoidal soundbox with 92 steel or bronze strings. The strings are in twenty-three groups of four and pass over twelve sets of bridges. Similar instruments appear elsewhere through the Arabic world, though the Iraqu santur style is specific to the country.

Bowed Stringed Instruments

The next stamp has the value of thirty-five Fils. It features two types of rebabs, or bowed stringed instruments. Such instruments spread across the Silk Road and can be found in variations in North Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia. They are ancestors of European bowed instruments included the violin. In Iraq, the name for the instruments is “joza.”

On the left, is an instrument with a wooden body and a skin stretched across it. This type of instrument is more commonly found in Yemen, though can be found in other parts of the Arabic world. More common is the instrument on the right with a bowl back from a coconut shell or of wood. Both instruments are held with the body down in front of the player or resting on the knee.

Oud

The final stamp in the set has the value of 100 Fils. It features a bowlback lute-type of instrument known as the oud, against a red background. The oud is in use across the Arabic world and it came into Europe through Moorish Spain. Western European lutes of the Medieval and Renaissance period derive from these types of instruments. Iraqi lutes are similar to other Arabic instruments with thin staves the create a bowl back and a soundboard with three soundholes in which there are beautifully decorative rosettes. There are no frets on the fingerboard, allowing for the playing of microtonal scales. The player uses a plectrum to pluck the strings.

Check out the music of Rahim AlHaj to hear an outstanding Iraq-American oud player.