Why this ride
On the way it passes The Central Marshes, The West Hammar Marshes, Ur Archaeological City and back through The West Hammar Marshes. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The East Hammar Marshes and Ur Archaeological City
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 494 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 31
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The East Hammar Marshes
The marshes of southern Iraq are one of the strangest places on earth to find in a desert. Where the Tigris and Euphrates come together in their last stretch before the Persian Gulf, the land is so flat that the water spreads out instead of flowing, forming a maze of reed beds, shallow lagoons and channels, some of them wide enough for a boat and others narrow enough to touch both banks. The East Hammar is one of the great blocks of marsh that survives here, a wide mosaic of reed and open water lying east of the Euphrates and close to the Iranian border. UNESCO inscribed the Ahwar of Southern Iraq in 2016, as both a natural wonder and the home of a unique culture.
Read the complete The East Hammar Marshes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The East Hammar Marshes is where the day begins. Next is The Central Marshes.
2. The Central Marshes
Between the Tigris and the Euphrates, in the far south of Iraq, lies a world of water, reeds and sky: the Mesopotamian Marshes, home for thousands of years to the Ma'dan, the Marsh Arabs, who build houses and great arched guest halls, the mudhif, entirely from reeds, travel by narrow boats called mashoof and keep herds of water buffalo. The Central Marshes are one of the main areas of this wetland, listed in 2016 with the archaeological cities of Ur, Uruk and Eridu as the Ahwar of Southern Iraq, a World Heritage Site that joins nature and the earliest cities of Sumer.
Read the complete The Central Marshes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Central Marshes comes up about 78 km into the recorded legs. Next is The West Hammar Marshes.
3. The West Hammar Marshes
The marshes of southern Iraq lie where the Tigris and Euphrates come together on their way to the Gulf, a vast network of reed beds, lagoons and channels that was, until recent decades, home to one of the oldest ways of life on earth. The West Hammar Marshes are the westernmost, south of the city of Nasiriyah, and this stop lies about fifteen kilometres from the small town of Al Fuhud. UNESCO inscribed the Ahwar of Southern Iraq in 2016, along with the ancient Sumerian cities of Ur, Uruk and Eridu, which stood on the edge of this same wetland.
Read the complete The West Hammar Marshes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 182 km into the recorded legs you reach The West Hammar Marshes. Next is Ur Archaeological City.
4. Ur Archaeological City
Ur stands on the flat Mesopotamian plain in southern Iraq, close to Nasiriyah, among the oldest cities in the world. Its great ziggurat, a stepped brick platform built by King Ur-Nammu around 2100 BC, still rises out of the desert, restored and shaped like a huge brick wedding cake with stairs up the front. It was a temple to the moon god Nanna, and the city around it was a major port on what was then the Euphrates, before the river shifted course and the sea retreated. Tradition names Ur as the birthplace of Abraham, which is why Pope Francis held a prayer meeting here in 2021.
Read the complete Ur Archaeological City write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ur Archaeological City, about halfway. Next is back through The West Hammar Marshes.
5. back through The West Hammar Marshes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The West Hammar Marshes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The West Hammar Marshes sits at 279 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Central Marshes.
6. back through The Central Marshes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Central Marshes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Central Marshes comes up about 416 km into the recorded legs. Next is The East Hammar Marshes.
7. The East Hammar Marshes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The East Hammar Marshes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The East Hammar Marshes closes the day.
Leg by leg
The East Hammar Marshes to The Central Marshes
The East Hammar Marshes → The Central Marshes is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Central Marshes to The West Hammar Marshes
The Central Marshes → The West Hammar Marshes is 104 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The West Hammar Marshes to Ur Archaeological City
The West Hammar Marshes → Ur Archaeological City is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ur Archaeological City to back through The West Hammar Marshes
Ur Archaeological City → back through The West Hammar Marshes is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The West Hammar Marshes to back through The Central Marshes
back through The West Hammar Marshes → back through The Central Marshes is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Central Marshes to The East Hammar Marshes
back through The Central Marshes → The East Hammar Marshes is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.