- Baba Gurgur
Baba Gurgur (بابا كركر) is a large oil field near the city of
Kirkuk which was the first to be discovered in NorthernIraq in 1927.It was considered the largest oil field in the world until the discovery of the
Ghawar field inSaudi Arabia in the 1950s. Baba Gurgur is located 16 kilometers northwest ofArrapha and is famous for its Eternal Fire ( _ar. النار الازلية) located at the middle of its oil fields.Eternal Fire
The Eternal Fire of Baba Gurgur is a name used to describe the flames of the Baba Gurgur oil field. It is estimated that the burning flames have been around for more than 4,000 years. The Eternal Fire was first described by
Herodotus Fact|date=February 2007 and also has been described by other ancient Greek authors such asPlutarch . Many believe the Eternal Fire to be the same "Fiery furnace " in theBook of Daniel , chapter 3 in theTanakh (Old Testament ) into which King Nebuchadnezzar(c 630-562 BC), King of Babylon throws 3 Jews for refusing to worship his golden idol. [cite book
last = Yergin
first = Daniel
authorlink = Daniel Yergin
title =
publisher =Simon & Schuster
location =United States
date =January 15 ,1991
pages = 204
isbn = 0671799320 ] It has a significantsymbolic value forresidents of Kirkuk. The burning flames are the result of an emission ofnatural gas through cracks in the Baba Gurgur area's rocks. The environment near the eternal fire is saturated withhydrogen sulfide , which caused the authority to put signs for the tourists and visitors to not stay too close or too long and to be in the direction opposite to the wind current Fact|date=February 2007. It is believed that the heat of the eternal flames was used by theshepherds to warm the flock during the cold months of winter. [http://www.koord.com/webbook/book/aras/aras1/kerkuk.htm]ee also
*
Iraq Petroleum Company References
External links
* [http://www.noc-iraq.com/northoil_en.htm North Oil Company]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
