We are here republishing a newsletter from the Kurdish Women’s Relations Office (REPAK) entitled “Traces of women by archaeology in Kurdistan” published in September 2025. The newsletter is viewable in full below, and can be downloaded as a pdf here: Traces of women by archaeology in Kurdistan
In this issue, we want to examine the historical traces of women in four parts of Kurdistan. Using archaeological information and findings, we want to open up a discussion of women’s creations and the tools and methods they used to construct social life. With this, we want to focus on efforts to understand ourselves. It is necessary to journey into history to awaken to the reality in which male-dominated history condemns us. Living as slaves is not destiny; being condemned to a slave status is the greatest oppression of the male mind. We must unravel the codes of the understanding of history obscured by the male-dominated culture, one by one, and uncover our own truth. Understanding today requires understanding yesterday. Yesterday’s powerful consciousness will be the foundation for freely constructing our present. If history is yesterday’s consciousness, and today is tomorrow’s, then we must journey through history as our foundation. We must unearth the labor and creations of women that the dominant male persistently conceals, hides, ignores, and distorts. Without achieving this, we cannot understand our present. We cannot build our future without understanding the present. A journey into history will connect us with our roots. In our journey through history, we will recognize and see that women, who are often called unable, unable to know, or unable to comprehend, are the most powerful vein of resistance within society. Every woman must proceed on her journey through history with the sensitivity and awareness of an archaeologist, anthropologist, and sociologist. As women, we must do this to better understand ourselves and overcome fragmentation. We must not forget that historical consciousness is a torch. It illuminates both behind and ahead. As the saying goes, “A correct history is a correct person, a correct person is a strong society,” and by building our own identity with correct consciousness, we can gain the strength to look to the future with more hope. So, let us all examine our traces in history.
REPAK – Navenda Pewendiyan a Jinen Kurd – Kurdish Women`s Relations Office. Sulaymaniyah/Kurdish Region of Iraq – Facebook: @repak.jin – Phone: 009647730156521