"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎٢‎٦‎٦] (٨٦٢/٥٣٤)

THE CONSTITUTION
407
German universities, and about 120 at Beirut. In addition there
was one government scholar studying agriculture at the University
of California and another studying education at Columbia University,
New York.
The Department of Antiquities, formed as soon as the country had
settled down to some semblance of peace, was at first attached to the
Ministry of Communications and Works, but was transferred in 1926
to that of Education. In a country so rich in archaeological sites of
exceptional interest such a department was a necessity. As soon as
the department was constituted, the work of excavation, which had
been interrupted by the war, was resumed. A Law of Antiquities
was published in September 1924 and the Baghdad Museum, at first
a simple room in the Sarai, was opened in the same year. As in other
Middle East countries of great archaeological interest, the Depart
ment of Archaeology has the first claim on ‘finds’ for the enrichment
of its museum. There is also a new Museum of Islamic Art at
Baghdad.
Agriculture and Land
Despite the fact that Iraq is almost entirely an agricultural country,
the various departments which normally would be comprised by a
ministry have only once formed a Ministry of Agriculture, for the
short period between 1927 and 1930. After having been split up at
various times between the Ministry of the Interior and that of Public
Works, the Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Department, and
Irrigation Department are now under the Ministry of Economic
Affairs. These departments are concerned directly with agriculture.
Three departments are concerned with the ownership and tenure of
land: the Tapu or Fief Department, the Miri Department, and
the Department of Waqf. The Tapu Department, which is under
the Ministry of Justice, keeps the land registers and deals with the
sales and lease of Tapu lands (p. 442), while the Miri Department,
attached to the Ministry of Finance (1930), deals with ‘simple
Miri’ land (p. 444). The Survey Office, which is also much con
cerned with the Irrigation Department, is now attached to the
Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Department of Waqf, concerned
with the administration of Waqf lands, is semi-autonomous (p. 402).
The system of land tenure is described in Chapter X.