Dr Muslih Mustafa, President of Soran University and Dr Nahro Zagros, Vice President for Scientific Affairs, visited the United States on the 29th October 2015 after receiving an official invitation from the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) to attend their conference in Washington. As part of their programme, they visited the renowned anthropologist Prof. Ralph Solecki in New Jersey.
Professor Solecki, aged 98, is the anthropologist who discovered the bones of Neanderthal people in 1950 in the Shanadar Cave near Barzan. His spouse, Professor Rose Solecki also has memories of Kurdistan. In 1950, she was investigating the historic remains and evidence of the past and of the people of Shanadar Village. They talked about their memories of Kurdistan to the Soran University delegation.
What attracted the attention of the delegation was that these two anthropologists had many rare artefacts from Kurdistan, particularly from Barzan. The discovery of Neanderthal by Professor Solecki in 1952-3 was considered as an event that has changed the knowledge of the history of civilisation and revealed facts about the lives of the Neanderthals. Professor Solecki is still the witness to this truth.
Although Professor Solecki is 98 years old and his speech is slow, he still remembers many Kurdish words. He also remembers the name of Kurdish political figures of 1950-70, especially General Mustafa Barzani whom he met in Barzan and Sulaimanyia. He bore witness that General Barzani supported the Shanader Cave exploration project.
Dr Muslih Mustafa and Dr Nahro Zagros, on behalf of Soran University, gave the two anthropologists a gift and in return, the couple gave the delegation their last book on the Shanadar Cave.
English Translation: Karwan Fayzi Dri