Once a murder scene, later a hospital, an abandoned palace in Dohuk gets a facelift

(11 Apr 2024)
IRAQ PALACE RESTORATION
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 2:58
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dohuk, Iraq - 4 April 2024
1. Damaged and abandoned palace in Dohuk
2. Various of construction workers working at site
3. Bulldozer operating
4. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Bekas Brifkani, director of antiquities department in Dohuk:
"We've started renovating two important palaces in Dohuk province, the Cumberland Palace that we are in at the moment, and the Deliba Palace. Of course, the Cumberland Palace was built by Roger Craig Cumberland. He was one of the religious figures that came along, and he built this place in this area. It later turned into a symbol of architecture for this area."
5. Various of damaged building with rusted ceiling stones
6. Hall inside palace
7. Decorated windows at main entrance
8. Sunlight coming in through window in room
9. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Firsat Marii, university lecturer on Kurdish history in Islam:
"America used to have a lot of missionaries and religious mission groups, and one of them was called the Arabia union group and Cumberland became one of their members. They came to Iraq and arrived to Baghdad around 1922-1923. And in 1923, Cumberland said he will go to open some (missionary) stations in Mosul and northern Iraq."
10. Palace door overlooking the city of Dohuk
11. Various of woman clearing dust covering fire place
12. Old fire place inside living room in the palace
13. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Firsat Marii, university lecturer on Kurdish history in Islam:
"He was accused of converting people into Christianity. He was accused by the people here. But I believe that he only managed to convert one person, an Arab from Mosul. No Kurds converted at all during his entire time in Dohuk, from 1923 to the time that he was killed on June 12, 1938. There wasn't a single converter."
14. Workers brushing dust off
15. Various of workers breaking and moving rocks
16. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Firsat Marii, university lecturer on Kurdish history in Islam:
"In the end a person from Dohuk - not from the city but from the area of Dohuk (province) - a well-known figure went to his house as a guest and Cumberland did not suspect that this person would kill him. So, he brought him a bible and showed him books, but the person shot him (Cumberland) with a pistol."
17. Construction workers leaving the site at the end of the day
18. Sumel district in Dohuk governorate
STORYLINE:
Authorities are renovating an abandoned palace in Dohuk on the hopes that the facelift will draw visitors to the site whose original owner was killed inside.
The Cumberland Palace was built in 1927 by Rev. Roger Craig Cumberland, an American missionary from California.
The palace has an area of 2,000 square meters and was both a home and place of business for Cumberland during his stay in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
"He was accused of converting people into Christianity. He was accused by the people here. But I believe that he only managed to convert one person," said Firsat Marii, a university lecturer and expert on Kurdish history in Islam.
Cumberland lived in Dohuk from 1923 until 1938 when he was attacked in his home and later died from the injuries.
Cumberland came to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in the early 1920s as part of a missionary group, before moving north.
He settled in Dohuk in the following years and built friendly relations with members of the community.
Marii said "Cumberland did not suspect" of the tribal leader who attacked him.
AP video shot by Rashid Yahya
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