Nineveh's Lost Chamomile: A Campaign to Restore History and Nature

Nineveh, Iraq - For centuries, the arrival of spring in Mosul was announced by the scent of chamomile—known locally as bebōn or bebona to modern Assyrians — spreading naturally across the plains of Nineveh. Today, that familiar fragrance is fading. Climate change, drought, declining rainfall, and rising temperatures have disrupted the flower’s natural cycle, leaving Mosul’s spring incomplete.

In response, the Muthabiroon for the Environment Foundation has launched an ambitious initiative to plant 21 million chamomile seeds near the ancient Wall of Nineveh. The location is deeply symbolic: here, nature and history intersect, and chamomile carries cultural and spiritual significance rooted in Assyrian heritage.

Working alongside the Nineveh Antiquities Inspectorate and the Municipality of Mosul, volunteers from Nineveh scattered seeds as an act of environmental resistance and hope. Campaign leader Anas Al-Ta’i emphasizes that chamomile is naturally regenerative—when conditions allow. But without spring rains, even resilient plants cannot survive.

Nineveh Antiquities Inspector Rowaid Muwaffaq reminds us that chamomile was more than a wildflower in ancient times. To the Assyrians, it symbolized healing, victory, and renewal, and its appearance marked the true beginning of spring. Preserving chamomile, he argues, is not only an environmental effort, but a defense of Nineveh’s historical identity.

For modern Assyrians, the replanting of this ancient flower may serve as a gentle but powerful omen from the past—one that reconnects memory to soil and history to renewal—heralding the possibility of a new era rooted in endurance, continuity, and hope.

Source: Yalla Community Website – Iraq