| ASSYRIA | One of the world's great empires, occupying present-day northern Iraq and south-eastern Turkey (7) |
| NINEVEH | Ancient capital of Assyria on the river Tigris in present-day northern Iraq |
| KURD | Member of a race of people living chiefly in eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and western Iran (4) |
| GAUL | An ancient region of Western Europe corresponding to present day Northern Italy, France, Belgium, part of Germany and the Southern Netherlands (4) |
| JUDAISM | One of the world's great religions (7) |
| LEMONDE | Subject of "The World's Great Dailies" |
| ZAMBIA | Modern-day Northern Rhodesia |
| HITTITE | Member of an ancient people of Anatolia who built a great empire in the second millennium BC (7) |
| ROMULUS | Mythical founder of a great empire (7) |
| BAGHDAD | ------- Central, C4 crime thriller set in Iraq and starring Waleed Zuaiter and July Namir (7) |
| KURDISH | Iranian language spoken also in Turkey, Iraq and Syria (7) |
| ZAGROS | Mountain range in southwestern Iran, extending northwest-southeast from the border areas of eastern Turkey and northern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz. Its highest point is Mount Dena. (6) |
| MIDEAST | Setting of Iran, Iraq and Israel |
| KURDS | Ethnic minority people of northern Iraq, north-eastern Iran and eastern Turkey |
| ARARAT | A massif in eastern Turkey, said to be the biblical resting place of Noah's Ark after the Flood (6) |
| MOSUL | City of northern Iraq on the river Tigris which includes the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh (5) |
| MOUNT | Compound volcano in eastern Turkey traditionally considered the resting place of Noah's Ark (5,6) |
| ANEW | "The world's great age begins ___": Shelley |
| AZTEC | A member of a Mexican people who established a great empire centred on the Valley of Mexico (5) |
| KURDISTAN | Mountainous region in the Middle East that has struggled for self-determination since 1923 against the governments of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria |
