The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1908-02-01
AT JocHUA's TOMB
CITY OF eAopAD CLAIMS REST.
ING PLACE OF LEADER.
Moslem Women Gather There and
Pray for Al Kinds Of Favors-Has
Been Taken from Custody
Of the Jews.

Of the Jews.
Bagdad, once q city of 100000 peo-
pie. and 1000 years ago the worlds
center Of all which civilization means,
boasts only two graves of its great
characters. The tomb of the Caliph
Mansur and of Zobelde. the wife of
Harun-el-Rashid, alone stand among
its ruins. says the Sunday School
Times. Where the long list of caliphs,
the grand visers and the poets who
made Bagdad famous were buried
none can say. The tombs have prob
ably deem demolished by the ruthless
hunters OF bricks.
However, among the ruins Of the
old city Of Bagdad, to the left of the
Tigris, stands q large square brick
structure in which the Moslem keep
ers solemnly assert the body Of JOSH
ua Is buried. 1t is useless to test their
statements by the apparent age Of the
building, for the small square bricks
Of its walls, gathered from the ruins of
the Arabic period, may indicate only
reconstruction. The present build
ing Is not ancient. The entrance, pro-
tected by a portico, leads into large
open court, which is surrounded by
chambers. In some of the chambers
are tombs Of the recent dead; in
others the attendants live and in one
Is housed rough board coffin, which
renders service at every funeral in
the community. 1t is used to trans.
port the body to the cemetery and
Is then returned to the mosque to
await the next burial. A single date
palm now grows in the court, raising
Its head above the fiat roof to which
brick stairway leads.
At the farther end of the court, &C.
cupying the entire rear Of the build
ing, Is the shrine. spacious. window.
less chamber, lighted only by the door
way, and entirely destitute of furni-
ture save for the coarse reed mats
which cover the brick floor. Its CEN
ter Is capped by large doll. ;. and the
walls have recently been white
washed, yet in places beneath the
thin white coat appear the more an
cient Hebrew inscriptions which were
once the interior decorations.
The tomb beneath the center Of the
dome is protected by large rectangu-
lar paneled case of dark wood. and
I excepting In one place, where a panel
is missing, 1t is invisible. At the head
of the case are two tin projections.
about which are tied number of
! strings or rags torn from the gar
ments Of the visiting pilgrims. One
day, while l was standing at the head
: OF the sacred tomb, young Moslem
woman entered. and with eyes wet
with weeping she tore a small rag
from her g"rment and tied II
about one OF the projections, while
she mumbled a prayer to God that be-
! fore year hence, when she should
come tountie the rag, she might pre-
sent her husband with child. II
was but repetition of the picture OF
/ Hannah, the mother of Samuel, while
she was at the temple, weeping and
/ praying before Eli the priest. In the
: shrines of the east. the picture is still
/ common. Before the government
! buildings at Bagdad stari- bic
cannon which the ignora It Arab WON
en-, aware of It's tremendous power
believe can answer prayer
The old gun is half hidden with the
strings and rags tied about 1t. each to
represent a prayer, and could 1t speak
1t might tell strange stories of the
confessions which the confiding WON
en- have poured out to It. So with the
tomb of Joshua. There the women
! gather and pray for all kinds Of
favors, firm in the belief that the
prophet will in some way cause them
to be granted.
Less than half century ago the
tomb of Joshua was In Jewish hands
hut the Turkish officials caused 9
number of them to be arrested al
they were bearing the body Of noted
rabbi there for burial. The were i'm
prisoned for attempting to bury Jew
at the shrine of the great prophet
They were finally released upon the
payment of large sums OF money, but
the care of the tomb was taken from
them. Since then the tomb has beer
forbidden to the Jews. and, like mos
Moslem things, 1t now shows sad neg
lect. Yet should we follow the Jewish
woman as she crosses the old boa
bridge, we might see her turn towart
the tomb, and from distance, lool
longingly at the doorway which she 1:
forbidden to enter, while her lips ut
ter a prayer with the hope that thu
long leader even so far away
may hear and answer. it.