The Washington times., 1917-03-12

The costly doors flung open wide,
Gold glittering through the lamplight
|, dim,
And broider'd sofas on each side.
The sloping OF the moonlit sward
Was damask work, and deep inlay
OF braided bloom sunmown, which
crept
Adown to whars the water slept,
A sudden splendor from behind
Flush'd all the leaves with rich gold
green,
And, flowing rapidly between
Their interspaces. counter charged
The level lake with diamond plots.
With dazed vision, unawares
From the long alleys latticed shade
Emerged, / came upon the great
Pavilion OF the Caliphate:
The fourscore windows all alight,
A million tapers flaring bright
From twisted silvers look'd to shame
The hollow-vaulted dark and stream
ed
Upon the mooned domes aloof
In inmost Bagdad, till there seemed
Hundreds OF crescents on the roof
OF night new-risen, that marvellous
time
To celebrate the golden prime
OF good Haroun Al Rashid-
-Tennyson.
Bagdad, the capital OF the Caliphs,
which fell to the British yesterday,
is a city around which gather more
OF history and tradition than any
other spot yet involved in the war.
With a known record reaching
back 1000 years, the city has been
trod by most OF the great conquerors
whose names flash acroSs the stories
OF the Orient, and has twice fallen
from dazzling splendor to almost
complete decay.
The waxing and waning of the
city's prosperity has depended on the
trade flowing between India and Per-
sia and the coast of Asia Minor.
Standing in what was almost the
only cultivated part of the great VAL
ley of the TIgris and Euphrates, the
dusty camel caravans from Teheran
and Samarcand, Ispahan, Kabu1 and
Kandahar drew into II to rest and
prepare for the final effort across
the desert to Tyre and Sidon, Lydia
and Acre.
:. =. Merchants Met There. .. go.
The merchants from the ends OF
the world met to dicker and quar-
rel in its great bazaars, and TO its
markets were sept the rarest Jewels,
the finest fabrics and the fairest
slaves.
When the Oriental traffic died down
after the conquests OF Alexander, when
the Parthian cavalry drove the camel
trains from the deserts. the city died.
When the power of Islam rose and
safety was re-established It was re-
founded and fiourished again Finally.
when the route to the north. along the
Caspian. was opened. Constantinople
took its place as the great mart Of the
East. and the city relapsed to Its pres
ent forlorn State-rich only In memories
and the veneration which Is paid its
shrines by Jew and MOslem.
Once Fame for Its Gardens.
The city was once famed for its gar
dens. The two great rivers are thcZe.
scarce twenty-five miles apart. and
were. during .the periods Of the city's
wealthf,. connected by many canals.
Then the whole plain blossomed like
Eden-many traditions declare that this
plain was the very garden where Eve
and Adam named the animals. But these
have now been filled by the blown des-
ert dust and the fields are bare.
Some students OF the Revelation de-
clare that the millennium cannot begin
till this plain Is again watered and
peopled.
First Historic Name.
The first OF the great historic names
connected with the city is that OF
Nebuchadnezzar. King of Babylon
the Nebuchadnezzar of childish story.
He was not the founder of the city,
for records have been found dating
back to 1000 B. C.-several hundred
years before his tIme-in which the |
city is mentioned. But the enslaver
of the Jews buill a quay at the city, |
which still stands, and, though sunk |
en- several feet during the $500 years |
since he poured the libations for its |
cornerstone, can be seen when the |
water in the Tigris is low.
There are many reminders of the |
captivity of Judah in and around the |
city. Within a few tmiles stand the |
tombs of Joshua, Ezra, and Ezekiel, |
prophets OF the exile. Outside the |
city is the famous well of Daniel, into |
which the prophet'is supposed to have |
been thrown during one of his con-
troversies with the Medean king.
A Vanished Period.
From this time to the Christian era |
the city almost vanishes from the |
record. 1t is mentioned occasionally |
for a few hundred years and then |
forgotten. Two hundred or 800 years |
after Christ a traveller reports that |
the site OF the ancient city held moth |
ing but a convent. The Parthians |
held the desert beyond and the great |
valley was empty.
The resurrection OF the city came |
in 49, A. D.. and IL is then that the |
history which made the name known |
the world over began to form. Man |
sur, the founder OF the great line of |
Abbasid Caliphs and the descendant |
of the Prophet, fought his way up |
from the Arabian desert and chose il |
as the site for a capital. The city |
was laid out on a magnificent plan. |
IL was five miles across the city from |
the north gate to the south. The |
canals from the river ran every |
where, and mosques and gardens rose |
till the palace OF the great |
Caliph was embowered in fragrance |
that was all the more wonderful be-
cause of the parching desert just be-
yond the walls.
City Built of Brick.
The city. like all in the great valley.
WAS huilt of brick There Il no stone /