Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1917-04-13
BACDAD HAS seen
Years OF STRIFE
City Of Ca|lphs One Of Worlds
Most Ancient.
GARDEN SPOT OF DESERT
City Now Conquered BY British Forces
Has Been Captured BY Many Tribes
In Past CenturIes-Turks Have Held
Sway There For the Past 27o Years
Without Interruption.

SWay unOre T0r tnO TooS ESO IOoTo
Without interruption.
The fall of Bagdad. besides impairing
German hopes Of near eastern domin-
ion, based on a Berlin Bagdad railway,
will reverberate throughout the Mo-
hammedan empires and. it is believed,
will help to rehabilitate British pres
t1ge in the far east, damaged by the
Dardanelles campaign and the loss OF
Kut-el-Amara.
Bagdad, the capital Of the caliphs, is
a city around which gather more of
history and tradition than any other
spot yet involved in the war. With q
known record reaching back 1000
years, the city has been trod by most
of the great conQuerors whose names
fash 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 Persia and
the coast Of Asia Minor. Standing In
what was almost the only cultivated
part Of the great valley Of the Tigris
and Euphrates. the dusty camel cara
vans from Teheran and Samarcand,
Ispahan, Kabul and Kandahar drew
into it to rest and prepare for the final
effort across the desert to Tyre and
Sidon, Lydia and Acre.
When the oriental traffic died down
after the conQuests Of Alexander the
city died. When the power Of Islam
rose and safety was re-established 1t
was refounded and hourished again.
Finally, when the route to the north
along the Caspian was opened Constan.
tinople took its place as the great mart
Of the east, and the city relapsed to its
present forlorn state-rich only In
memories and the veneration which ia
paid its shrines by the Moslem.
Tombs Of Prophsts.
The first of the great historic names
connected with the city is that Of Nebu-
chadnezzar, king Of Babylon. 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 built a
quay at the city, which still stands and,
though sunken several feet during the
$500 years since he poured the liba-
tions for it's cornerstone, can be seen
when the water in the Tigris is low.
There are many reminders Of the cap
tivity Of Judah in and around the city.
Within a few miles stand the tombs of
Joshua, Ezra and Ezekiel, prophets OF
the exile. Outside the city is the IA
nous well of Daniel. into which the
prophet is supposed to have been
thrown during one Of his controversies
with the Medean king.
From this time to the Christian era
the city almost vanishes from the rec
ord. It is mentioned occasionally for
few hundred years and then forgot
ten.
The resurrection Of the city came in
762 A. D., and it is then that the his
tory which made the name known the
world over began to form. Mansur, 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 it as the site
for capital. The city was laid out on
a magnificent plan. 1t was five miles
across the city from the north gate to
the south. The canals from the river
ran everywhere, and mosques and gar
dens rose together till the palace of the
great caliph was uncovered in fra
GRANGE that was all the more wonder
full because Of the parching desert just
be-. ond the walls.
For a thousand years aftel Mansur
pitched his tent beside the river and