The Ordway new era., 1919-08-08
\ EOPLE are apt to be dlsappoint-
I ed in Bagdad, but this Is not un-
natural unless one bears clearly
In mind thnt ,uhnt nnn snna to-

natural unless one bears clearly
in mind that what one sees to-
lay Is n comparatively modern Turco-
Arabian town and not the city Of ro-
nance of Arabian Nights entertain
nents that one has probably imagined.
That old Bagdad, or rather Dar-es-
;alnm as 1t was originally called, was
)ullt in the year 1853 A. ID. by Al Man
sur, the second Abbasid caliph, out of
he ruins of the city of Ctesiphon. II
Jaw Its palmiest days in the time of
Callph Haroun-al- -Raschid, the fifth of
he Abbasld line, who fiourished from
1855 to 800 A. ID. The city soon after
his came to its end.
The caliphate was for political rea-
sons moved to Samarrah In S36 and
when it was brought back again to
Bagdad In 800, a new city was built
on the opposite, l. e., left, bank of the
Tigris. mile or two downstream from
the old site. OF Dar-es-Sulam nothing
now remains but few indistinct
mounds, says writer in the Times of
India Illustrated Weekly.
1t cannot even be said that the new
capital of which we have just spoken
is the Bagdad that we know today.
The site has remained the same, but
of the city there Is now nothing above
ground that can be identified ns being
nearly as old as S92. Bagdad has suf-
fered more often and more severely
from destruction and decay than Eu-
ropean or Indian cities. even taking
into account such incidents as the
great fire of London or the sequence
of events that has produced the seven
capitals at Delhi, or the CHEEKY habit
of the old Roman emperors of pulling
down the buildings of their predeces-
sors in order to build finer ones for
themselves Twice has Bagdad been
sa cked: in 1858 by the Mongols under
Hulaku Khan and again in 400 by
Tamerlane. 1t has been besieged many
times and flooded still more often.
Such life would be bound to tell
on the constitution even of well-built
city and Bagdad was not that. 1t was
built with inferior building material
and us often as not with inferior skill.
and its sufferings have entirely chang
ed it during the course of time.
Few Old Buildings Remain.
How thoroughly bad the construction
of some buildings has been-more par
ticularly in modern times-may be
Judged from the fact that two large
mInarets belonging to one of the
mosques of the city, which were built
within the memory of the inhabitants
of Bagdad, have already lost their top
stories. But this, of course, is an ex-
treme example. On the other hand
there Is the Khan Aurtmah, large
brick vaulted building in the center of
the city, which is. in its way, as won
derful piece Of construction as one
can see anywhere. 1t was built in
1859 and is still In use and in excel
lent preservation. The Marjaniyah
mosque, close by, and having as part
of its endowments the income derived
from the Khan Aurtmnh, Is another
fine old building 1t was built two
wears before the Khan and is of con-
siderable architectural merit.
\ few fragments of an earlier date
nre to be found in different parts of
til, city. Some portions of the old
FORT 'fcntlnn of mustashir, for exam
=. .iI ,hr eleventh century minarets
,all and of the Qamariyah
~ "nr rate. some OF the