The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1919-08-08
. E0PLE are apt to be dlsappoint-
ed In Bagdad, but this Is not I'M
natural unless one bears clearly


in mind that what one sees to-
day is a comparatively modern Turco-
Arabian town and not the city of ro-
nance of Arabian Nights entertain
ments that one has probably imagined.
That old Bagdad, or rather Dar-es-
Salam as 1t was originally called, was
built in the year 1853 A. d. by Al Man
sur, the second Abbasid caliph, out of
the ruins of the city of CtesiphOn. 1t
saw its palmiest days In the time of
Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, the fifth of
the Abbasid line, who fourished from
1856 to 800 A. d. The city soon after
this came to its end.
The caliphate was for political rea-
sons moved to Samarrah in S36 and
when 1t was brought back again to
Bagdad In S92, q new city was built
on the opposite, /. e., left, bank Of the
Tigris, q mile or two downstream from
the old site. OF Dar-es-Salam nothing
now remains but a few indistinct
mounds, says a 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 as 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 of 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
sacked: 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 as often as not with inferior skill
and Its sufferings have entirely chang
ed 1t during the course Of time.
Few Old Buildings Remain.
How thoroughly bad the construction
of some buildings has beeu-more par
ticularly in modern times-may bt
judged from the fact that two largt
mInarets belonging to one Of the
mosques of the city. which were bull
within the memory of the inhabitanti
S of Bagdad, have already lost their tor
stories. But this, of course, is an ex
IRENE example. On the other hant
there is the Khan Aurtmah. larg'
brick vaulted building In the center o
the city, which is, in Its way. as won
derful a piece of construction as on
can see anywhere. II was built II
1859 and Is still In use and In excel
lent preservation. The Marjaniyal
mosque, close by, and having as par
Of its endowments the income derives
from the Khan Aurtmah. is anothe
fine old building. II was built tw
years. before the Khan and Is OF con
siderable architectural merit.
A few fragments Of an earlier Cat
are to be found In different parts 0
the city. Some portions Of the oil
fertilization of mustashir. for exam
pie, and the eleventh century minaret
of suqal-Ghazl and Of the Qamariyal
mosque and. at any rate. some Of tn
walls Of the old Mustansariyah colleg
Eleventh century, may be mentioned
But there are no other old building
as complete as the khan and tn
mosque.
5eautifui-From q Distance.
Apart from these few examples Q
an earlier period. the Bagdad We knot
today Is Of the seventeenth or eigh'
eenth and succeeding centuries whie
IN terms OF architecture Is compars
lively modern. Judged In this ligh
Bardad Is not disappointing. II 4
particularly for Mesopotamian tow
cutie q delightful place. From the 81