Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1921-08-19

plain Of. the Tigris and Euphrates
valleys, where the Garden or Eden
is supposed by many students to have
been situated. and where the first
weak rootlets sprouted that have
grown into the worldwide civilization
of today. Strip Irak OF its alias: call
it Babylon, Ninevah, Mesopotamia,
and it is known 10 every school child
A SLICE
OP TURKEY
THE country which IL is proposed
to erect into the practically indepen-
dent kingdom OF Irak was placed un-
der the mandate of Great Britain on
breaking up of the Turkish Empire
following the World War, and was
generally spoken as the mandate
for Mesopotamia.' 1t includes ap.
proximately the old Turkish vilay-
cts Of Basra. Bagdad and Mosul
which cover tho delta of the Tigris
and Euphrates and a considerable
part OF the upper reaches Of those
streams, lying between the Syrian
desert on the one side and the hills
of Kurdistan and western Persia on
the other. To the southeast at the
mouth OF the rivers, Is the navigable
Persian Gulf.
ut is difficult to exaggerate the
agricultural paradise that might be
built up in the lower valley of the
two rivers. supplemented by the min
eral wealth taken from the regions
farther north, IL the country were
under strong government, were
peopled by alert, educated inhabi-
tants, and If necessary capital and
modern machinery were available.
Even with the factors as they are.
the British. who still continue to
hold the mandate, and the Arabians
who will be in the immediate charge
of the government, are counting on
the rise of state which may be COM
pared without disadvantage with
some Of the great governments that
have occupied the land in the past.
IRRIGATION MADE
OF BABYLON
ITO gain an idea OF what wonder
about in Mesopotmia one need only
look into the past. At the beginning
OF history the plain OF the Tigris and
Euphrates was garden-spot tenn
ing with a well-fed and wealthy peo-
pie. If there was a grandeur that
was Greece and glory that was
Rome there was as truly splendor
that was Babylon. And the splend-
or of Babylon was made possible six
thousand years ago largely by the
wealth that sprang from tho inten-
sive cultivation of the river plain
under gigantic system of irriga-
tion which even the most ambitious
modern system probably have failed
in many ways to surpass.
Great canals crossed tho region
between the river and ran for miles
, on the outer sides while smaller
canals spread the water to every cor
ner Of the country. Some OF these
ancient canals wero practically ar
tificial rivers with two and three
parallel channels, the remains OF
which may be traced today for scores
Of miles. Watered by these countless
streams, nearlf every square foot Of
tho country produced its crops of
dates, figs. grain and other products,
and the population was many times
that of today
"Babylon'a agricultural Utopia
was not a short lived affair, but con-
tinued for nearly ten times as long as
the period which has passed since
white men settled In America. The
country throve with only minor in
lterruptions under Babylonians, As
syrins, Chaldeans. Greeks and Rom
ans. But always settled civilization
OF the agriculturists was threatened
i by the turbulent hill people to the
north and east. Finally tho Par
ithains captured the country and were
followed by tho Persians. Under
these more barbarous rulers the
great irrigation systems, even then
much less efficient than during the
golden age OF Babylon, rapidly de-
/ Perforated.
SPLENDID, GAY
WICKED BAGDAD
Under the Abbassid Caliphs, with
combination OF Arabic and Persian
culture, Bagdad was founded on the
Tigris in the very center OF the river
plain-the splendid, gay wicked Bag
dad OF the Arabian Nights. Meso-
potamia's prosperity, though much
less, was still relatively great. and
Bagdad was for while the metropolis
of the world. its inhabitants at one
time numbering 100000 souls.
when the Turks got possession
of the Caliphate and carried It's seat
on to the west, Bagdad withered:
and under Turkish rule the Tigrla
and Euphrates valley entered its
darkest period. The few canals that
had continued TO function properly
Joined those that long before had
fol s.Sk