The dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1919-2001, 1921-11-09
NEW REBELLION IN
GARDEN OF EDEN

"Mesopotamia, Upper and Lower,
vies with Egypt in claiming the honor
of being the home of ancient civili-
zation," says a bulletin Of the Nation
al Geographic Society quoting from
several communications concerning
the land of Adam and Eve where the
British recently sent more troops be-
cause Of native uprisings. -
"Mesopotamia comprises the val
leys of the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. Here flourished the Chal-
dean, Babylonian, and Assyrian en-
pires. The city of Bagdad, with all
it's glamor of mystery and magic, is
in the heart of Mesopotamia.
"This was the richest land in the
world, the granary of the ancients;
yet, in spite of all that it has been,
it today lies largely waste, the desert
sands have encroached upon the fer
tile fields, while the clogged canals
have turned other portions into
swamps and marshes.
"What population there is-not
more than one miiilon-is of Arab
origin and the Arabic language is
spoken throughout. There is, in fact,
{. very distinct dividing line between
the Turkish-speaking portions Of the
former Ottoman empire. This boun-
Diary corresponds with the line of the
Hagdad ra.ilway t,3m the Mcditerran-
can to the Frrslar Gulf. 1t is for the
exploitatiAu OF this rich lt1:G of Meso-
potan,ia that the famous Bagdad line
was built.
Syria closes the east en-! Of the
Mediterranean ard is bounded on the
rotrh by the Taurus mountains. The
Syrian and Arabian deserts limit fur
ther settlement to the east and south.
But in connection with world COM
merce it (Syria) has always been
closely related to the fertile valleys
of the Nile and the twin Mespotamian
rivers, and it's commercial life tomor-
row cannot be divorced from that OF
Mesopotamia.
"Mesopotamia is as fertile today as
when it was the birthplace of human
history and when the civilization that
developed there had only the Nile
valley as competitive field.
Various factors delayed the in
evitable reopening of the historic
trade route across Syria and Mesopo-
tamia in modern times.
Nowhere, however, did trade fol-
than along the Bagdad line, End in
the spring Of 1914 Aleppo was a
thriving commercial center Of German
trade. At the hotels engineers and
merchants crowded the dining rooms
and talked Of a mighty future in
Mesopotamia, That summer, wal
came, and the burning question Of
styles was rapidly succeeded by one
of food enough to keep body and soul
together.
Fifty miles west of Bagdad, along
the Euphrates, lies the region now
commonly regarded as the Garden Of
Eden. TO irrigate this Eden and to
reclaim millions Of fertile acres
around Eagdad was the stupendous
task to which the Turkish govern
ment addressed itself.
AT Mussayeb, on. the Euphrates,
pre-war traveller saw 1000 Arabs
digging like moles in the Babylonian
plain, making a new channel for the
river. In the dry bed of this artificial
channel an enormous dam was built.
"Nebuchadnezzar's vast irrigation
system, which once watered all Baby
lonia, can still be easily traced for
miles about Bagdad. One giant
canal, the Narawn, runs parallel with
the Tigris for nearly 800 miles; it is
$50 feet wide and all about it the
takc-off and laterals may still be
identified. Herodotus said he found
a forest of verdure from end to end
when he visited Mesopotamia."