BAGDAD TO-DAY

Evening Star, Issue 22460, 3 October 1936, Page 10

BAGDAD TO-DAY

ANCIENT ORIENTAL CITY OF LEARNING MODERN MOTOR GARS There are two ways of reaching Bagdad from Palestine—by motor ear or by aeroplane (writes Mr Harold Shepstone, F.R.G.S.. in the ‘ Weekly Scotsman ’). I chose the former, which is naturally much cheaper, though it proved a somewhat monotonous ride of 36 hours’ duration. Leaving Jerusalem in the early hours we descended into the Jordan Valley, crossed the Allenby Bridge into Transjordania. and thence on to Amman, flic capital. From this point onwards the track lies across desert country, and with the exception of a few isolated strings of camels with their Bedouin drivers, not a sign of life is encountered until you approach the Tigris. Here irrigated fields and groves of palm trees are met. Soon the minarets and mosques of Bagdad come into view, and before long the car is at rest in front of the hotel. 1 was anxious to learn what Bagdad was like. There were rumours that under its young Arab ruler. King Ghazi, Bagdad was rapidly adopting Western methods and losing much of its Oriental charm. I must admit that that was my first impression as I hastened down New street. Here are the Government offices, colleges, schools, hospitals, banks, business houses, and hotels. The latest type of motor cars were passing to and fro and many people were in modern dress. THE UNSPOILT ARAB CITY. New street was cut through the city during the war, and has now become its principal thoroughfare. But when I turned down its side streets and strolled along River street an entirely different picture presented itself. Here were the lanes and by-streets which Haroun-el-Rashid and his faithful vizier walked, disguised, hundreds of years ago. Bagdad is still an unspoilt Arab city of some 300,000 population. Curiously enough, Bagdad is not an ancient city—that is, ancient when we remember that Iraq was the cradle of the human_ race, that here scholars place the site of the Garden of Eden. and here may be seen the ruins of Babylon, Nineveh, Ur of the Chaldees, and many other once famous cities. Iraq is at once the oldest, yet newest of nations—old in that she was the birthplace of early civilisation; and new in that it was only a short time ago she became an independent State and a membar of the League of Nations. Bagdad was founded by the Caliph Mansur in the year 762. He kept an army of 100,000 men constantly employed for four years at a cost, it is said, of some £9,000,000. Mansur was a man of exemplary character, severe in his official capacity, and extremely II careful ” as to money. He was known as the “ father of halfgennies.” He named his city Dar-es-alaam, the City of Peace, which appellation was later discarded in favour of Bagdad, which is supposed to have been the_ name of a monk who served in a neighbouring church. CENTRE OF LEARNING. In the time of Mansur’s son, Haroun-el-Rashid. which means “ Haroun the Wise,” who reigned from 788-809, Bagdad reached its zenith. In those days it was the meeting place of men of learning and culture from all over the world. The royal gifts given to poets for a single sonnet ran sometimes into thousands of. gold dinnars. Haroun-el-Rashid and his faithful vizier used to walk about the streets of the city disguised, in order to discover what his people thought of his administration and to Ifearn if they had any grievances or complaints. His death proved the turning point in Bagdad’s fortunes, and from that time onwards its downward march began. There is a subtle charm about Bagdad that grows upon.you. I spent

some time walking about its narrow, winding, crowded streets, catching sudden glimpses of glowing, hidden courtyards, unexpected rays of light, a bright blue dome, and minarets lit up at sunset. Crossing the river by the Maude Bridge, a pontoon structure, built to replace the original one made by the British when they entered the town in 1918, I met a typical scene of the river’s varied and kaleidoscopic life. All the amazing mixture of the East mingled with that of the West streams past you. Parthians, Medes, and Elamites —the dwellers of Mesopotamia—all creeds, all nations, camels, donkeys, mules, goats, and sheep, motors of every type, from desert transports to the sporting motor cycle. Camels with mountains of goods' on their backs, next to sheiks on "exquisite horses, Jewish women in delicate pink silk “ izars,” Moslem women, black, silent, closely-veiled, Bedouins, Persians, Shiites, and Sunnis, and Iraqis of all sorts, some in dirty tatters, others in immaculate white and cream suits, black caps, blade glasses, black Charlie Chaplin moustaches, and all pushing, jostling, talking, and shouting. VARIED RIVER CRAFT. Once across the bridge I made my way down the river. Here were strings of white donkeys carrying yellow bricks, “ belems,” or native boats, laden with all kinds of fruit, grain, and other commodities, rafts piled high with brushwood and dried vegetation to be used as fuel, and that curious craft the “ gufa ” or “ ghuffa,” a circular wickerwork creation only seen upon these waters. It is the oldest form of boat in the world. It is made of dried palm fronds and coated with bitumen, pitched within and without.” It can bo as small as a clothes basket or as wide as 30ft. “ Gufas ” can carry very heavy loads, and are not easily upset. As* in many other Eastern cities, special trades or professions arc to be found allocated to definite quarters. On River street are the silversmiths. They toil in little shops, and are known as “ Subbis.” They belong to what they term the Sahean sect. Among other strange beliefs, they claim relationship with John the Baptist, whom they worship. Like the Yezidis, who are devil worshippers, they abhor the colour blue, and always wear a red “ kufeyeh,” or headgear. They have a secret "process of engraving hand-beaten silver and treating it with antimony. The coppersmiths work in little dark stores in the copper bazaar, and the variety and stylo of articles they fashion are amazing—all kinds of domestic utensils, as well as articles of adornment. They squat for hours on their haunches round a little centre fire, hammering away and often chanting and singing as they work. In the pottery shops the potter may be seen at his"wheel. The pottery articles of Bagdad are mostly of a beautiful green tint, obtained by a special process of dyeing. The silk shops are a blaze of colours. The shopkeeper is almost lost among bales of the most lovely silks of the most gorgeous colours. “ Izars,” rich silk garments worn by Christian, Jewish, and Moslem women alike, are one of the most noticeable features of the town. The silk of which they are made is very thick and heavy, the borders woven in gold, silver, or oxidised thread. Pink is the favourite colour, and it may be had in all shades. But there are “ izars ” of every conceivable colour. CITY OF MOSQUES. Bagdad is a city of mosques, one of the most picturesque being the great Haider-Khanah shrine. Its beautiful blue dome is the resort of thousands of pigeons. Close by Exchange Square is Bagdad’s oldest minaret, all that remains of the famous Suk-El-Ghazal Mosque, built by the Caliphs over a thousand years ago. Its crumbling tower forms Bagdad’s principal landmark. There is also the A.bdul Kadir Gilani Mosque, but this is a Sunni shrine, Bagdad being mostly Shiite. There are two great sects in the Moslem faith—Shiite and Sunnite. The former uphold the claim of Ali, a cousin and also son-in-law of the Prophet, to the Caliphate. Ali was murdered while at prayer in the mosque at Kufa, and the Caliphate passed to the Ommayyids through Omayya, a distant cousin of the Prophet. By all Shiites, Ali, and also his son Hussein, who was killed at Kerbela, are looked upon as martyrs, and pilgrimages are made to their graves. A very interesting place is the Iraq Museum". It is an attractive building, which' is dedicated to Gertrude Bell, the so-called uncrowned queen of Iraq, because of her loyalty to the country and to the museum. Over the entrance, guarded on both sides by two colossal statues of the scribe-god Nabu, once guardian of the palaces of AshirNasirpal 11. qnd Thalmanesar 111. at Calah, is a bronze bust of Miss Bell and a tablet to her memory. In the museum you can see the room in which she worked, on the wall ot which hangs her portrait, the work of the well-known artist Sargcant. The museum is exclusively devoted to the exhibition of antiquities of the country, its aim being to illustrate the continuous history of the old world hy typical exhibits. There is a very valuable collection of early-painted pottery from Kish and elsewhere; inlaid friezes from Us and Kish; gold, silver, and copper vessels and weapons from Ur and other places; the breastplate from Tarkalan, and statues from Adah and La gash, and a wonderful display of ivory and hone combs, pins, and toilet boxes from various sites. KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES. The officials I , met in Bagdad were most anxious to assure me that Iraq’s one desire is to improve and to keep up with the times. Dr Said Bey. Director of Hospitals, had just opened a children's playground on the outskirts of Bagdad, equipped with the requirements for recreation beloved by children of more advanced lands. Modern Iraq has an area of some LIO.OOO square miles, with a population of some three million. She is primarily an agricultural country, hut as the average rainfall is only about five or six inches a year she has to depend upon the waters of her two historic rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris, for her crops. Yet cultivation is extensive. Wheat, barley, rice, maize, sesame, and cotton are grown. Seventy-five per cent, of the world’s consumption of dates come from the Basrah district. Her latest form of wealth seems to he the unlimited quantities of crude oil that arc rapidly being developed in the Kirkuk district, in the north. To-day the oil is being carried through pipes across GOO miles of desert to Haifa, in Palestine, and to Tripoli, in Syria. The quantity of oil now being taken is not large compared to what the yield will eventually be, yet I was assured in Bagdad that the Iraq Government was already receiving £I.OOO a day in royalties from the oilfields.