Show 11 7 A 7 kon 1 3 M 1 1 1 ni G g my ifan M T d I 1 U F r fi IV 6 Y 1 1 rg 01 PT 7 Y fire wood Is scarce in iraq ere parea by b national society w D C avi 1 where american Ameil can explorers recently dl covered a complete historic township dating from tile the early cihiy fourth Is tile the modern nnnie name for the traditional garten garden of eden historically known knon as mesopotamia many historians hold that hat in ciraol in tile the valley of 0 tile the tigris and euphrates rivers risers 1 la 11 1 to be found the cradle of civilization upon the breaking up of tile the turkish empire following the world war viar mesopotamia became a brit wi ili mandate which was vas erected into the aril aral kingdom alno dom of iraq with ich a mohammedan prince front froni mecca upon the throne such la is the latest form its as sullied by the Plin neni enix among adiong nations lit in the ille list last six sl tho thousand 11 sand years ars baby conlan assyrian chaldean persian greek roman and eions have hae flourished in I 1 desopo tanila tamla each rising brorn the ashes of its predecessor the great irrigation works which alch throughout the centuries had kept the s euph euphrates rates valley green rich and flourishing were vere destroyed by invading mongols ind and allowed to decay by heedless turks the garden carden of eden became a treeless desert except for a fw fv date palms alons along the clver banks cities like Bagli baghdad dad and basra fell into deeny doca and seemed fast approaching tile fate alch which had overtaken ur and babylon Iii lilon where jackala jackals howl ale n lonely waste naste then follo ived a rebirth the throes of the great war once more bouts boats crowded the swift and treacherous reaches of the tigris once more the bazaars of baghdad and basra and hummed with world traffic le marauding Ma desert robber tribes were kept in perpetual pence by airplanes humming over oer their remote villages sanitary regulations and electric lighting made town and country both more safe and more healthful lee ice factories and soda water establishments helped alleviate e summer days of degrees in the shade levees were built to keep the flooding rivers within their banks and slowly bit by bit work wits was begun on repairing irrigation works and building railroads th thus us I 1 was modern iraq born the new kingdom under tinder british mandate embraces the valley ot of the tigris euphrates between the arabian desert on one side and the persian uplands on the other to the northwest lies iles the fr french c nell mandate of syria and to the north the kurdish highlands of 0 turkey southward stretches tile the persian gulf tile the count rys silt lit water outlet to the wide world within this strip of territory are barely people where chere once flourished a tion denser than that of modern bel glum what baghdad Is like there are three principal cities of oil fame Is in the north baghdad the capital in the central part and the important port of basra in the south of the three baghdad perhaps Is most famous from the deck of a tigris steamer baghdad looms up boldly its splendid skyline of domes and minarets mina reminding one of some midway of worlds fair memory an odd pontoon bridge connects the two parts of the city separated by tile the yellow tigris on the west bank I 1 la 3 t the b a old town by date wid orange groves pr from 0 m here the baghdad railway starts on its long run across the trackless desert fast east or of the river on the persian side Is new ba baghdad with its government offices barracks consulates su lates prisons etc beyond as far as the oye eye can roach reach in every direction stretches tile alie vas vast flat treeless empty plain of mesopotamia a region once more populous thin than belgium the traveler Is paddle ashore front from the steamer in a goo fah ali a queer c r goust craft in use e 1 here ie re que s since n e e tonais lay day A Is woven 0 v en from willows about six fet t in n 71 ampter Is elre circular ular and hasket slipped ani Is 14 con colteil ted with bi soot some say y moses mosca was cut adrift in one of these go roof fihs ihs old city mostly in ruins another strange craft at il I 1 Is the ile keek a kurdish Kurill sh invention the kele 1 ia a raft mado of inflated goat skins held together by poles lintl cov ered with a platform of straw mats these feleks come down to baghdad in hundreds from bringing wool pottery grain and il ans the present custom house at baghdad la Is a vang wing of the old palace of 0 al rashad yards of scrawling arabic characters cut in marble panels still adorn its ill historic walls alls baghdad arteries of traffic are mere alleys often SO BO narrow that two donkeys cannot pass once turkish soldiers tried to move artillery through baghdad the streets were ere so narrow the horses borses had to be unhitched and men moved the guns about by hand A great wall encircles baghdad with guarded gateways its as in medieval lays das riat flat roofed huddled moorish houses many almost windowless and each sul rounding its own open court are a distinct feature or of the older parts of baghdad on these hat flat roots roofs arabs spend the summer nights with tom toms flutes water nater pipes and dancing women omen racing facing the river removed from the arab town are built the imposing foreign consulates mercantile offices and the sumptuous homes of rich jews armenians Armen ians greeks anil and syrians the men who make new anew baghdad cut but the baghdad of all AH babas day with tile splendor of gladdins Alad dins enchanted age Is gone forever tore er tile the palaces the mosques and minarets mina are mostly in ruins even een the tomb of ovely lady Zo belila dit favorite fa orte wife of 0 al Is tumbled down clown find and it Is into modem monuments to 0 o new att ctt baghdad bag into flito broadi bridges public buildings irrigation army organization dr dredging edgill the tigris etc that the young turks put their money mone modern baghdad Is in safer hands no dissipated royalty guards guarde its gates sober clearheaded clear headed men drilled in the best schools of modern europe able to hold their own administer its affairs As late ns as 1830 1930 tile the tigris overflowed its banks swept through baghdad and drowned people in one night till lately baghdad more than any other city in the near hist east has been slow to yield to nn En ropes influence for centuries Bagli dad kept close to the bedouin life under the sway of nomad customs even now famous bazi bazaars lars despite her evolution in other ways are conducted as they were a thousands years ago thee arab trading ding places have hae changed not one whit since abrahams liams time nere here Is birter barter and sale as mirco mareo polo found it as it was in the lays of the throe three wise men who iho bought gifts for bethlehem basra Is situated on the el arab a river formed by the union of the tigris and euphrates smaller cen tors of importance such as kut anil and amara follow eich each other at intervals the entire length of the valley miles most of the fire arabs though in the cities are many jews while in the mountainous north are settlements of nestorian Ke christians dating from very early times arabs who work in factories Fact orlet city cit arabs haic bate taken readily to the ways of civilization and seem glad for the chance to work in lee ice and cotton cloth factories and upon engineering and public works much agricultural lind land has been reclaimed the date palm 0 of f which more than sixty varieties are known being the chief product wheat barley and rice are also grown and experiments with alth cotton are being made and L flowers pumpkins and TO gl t ables anre planted in the dato date or chirds where here the palms protect tender leaves below from the scorching summer su sun n those these green spots tire are still C chiefly confined to the reg regions along of the r iver banks tile the rest of the lower valley talley Is swamp or treeless plain irl in the spring months when snows snowa are melting on nearby near by mountain ranges the tigris and Emph euphrates rates become canges swollen torrents and often overflow their banks and inundate the surrounding country lust just ns as they did in tile lie lays days of noah the new regime la Is taking active steps in flood prevention liy by strengthening river banks in low places ili ices and damming up the flow at there hns been no serious flood sanc 1019 1919 when the tigris rose to within a foot of the tha level of baghdad nas hJad and the lower valley bedtime one vast nice inke wherein man and beast vainly sought tor for safety |