'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. II. 1917' [‎376] (387/542)

376
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS
{sudd, about 6-7 ft. in height) which encircle the town on the NE,,
E., and SE. The N. end of the outer is reported to be about
2^ m. from the Citadel (see below), and to be broad enough for a
carriage to drive along it. It runs from Mo'adhdham to Qarareh.
On the SE. side of the city a third enclosing an area of about
3,000x1,500 yds., runs past a line of mounds about 20 ft. above
the plain, which lie, apparently, 1-2 m. from the S. gate. The
western end of this line of mounds is apparently about J m. from
the Tigris.
The Christian cemeteries lie SE. of the town, outside the wall
of the city; they are surrounded by mud walls. The South
Barracks, built by Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in the same region, have to a great
extent collapsed, as the result of the floods of 1914. On the N. side of
the town there is a military hospital a short distance above the
Citadel, and near it a large hospital built by a rich Jewish merchant.
The city on both sides of the river was surrounded by a wall of
earth and brickwork, following on the E. side the line of the fortifi
cations of Mustashlr (1095 a. d .) ; this was dismantled about forty-
five years ago, but still forms a continuous embankment 10 to 15 ft.
high, along which runs a path or road with a deep ditch in front.
Otherwise Baghdad was an open town before the present war.
On the 1. bank the remains of the city-wall form with the river
a rough parallelogram about 2 m. long with an average width of
somewhat over 1 m., containing the main town of Baghdad. About
one-third of this area (the part next the desert) is empty or occupied
by graveyards, ruins, and rubbish-heaps. Towards the S. there
were once numerous date-groves, but in recent years these have
been rapidly making room for new houses. One of the old gateways
(called Bab et-Tilism, the Talismanic Gate, bricked up in 1639) is now
a military magazine. It is a fine octagonal tower standing at some
distance from the houses in the SE. part of the long face of the wall
that looks towards the desert. Towards the NW. end of the same
stretch of wall is the Bab el-Wastani (the middle gate), a domed
octagonal chamber standing outside the present line of the wall,
with which it is connected by a low bridge leading across the moat,
flanked with walls on either hand.
The quarters of the city that lie on the r. bank begin farther up
stream than those on the left, and extend to a greater distance above
the bridge of boats. The city-wall on this side follows a more
irregular course than on the other, and encloses an area of consider
ably less depth, but the vacant spaces within it are not so large
proportionally as on the eastern bank.
The streets of Baghdad are winding, ill kept, and generally too