beautiful baghdad

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Iraq Iraq

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I made this slideshow to link to MEMORIES OF EDEN, the book Mira and I edited based on the reminiscences of her mother, sent to us in note form over a period of 20 years. Website: http://www.memoriesofeden.comBlog: http://memoriesofeden.wordpress.com

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Page 1: Beautiful Baghdad

IraqIraq

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A journey through…

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…old Baghdad

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My mother

lived in this remarkableplace at a remarkable time

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A hundred years ago the scene had hardly changed since Biblical times

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Water from the river was supplied by sakka with goatskins

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Country women carried stacks of yogurt to sell in the city’s markets

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Street barbers were much in demand despite the lack of privacy

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Bread and drinks for sale

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Kebab seller, Rashid Street

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Porters were capable of carrying incredible loads

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When Violette was born, in 1912, Mesopotamia had been part of the Turkish OttomanEmpire for almost 400 years.

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The Jewish communitywas the oldest in the world. It formed

40%of the populationof Baghdad

Source: OTTOMAN YEARBOOK, 1917

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The Ancient WorldROUTE OF ABRAHAM AND THE PATRIARCHS

(Early 2nd Millennium B.C.)

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Muslims, Christians and Jews lived peaceably together in this old Eden.

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‘JUDEN-VIERTEL’ The Jewish Quarter

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The city

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Inside the Great Synagogue, dating from the 5th century B.C.

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Shanaashiil loggias projected over the streets and riverbank

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Rashid Street

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Café life formed the centre of the business world for men

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Taxi! Arabaaaana!!

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Omnibus

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On the Tigris

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A sfeenee barge bringing cargo upriver from Basra PHOTO by GERTRUDE BELL

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A guffa, the type of coracle in daily use for transporting everything

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This is firewood

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Melons

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There was only one crossing point on the river: a bridge made of boats

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The bridge also spanned the centuries: from 1458 (left) to 1920 A Persian miniature, now in the British Library

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It was given the name Maude Bridge in 1918 after the British army chief Sir Stanley Maude

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At home

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Baba was the first merchant to build a qasr (‘castle’ or ‘palace’) on the banks of the Tigris

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Baba: Menashe Ishayak Nana: Khatoon Ishayek

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OLD CITY

• THE NEW

HOME

It was two hours from the old city

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After the crowded city, the children thought they were in paradise

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VIOLETTE WROTE:

‘It seemed as if we were flying on a magiccarpet alongside the songbirds thatnested there and filled the air with musicalnotes of incredible beauty.

‘We were, after all, in the land ofthe Garden of Eden.’

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Violette’s grandparents, Heskel and Ghalla A 19th century engraving from their time

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Inside a qasr: a typical courtyard, with taraar cloisters beneath tarma balconies

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The kabeshkaan, where Pessah items were stored out of reach

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Family life

Paintings by ELI SAWDAYEE

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Making sherbets, in various fruit flavours

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Making silaan date syrup

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The ‘titipampa’ mattress-fluffer at work

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Making rose-water with an alembic still

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The delicate art of depilation

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Preparing for Yom Kippur: the kappara and the shohet

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‘Saturday of the Ladies’: an excuse to go visiting

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School

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L’Alliance Israélite Universelle

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Alliance teaching staff

Violette’s teachers Sett Farah andMme. Sabagh(seated, front row)

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Markets

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1920-1940

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The Mandates, 1920

S Y R I A

P A L E S T I N E

I R A QPalestine TransjordNn

FRANCE GREAT BRITAIN

The Mandates, 1920

S Y R I A

P A L E S T I N E

I R A Q

BAGHDAD

Palestine Transjordan

The Modern WorldTHE COLONIAL DIVISION OF SPOILS(Early 20th Century A.D.)

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British troops entered Baghdad in 1917 after defeating the Turks

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In 1921 the Mandate was proclaimed

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Britain’s top diplomat, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis

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Prince Faisal

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Faisal’s coronation, with British officials in proud attendance (Cornwallis, left)

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The new king

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Faisal with leading members of the Jewish community

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Important supplies arrive

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Drive on the Left!

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The city was growing and expanding

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Imperial Airways began regular flights

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The British were clearly expecting a long stay

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In fact the Hunt continued until 1955, long after they had left!

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The Nairn desert bus enroute to Palestine, with sister Fahima (1931)

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1932: the Mandate ends and an ‘independent’ Iraq joins the League of Nations

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American cars were available, but the old bridge looked just the same in 1932

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1933: Violette (left) and sister Daisy visit Palestine

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Back in Baghdad, social clubs (naadi) and the cinema became popular

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Jewish musicians from Baghdad Radio, in the 1930’s

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Women adopted western dress at home but often wore the abaaya to go out (Violette, right)

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Violette inside the qasr

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There were picnics such as this one to Hilla, suffering from a water shortage

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Violette with her future husband, David

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David’s father, Shm’oon, wearing the sidaara

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Violette with Baba and Nana in the garden of the qasr

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Country life

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Basra

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Babylon: a British officer surveys the ruins

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British soldiers astride the Great Lion of Babylon, 1921

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Al-Kifil: the tomb of Nabi Hesqeil

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Kerbala

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Kadhimain

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Oil streams to the surface in northern Iraq, possibly near Kirkuk

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1941

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Haj Amin el-Huseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and friend of Hitler, inspecting SS stormtroops after fleeing Iraq disguised as a woman

From a German magazine cover

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Hitler Youth, Iraqi style, commanded by the Mufti and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani

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MAY

The black month of Rashid Ali

Rashid Ali al-Gaylani

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Whipped up by the Mufti and the German ambassador, the mob takes to the streets

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The Iraqis strike back, helped by the Luftwaffe

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June 1: Ambassador Cornwallis and the British army commander, Maj.-Gen. George Clark

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Moving on

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Rashid Street in the post-war years

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In all the heat people still slept on rooftops, even downtown on Rashid Street

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Boys still flew their kites from there, just as they did in Violette’s day

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G R E E N Z O N E

• SITE OF THE QASR

Baghdad today

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The qasr was demolished and a new hotel, the Babylon, was built in its place

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As it must have looked during demolition

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It is directly across the river from the new U.S.Embassy, top left (right, the reverse view)

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‘Our Baghdad, my Baghdad, is gone for ever. I just wonder if the new builders found the treasure that Baba placed in the foundations of the qasr, on the right-hand side under the mezuza for good luck at the front door.

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‘He told us about it in great secrecy: it was an amphora of gold coins with a letter in ancient Hebrew that he himself had buried at night after the masons had gone home, walling it in with bricks in the morning.’

VIOLETTE SHAMASH

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When Violette was born, two-fifths of Baghdad’s population was Jewish. Today the number of survivors can be counted on two hands.

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V.S. 1912-2006

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Paintings courtesy of

Eli Sawdayee, Nilesh Mistry and Lorna Selim

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www.memoriesofeden.comwww.memoriesofeden.wordpress.com

© 2012 Mira & Tony Rocca