Post on 02-Jun-2015
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IraqIraq
A journey through…
…old Baghdad
My mother
lived in this remarkableplace at a remarkable time
A hundred years ago the scene had hardly changed since Biblical times
Water from the river was supplied by sakka with goatskins
Country women carried stacks of yogurt to sell in the city’s markets
Street barbers were much in demand despite the lack of privacy
Bread and drinks for sale
Kebab seller, Rashid Street
Porters were capable of carrying incredible loads
When Violette was born, in 1912, Mesopotamia had been part of the Turkish OttomanEmpire for almost 400 years.
The Jewish communitywas the oldest in the world. It formed
40%of the populationof Baghdad
Source: OTTOMAN YEARBOOK, 1917
The Ancient WorldROUTE OF ABRAHAM AND THE PATRIARCHS
(Early 2nd Millennium B.C.)
Muslims, Christians and Jews lived peaceably together in this old Eden.
‘JUDEN-VIERTEL’ The Jewish Quarter
The city
Inside the Great Synagogue, dating from the 5th century B.C.
Shanaashiil loggias projected over the streets and riverbank
Rashid Street
Café life formed the centre of the business world for men
Taxi! Arabaaaana!!
Omnibus
On the Tigris
A sfeenee barge bringing cargo upriver from Basra PHOTO by GERTRUDE BELL
A guffa, the type of coracle in daily use for transporting everything
This is firewood
Melons
There was only one crossing point on the river: a bridge made of boats
The bridge also spanned the centuries: from 1458 (left) to 1920 A Persian miniature, now in the British Library
It was given the name Maude Bridge in 1918 after the British army chief Sir Stanley Maude
At home
Baba was the first merchant to build a qasr (‘castle’ or ‘palace’) on the banks of the Tigris
Baba: Menashe Ishayak Nana: Khatoon Ishayek
OLD CITY
• THE NEW
HOME
It was two hours from the old city
After the crowded city, the children thought they were in paradise
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.’
Violette’s grandparents, Heskel and Ghalla A 19th century engraving from their time
Inside a qasr: a typical courtyard, with taraar cloisters beneath tarma balconies
The kabeshkaan, where Pessah items were stored out of reach
Family life
Paintings by ELI SAWDAYEE
Making sherbets, in various fruit flavours
Making silaan date syrup
The ‘titipampa’ mattress-fluffer at work
Making rose-water with an alembic still
The delicate art of depilation
Preparing for Yom Kippur: the kappara and the shohet
‘Saturday of the Ladies’: an excuse to go visiting
School
L’Alliance Israélite Universelle
Alliance teaching staff
Violette’s teachers Sett Farah andMme. Sabagh(seated, front row)
Markets
1920-1940
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.)
British troops entered Baghdad in 1917 after defeating the Turks
In 1921 the Mandate was proclaimed
Britain’s top diplomat, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis
Prince Faisal
Faisal’s coronation, with British officials in proud attendance (Cornwallis, left)
The new king
Faisal with leading members of the Jewish community
Important supplies arrive
Drive on the Left!
The city was growing and expanding
Imperial Airways began regular flights
The British were clearly expecting a long stay
In fact the Hunt continued until 1955, long after they had left!
The Nairn desert bus enroute to Palestine, with sister Fahima (1931)
1932: the Mandate ends and an ‘independent’ Iraq joins the League of Nations
American cars were available, but the old bridge looked just the same in 1932
1933: Violette (left) and sister Daisy visit Palestine
Back in Baghdad, social clubs (naadi) and the cinema became popular
Jewish musicians from Baghdad Radio, in the 1930’s
Women adopted western dress at home but often wore the abaaya to go out (Violette, right)
Violette inside the qasr
There were picnics such as this one to Hilla, suffering from a water shortage
Violette with her future husband, David
David’s father, Shm’oon, wearing the sidaara
Violette with Baba and Nana in the garden of the qasr
Country life
Basra
Babylon: a British officer surveys the ruins
British soldiers astride the Great Lion of Babylon, 1921
Al-Kifil: the tomb of Nabi Hesqeil
Kerbala
Kadhimain
Oil streams to the surface in northern Iraq, possibly near Kirkuk
1941
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
Hitler Youth, Iraqi style, commanded by the Mufti and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani
MAY
The black month of Rashid Ali
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani
Whipped up by the Mufti and the German ambassador, the mob takes to the streets
The Iraqis strike back, helped by the Luftwaffe
June 1: Ambassador Cornwallis and the British army commander, Maj.-Gen. George Clark
Moving on
Rashid Street in the post-war years
In all the heat people still slept on rooftops, even downtown on Rashid Street
Boys still flew their kites from there, just as they did in Violette’s day
G R E E N Z O N E
• SITE OF THE QASR
Baghdad today
The qasr was demolished and a new hotel, the Babylon, was built in its place
As it must have looked during demolition
It is directly across the river from the new U.S.Embassy, top left (right, the reverse view)
‘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.
‘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
When Violette was born, two-fifths of Baghdad’s population was Jewish. Today the number of survivors can be counted on two hands.
V.S. 1912-2006
Paintings courtesy of
Eli Sawdayee, Nilesh Mistry and Lorna Selim
www.memoriesofeden.comwww.memoriesofeden.wordpress.com
© 2012 Mira & Tony Rocca