Even before the present war in early 2003 not much of ancient Babylon was left to be seen. Ninety-five percent of what was visible above ground was Saddam Hussein's reconstruction, which was not very accurate. The mighty lion gates are about an eighth the size of the originals, and Nebuchadnezzar's palace is twice as large as the original would have been.
There is a sign in Babylon that reads "Alexander the Great died on this spot in 323 BC." Alexander had conquered the known world. He was hailed as a god by the Egyptian priesthood. He died, broken, exhausted, worn out, at only 33. Babylon itself went into decline soon after, with the founding of Seleucia, the new Greek capital. It was built by those who succeeded to Alexander's empire.
In the second century BC, Babylon became part of the Persian empire. It stayed as part of that empire until the seventh century AD, when an army of 18,000 Arab Muslims, led by Khalid ibn al Walied defeated the much more numerous Persian army. The Persians were said to have become exhausted by the ceaseless wars against the Byzantines, and were chained together so they could not run away. Thus they were forced to fight, and lost. The people were then offered this ultimatum: "Accept the faith of Islam, and you are safe; otherwise pay tribute. If you refuse to do either, you have only yourselves to blame. A people is already upon you, loving death as you love life."
The following year the Persians attacked the Muslims at al-Hirah on the west bank of the Euphrates, under their hero, Rustum. There is a famous English poem titled "Sohrab and Rustum." They were badly defeated, and defeated again the year after at the Battle of Buwayb. The following year Rustum was killed at a village south of Baghdad, Al-Qadisaya. The Persians gave up.
The Muslims were inspired by their successes, and pushed on. They were fighting a jihad. Jihads were religious wars, and were regulated by religious laws that prevented looting, rape and the needless killing of civilians.
In 750 AD, Abo al Abbas was established in Baghdad as the first caliph, or supreme Islamic authority of the Abbassid dynasty. Twelve years later Baghdad was founded. It rose quickly to importance. By the 10th century AD it was the intellectual centre of the world.
The Arabs have always gazed back wistfully upon this era. It was when their civilization was the glory of the world. It has been called a triumph of mind and spirit unprecedented in human history. All roads led to Baghdad then, as earlier it had been said "all roads lead to Rome." It was the peak of Islamic culture which would never be seen again.
The European Renaissance could not have happened if it weren't for that glorious Islamic civilization. It was the Arabs who preserved the wisdom of the ancient world through the Dark Ages and built much upon it. Few people in the west are aware of the significant contributions made by the Islamic world to the progress of humanity. Beginning with the rise to power of Baghdad in the mid-eighth century under the first Abbasid caliph, and continuing beyond Islamic political decline five hundred years later, science and education flourished under Muslim influence.
No such activity characterized any other part of the contemporary world. The lights of Graeco-Roman culture had been extinguished and Europe was engulfed in the Dark Ages; India was languishing in a period of stagnation; and China, while blossoming richly in the arts, was almost wholly without science. These contrasting facts are little known for several reasons that will be described.
For far too long our histories have concentrated on the rise and fall of empires, the militaristic clash of nations, and the succession of dynasties. Only relatively recently did historians begin to trace the rise of civilization itself. Until relatively recently the West remained insular. Not until the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution did the history, arts and religions of Asian countries begin to interest the Western mind.
The inherent conflict between Islam and Christendom further contributed to indifference, if not hostility, of the West to the East. The Crusades are strong evidence of the difficult relationship which existed between these two great religions. Up until the nineteenth century it was as though a gigantic curtain separated the cultures of Islam and Christianity. The inability to read and write Arabic with ease was a considerable obstacle. Until the 1900's few Western scholars could read, let alone translate Arabic.
In the story of man, the Arab-Islamic period forms a very important chapter. It was one of the world's three great scientific epochs, standing midway and providing a link between the embryonic science of the Greeks and the birth of modern science and technology. The rise of Muslim rule was dramatic.
In the time of the second Abbassid caliph, Abu Jafar Al-Mansur (754-775 AD) Baghdad was just a village. This caliph was a skilled orator and administrator. Hedecided to build his new capital nearby. In less than 50 years the population grew a lot, and sprawled outside the city's walls.
By the reign of Mansur's grandson, Haroun al-Rashid (786-806 AD), the city was second only to Constantinople in size. Al-Rashid was the caliph of the Arabian Nights. He was a refined and highly educated man, with exquisite taste. He actively supported and encouraged all kinds of intellectual pursuits.
During the reign of Haroun al-Rashid's son al-Ma'mun (813-833 AD), the city soared. Many places in Baghdad are still named for him. He founded Bait al-Hikma, the Academy of Wisdom, which took over from the Persian University of Jundaisapur, to become the global centre of scientific research. Scholars of every religion and race were invited to the Academy. Algebraic equations were discovered there by Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khawarizmi who lived from 680-750 AD. He was the most notable mathematician of his time. His greatest book is called Kitab al-jabr w'al-muqabalah which means "The Book of Restoration and Balancing". From this book comes the word "algebra." His books were translated into Latin. They were electrifying to Renaissance Italy. No one there knew any Arabic, so they turned his name into Algorismus, which wasmisspelled again to give us the word "algorithm", which is a step-by-step process for performing computations.
The Baghdad Academy was an explosion of genius and innovation. It recalled the wonderful achievements of Sumer. Unfortunately, it burned out just as quickly, as Cairo soon took over its position as the intellectual centre of the world andlured to its halls any promising scholars.
Ghengis Khan, at the head of a Mongol army of 700,000 men swept out of the east early in the 13th century and laid waste to the cities of central Asia. Every living thing in them was often killed. He didn't reach Baghdad, but his grandsonHulagu Khan did. He smashed its feeble forces with his 200,000 Tartars in 1258. The killing went on for forty days.
Hulagu destroyed Iraq's canal headworks before he and his army left, and a greattorrent of mud was released, which swept away centuries of artistic and intellectual creations. There's probably still much that is buried. Iraq became a neglected frontier province. It was ruled from the Mongol capital in Iran, Tabriz.
During the rule of the Mamluks, Baghdad had a short rest from warfare. After them, Baghdad continued in a cycle of tribal warfare and ever worsening urban life.By the end of the 19th century it was squalid, and a sorry contrast to its past glories.
This area was locked between the clashing empires of Turkey and Britain. It would have sunk into a backwater if it hadn't been of British advantage to make it into a country. It was given the name Iraq, and became the first Arab nation inthe 20th century to achieve independence under the British mandate. It was intended to be a monarchy, under Emir Faisal ibn Husain, a brother of the new rulerof its neighbour, Jordan. A series of military coups took place however, and they didn't come to an end until they were stopped by the iron fist of Saddam Hussein.
Iraq also thrived because in 1927 it was discovered to have the world's second largest deposits of fossil fuels. This wasn't developed fully until the oil boomof the 1970's. Iraqis shared in the wealth and travelled all over Europe. It made them very happy to show foreigners that the phoenix, Baghdad, was once again rising from its ashes.
Then came the war with Iran, which was partly intended to defend Kuwait from theIranian government of the ayatollahs' government of Iran. Kuwait had promised to pay for its much-needed defence. When the war was over Iraq was on the vergeof bankruptcy. The Kuwaitis didn't want to pay, and began drilling into Iraq'soil in a disputed territory. Saddam Hussein became very concerned, and asked the US ambassador to Baghdad how Washington would feel if he resorted to a military solution. He was told that the US secretary of state's instructions were to say that "America had no opinion about Arab-Arab squabbles." This was their standard response under these kinds of circumstances. Saddam asked twice more to be sure he had been understood. He received the same reply, which he took to be a go-ahead signal. Later the ambassador defended herself by saying no one believed Saddam would take ALL of Kuwait.
It is to be hoped that the present war in Iraq will become part of the catalyst that will bring about new and greater international unity, so nation states willbecome willing to give up some sovereignty to a truly functioning United Nations. That world body would then be able to act through its own international force to which all would contribute, to prevent wars of aggression. No nation wouldany longer require more arms than to keep the peace within its own borders. The prophecies of the world's great religions, about a future time of world peace would come true, at last.
