27/04/2024
Baghdad then vs now.
Baghdad was founded by the Abbasid Calip al-Mansur as Madinat al-Salam (city of peace) in 762 CE.
This was the name that later appeared in all official references to the city, ranging from inscriptions on coinage to writings on textiles that were woven in the royal factory, but the name Baghdad stuck in popular usage.
Baghdad grew rapidly to become the largest urban centre of the medieval world and became an economic and intellectual powerhouse. The city comprised a learned society benefiting from numerous bookshops and public libraries and became a hub for students travelling in search of knowledge.
The eleventh-century Khatib al-Baghdadi best described the sense of wonder surrounding Baghdad when he said: “In the entire world, there has not been a city which could compare with Baghdad in size and splendour, or in the number of scholars and great personalities ... Consider the numerous roads, markets, lanes, mosques, bathhouses, and shops – all these distinguish the city from all others."
At that time, the city housed the world's greatest academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, and earned a worldwide reputation for being the 'Centre of Learning'. The city also hosted a multiethnic and multireligious environment.
The heart of the new capital was the Round City which contained the palace, the main mosque, and some administrative buildings and quarters for troops. The palace and mosque were together in the middle of the central courtyard and the palace was surmounted by a green dome over the audience chamber (as seen in the 3D model).
Sources:
Huge Kennedy
Tayeb El-Hibri
Amira Bennison