The electricity cuts out every three hours in my office, going from state power to the generator or the other way around, and my computer takes a while to reboot. When I’ve remembered to save my work and am not in a hurry, this affords me a short break from whatever I’m doing to go drink some water, make another cup of coffee or flip through one of the unread books that always seem to form an accusatory pile on my desk.
So it was that I was flipping through The Topography of Baghdad in the Early Middle Ages, which is from the introduction of Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi’s History of Baghdad. I randomly opened it to a section on “The Length and Width of the Two Sides of Baghdad, the Total Area, and the Number of Mosques and Bathhouses” to find this observation:
Ahmad b. Abi Tahir mentioned in the Kitab Baghdad that the area of Baghdad’s two sides comprised 53,750 jarib. The area of the East Side comprsed 26,750 jarib, and that of the West Side 27,000 jarib.
Coincidentally, I was also recently pointed to this write-up (by Won in the comments) of Snoop Dogg’s recent concert at Forum de Beyrouth:
The Doggfather hit the stage for 75 minutes, in a bright yellow jersey and did his part to bring peace and unity as he rapped, “East side!… West side!” running back and forth across the stage, then rapped, “Both sides!”.
So whoever thought that the East side/West side division was limited to hip hop feuds, Baltimore gangstas, cold war Berlin or the Lebanese civil war, should know that it goes back at least to 9th century Baghdad. As Tupac once said, “That’s just the way it is.”
But he should have given a shoutout to the “Deep South” if you ask me!!
By: Won on August 24, 2009
at 12:31 pm
And another thing if I’m not greatly mistaken, are you not the Sean Lee who write in the recent edition of Publio? (http://www.publio.com/issues/91/w09.html). Why didn’t you blog about it?
By: Won on August 24, 2009
at 12:47 pm
I couldn’t agree more about the Dirty South, being an Alabama boy and all.
And yes, you’re right, that is me in Publio. Up until the Angry Arab debate about censorship, I’d been halfheartedly trying to keep this blog thinly anonymous. But Publio actually came out after that, so I suppose I just feel a little uncomfortable about self-promotion.
I do, though, owe it to Imad, who runs the magazine, to throw what little readership I have in his direction, so I’ll put something up soon…
By: sean on August 24, 2009
at 1:21 pm
Since I have your attention, I just want to say that I enjoy your blog very much and that my 10-year homie is a Bama girl who goes to NCAA games and shouts “”RAMMER JAMMER YELLO HAMMER” at the top of her voice hahaha.
By: Won on August 24, 2009
at 1:51 pm
bathhouses….mmmmm… me likey… for the record, Baghdadis are fantastic lovers.
By: Nizo on August 24, 2009
at 11:50 pm
Well, having lived in both West Birmingham & West-Side Baltimore (Omar!), I’m not so surprised to learn of the East-West Division dating back to such an earlier time…As both Birmingham & Baltimore harken back to a 9th Centruy Baghdad, or maybe even a penal colony (Botany Bay)…Just an observation :)
By: Andy on September 1, 2009
at 4:07 pm