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MOSUL

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 904 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOSUL , a See also:

town of See also:Mesopotamia, See also:capital of a See also:Turkish vilayet and sanjak of the same name, on the right See also:bank of the See also:Tigris, in 36° 35' N., 43° 3' E. Pop. 40,000 (Moslems 31,500, Christians 7000, See also:Jews 1500). In Mosul, as in See also:Bagdad, only See also:part of the space within the walls is covered with buildings and the See also:rest is - occupied by cemeteries; even the solid See also:limestone walls of the See also:ancient town are See also:half in ruins, being serviceable only in the direction of the See also:river, where they check inundations. Of the town See also:gates at See also:present in use, five are on the See also:south, two on the See also:west, two on the See also:north, and the See also:great See also:bridge See also:gate on the See also:east. Leaving Mosul by the last named, the traveller first crosses a See also:stone bridge, 157 ft. See also:long; then a See also:kind of See also:island (14o ft.), which is overflqwed only in See also:spring and summer by the Tigris; next a stretch of the river which, at such times as it is not fordable, is spanned by a bridge of boats, the bridge proper covering only one-See also:sixth of the full width of the stream. During the See also:season of See also:low See also:water excellent vegetables, particularly water-melons, are grown upon the islands and dry portions of the river-See also:bed. The interior of Mosul has an insignificant See also:appearance, only a few of the older buildings being See also:left, among which may be mentioned the Great See also:Mosque, with its leaning See also:minaret, formerly a See also:church dedicated to St See also:Paul. The streets are for the most part badly paved and very narrow, a small square in the See also:market-See also:place, overlooked by See also:airy See also:coffee-booths, being almost the only open space. The shops are few and poor. The See also:industry in comparison with former times, when the town had so considerable a manufacture in See also:muslin as to give its name to that fabric, is very unimportant; See also:trade also, which is almost exclusively in the hands of native merchants, has fallen off greatly, although the town remains the See also:collecting and distributing centre for the north Mesopotamian See also:desert and See also:Kurdistan. The exports and most of the imports pass through Bagdad.

Mosul is the See also:

meeting-point of roads from See also:Aleppo, Diarbekr, See also:Bitlis, north and west See also:Persia and Bagdad; and it is on the projected See also:line of railway from See also:Constantinople to the See also:Persian Gulf. See also:Gall nuts, gathered on the neighbouring Kurdish See also:mountain slopes, are mostly exported, but are also made use of by native dyers; and hides, See also:wax, See also:cotton and See also:gum are sold. Christians and Moslems have lived together on better terms here than elsewhere. Both are animated by an active See also:local patriotism, and both See also:honour the same See also:patron See also:saints, Jirjis (St See also:George) and See also:Jonah; the See also:grave of the latter is pointed out on an artificial See also:mound on the left bank of the Tigris. The See also:language of the See also:people of Mosul is a See also:dialect of Arabic, partly influenced by Kurdish and See also:Syriac. The Moslems See also:call themselves either See also:Arabs or Kurds, but the prevalent type, very different from the true Arabian of Bagdad, proves the Aramaean origin of many of their number. Of the Christians the community of the Chaldaeans, i.e. those who have gone over from Nestorianism to Catholicism, seems to be the most important; there are also Syrian Catholics and See also:Jacobites. Mosul has for several centuries been a centre of See also:Catholic missionary activity, the See also:Dominicans especially, by the See also:foundation of See also:schools and See also:printing-offices, having made a marked impression upon an intelligent and teachable See also:population. There are very few Protestants. The town is the seat of See also:British, See also:French and See also:Russian consulates. Mosul shares the severe alternations of temperature experienced by upper Mesopotamia. The summer See also:heat is extreme, and in See also:winter See also:frost is not unknown.

Nevertheless the See also:

climate is considered healthy and agreeable; copious rains fall in See also:general in winter. The drinking water is got from the muddy Tigris. At the north-east corner of the town is a See also:sulphur spring, and 4 leagues to the south there is a hot sulphur spring (Hammam `See also:Ali), much frequented by invalids. Mosul probably occupies the site of a See also:southern suburb of ancient See also:Nineveh (q.v.) but it is very doubtful whether the older name of Mespila can be traced in the See also:modern Al-Mausil (Arab., " the place of connexion ") ; it is, however, certain that a town with the Arabic name Al-Mausil stood here at the See also:time of the Moslem See also:conquest (636 A.D.). The town reached its greatest prosperity towards the beginning of the decline of the See also:caliphate, when it was for a time an See also:independent capital. The See also:dynasty of the Hamdanids reigned in Mosul from 934, but the town was conquered by the Syrian Okailids in 990. In the 11th See also:century it belonged to the See also:Seljuks, and in the 12th, under the sway of the Atabegs, particularly of Zenki, it had a See also:short See also:period of splendour. See also:Saladin besieged it unsuccessfully in 1182. The Persians occupied Mosul for a short time in 1623, until it was, soon after-wards, recovered by See also:sultan See also:Murad IV, The governorship of the pashalik was long hereditary in the originally See also:Christian See also:family of the `Abd-al-Jalil, until the See also:Porte, during the course of the 19th century, succeeded after a long and severe contest in establishing a more centralized See also:system of See also:government. The VILAYET OF MOSUL lies mainly east of the Tigris. It is divided into three sanjaks, Mosul, Shehrizor and See also:Suleimanieh, and has an See also:area of 29,000 sq. m. Pop.

295,000 (Moslems 245,000, See also:

Yezidis 15,000, Christians 30,000 and Jews 5000). See Karl See also:Ritter, " Asien," vol. vii. in See also:Die Erdkunde (See also:Berlin, 1844). A See also:map of the town accompanies J. Cernik's See also:paper, " Studienexpedition durch die Gebiete See also:des Euphrat and Tigris," in Erganzungsheft No. 45 of Petermanns Mitteilungen (See also:Gotha, 1876) ; See also:Parry, Six Months in a Syrian Monastery (1895); E. Sachau, Am Euphrat and Tigris (Berlin, 1899) ; See also:Baron von See also:Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen See also:Golf (Berlin, 1900).

End of Article: MOSUL

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