Iraq navigated complex relationships with neighboring countries and global powers during the Cold War, at times leaning towards nationalist and socialist policies. The republic period, however, was marked by political instability, with frequent coups and shifts in power that reflected the struggles of a young nation seeking its identity. Cities were hubs of commerce, education, and culture, while rural areas often remained underdeveloped and traditional. Efforts were underway to expand education and literacy, particularly in Baghdad, but many rural communities had limited access.
On 30 July 762, after the royal astrologers had declared this the most auspicious date for building work to begin, Mansur offered up a prayer to Allah, laid the ceremonial first brick and ordered the assembled workers to get cracking. The scale of this great urban project is one of the most distinctive aspects of the story of Baghdad. With a circumference of four miles, the massive brick walls rising up from the banks of the Tigris were the defining signature of Mansur’s Round City.
