The geographer D'Anville, (l'Euphrate et le
Tigre, p. 121 - 123,) and the Orientalist D'Herbelot,
(Bibliotheque, p. 167, 168,) may suffice for the knowledge
of Bagdad. Our travellers, Pietro della Valle, (tom. i. p.
688 - 698,) Tavernier, (tom. i. p. 230 - 238,) Thevenot,
(part ii. p. 209 - 212,) Otter, (tom. i. p. 162 - 168,) and
Niebuhr, (Voyage en Arabie, tom. ii. p. 239 - 271,) have
seen only its decay; and the Nubian geographer, (p. 204,)
and the travelling Jew, Benjamin of Tuleda (Itinerarium, p.
112 - 123, à Const. l'Empereur, apud Elzevir, 1633,) are the
only writers of my acquaintance, who have known Bagdad under
the reign of the Abbassides.