Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Ctesiphon BATTLE OF, an important military engagement
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLE OF, an important military engagement, fought on Nov. 22, 1915, between Turkish forces expedition, under General Townshend, which advanced from Amara, in Septembre, 1915, along the Tigris, with the object of capturing Bagdad. At no time did the British force amount to more than four brigades, two-thirds of which were composed of East Indians, while the Turks consisted of at least four divisions, with a strong preponderance in artillery. Ctesiphon, renowned in times of antiquity, was at this time only a large village on the Tigris, 18 miles below Bagdad. Close by stand the ruins of the ancient palace built by the Persian emperors, containing the greatest vaulted room in the world. Here the armies of the Prophet had also achieved one of their greatest victories, and it was because of this historic significance to the followers of Mohammed that the Turkish commander decided to make a determined stand at this point. As a military engagement, however, the encounter between the two armies was a victory for the British, an entire Turkish division being destroyed and 1,600 prisoners taken. But the success was dearly paid for; the British lost 643 in killed, 3,330 in wounded and over 500 not accounted for, out of a total of only 25,000 men. In spite of their success, the British were compelled to retire to Kut-el- Amara, where they were besieged and finally captured by the Turks.
Ctesiphon a city of Babylonia
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of Babylonia, on the E. bank of the Tigris and opposite Seleucia, the common winter residence con of the Parthian kings, and finally the capital of the Parthian kingdom. It was cap conquered by the Romans in A. D. 115, and destroyed by the Arabs under Omar in 637. Its ruins still attest its former magnificence.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote in 1921 the site was "only a large village on the Tigris, 18 miles below Bagdad" whose palace held "the greatest vaulted room in the world." That vault, Taq Kasra, is still the largest single-span unreinforced brick arch anywhere, roughly 25 metres across, but it lost one flanking wing in the nineteenth century and has needed repeated shoring since; Iraqi and international restoration work began in earnest in the 2010s amid warnings of collapse. The mounds were systematically excavated by a German expedition in 1928-31, which recovered Sasanian stucco and confirmed the palace as Sasanian rather than the work of the earlier Parthian kings the entry credits. The 1915 battle also reads differently now: Townshend's tactical success led to the siege of Kut and the surrender of his force in April 1916, one of the worst British defeats of the war, avenged only when Baghdad fell in March 1917.
Written for this edition, 2026.