Text Box: 1258 Oh Tigris, old friend --lest you may forget-- the prophets of doom turn water to blood. They’ll burn all the books, and slaughter the men, enslave every girl, extinguish the sun. Hulagu, reborn, commanding his tribes: Starvation and bombs to subdue mankind. Baghdad, my princess, I send you a kiss: We broke all your swords, we burned down your walls. For you we now cry, forgive us, raped one! Disguised in their lies the Mongols return, it’s twelve fifty-eight upon us again. Montreal, March 26, 2003 In 1258 CE the Mongols, led by Hulagu, destroyed Baghdad. The city burned for seven days, and some historians estimate as many as 800,000 people, including the caliph and his family, were killed.