Shafaqna English– Historic house of Agatha Christie overlooking the Tigris River in the Karadat Maryam District of western Baghdad is in ruins.
This now-dilapidated building once hosted famed British crime novelist Agatha Christie and her archaeologist husband, Max Mallowan, during their excavation expeditions across Iraq and Syria in the mid-20th century.
Christie, who authored 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, stayed at the house during her time with the British archaeological mission in Nineveh. Scholars and biographers note that the Baghdad residence heavily influenced her work, with references to it appearing in her novel They Came to Baghdad.
Iraqi Archaeologist Mehdi Al-Badiri said the house previously belonged to Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, the brother of King Faisal I of Iraq. “Christie called it the house of the king in her novel.”
The novelist herself reminisced about the home in her autobiography, describing it as “a delightful old Turkish house on the west bank of the Tigris.” She wrote fondly of its cool courtyard, high palms brushing the balcony, and the surrounding date groves watered by small canals.
Source: Shafaq News