Interior of Khan Othma also known by Khan Murjan, Bagdad

The scene depicts a traditional caravanserai interior, a place where merchants and travelers historically rested and stored goods. The architectural elements—high vaults and arches—reflect the functional design of such complexes, emphasizing openness and circulation within a protected environment.

The image is a black‑and‑white photograph produced by Sir K.A.C. Creswell, who emphasized photographic documentation as a scholarly tool. The composition balances interior depth with careful exposure, allowing details of the arches and ceiling to emerge clearly against the subdued lighting.

Crescent’s photograph forms part of a large corpus of architectural views he assembled between 1921 and 1939, later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Art Library. The collection, primarily of Egyptian sites, also includes images from Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Constantinople and Tunisia, reflecting Creswell’s extensive fieldwork across the Middle East.

Sir K.A.C. Creswell (1879‑1974) is recognized as a pioneering scholar of medieval Islamic architecture. His methodological shift from hand‑drawn reconstructions to systematic photography set new standards for recording historic structures, a practice evident in this image of Baghdad’s Khan Othma.