City of Brass

Nights 567-578

The City of Brass is a big memento mori. It is a massive tomb, with some of its bodies all perfectly preserved. Sort of like an Egyptian Pyramid. There are words all over with themes about how you can’t take your wealth with you when you die. It reminds the reader of the “Ozymandias” poem or maybe the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Death is everywhere. It’s a good story; you can see why it’s popular (not just because it immediately follows Sindbad). 

It is also weirdly specific about geography compared to some other stories. The lettering in the City of Brass is Greek (not Egyptian hieroglyphics, despite the location in Egypt). On the way in and out, the visitors to the City of Brass see African people, described as “the people of Ham.” It’s not a flattering depiction. But sadly that’s not unique among the depictions of Africans in the Nights.

A few obvious Magic cards are here: City of Brass itself, and the Brass Man (p. 527, Night 570). We also see the words “flying carpet” for the first time (p. 529, Night 571). And the motivating factor for the story is to find the Bottle of Suleiman (p. 520, Night 567). We also learn about how Suleiman had an army of beasts, birds, and jinns; and that no jinns could resist him, which explains the King Suleiman Magic card better than anything.

Side note: My understanding is that the Magic set is partially based on the “Ramadan” issue of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I checked it out from the library to see. I only caught a few Magic cards there: flying carpet, rukh egg, oubliette (the word “oubliettes” appears), the bazaar of Baghdad, and last, the “City in a Bottle.” The final one is the frame story for the one-shot Sandman issue in Arabia. I’ll keep an eye out for it in the Nights; my guess is this is the only place we’ll see it.