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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎56r] (116/738)
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎56r] (116/738)

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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919'
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Ref: IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15

The record is made up of 1 volume (365 folios). It was created in 1919. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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FLORA
105
the highlands of southern Syria support a copious and pecu
liar natural vegetation which, though useless to man directly,
is of great indirect value as it furnishes the food of large
flocks of goats which are the sole source of livelihood of
no inconsiderable part of the population. Goats, however,
do much harm by devouring all seedling trees and so pre
venting the renewal of the forests so needed in the high
mountain ranges both as a direct source of wealth and as
a regulator of the rainfall.
The characteristic wild flora of the almost treeless plains
of the interior consists of numerous species of the milk vetch,
the centaury, and the sage. These plains are one of the great
wheat-producing regions of the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. : maize, dhura, sesame,
barley, and, in wet places, rice also flourish in this zone.
The flora of the Jordan Valley, besides sharing the charac
teristics of the lower levels of Palestine, has an element of
tropical vegetation similar to the Upper Egyptian and
Nubian. Palms and sugar-cane once flourished here. The
so-called ‘ Balm of Gilead ’ tree (zaqqum) grows nowhere in
Syria but in "the Jordan valley, and the same is true of the
‘ushr, or ‘Apples of Sodom’ (Calotropis procera), and the
papyrus reed. The ‘ushr is a strange tree with large fleshy
leaves, a crumpled corky bark, and a curious deceptive fruit
—full of dusty threads and air instead of succulence. The
papyrus covers very large areas in the marshes of Huleh.
The willow, poplar, and tamarisk are very common along the
banks of the Jordan, and a kind of broom grows profusely in the
side wadis of the Jordan valley. Poplar trees grow also in con
siderable numbers on the watercourses in the Damascus district.
The desert flora is peculiar and interesting and consists
largely of aromatic, saline and succulent plants and dwarf
thorny shrubs. It contributes to man’s maintenance by
supporting considerable herds of camels and, in some places,
asses. Not all the so-called desert is unproductive : the valleys
of the Dead Sea Ghor and towards Sinai have, until recently,
contained large numbers of various kinds of acacia trees
Acacia Nilotica and gum acacia—tamarisk, Christ-Thorn, and

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Content

Admiralty handbook regarding Syria (including Palestine) 'to as far north as the River Orontes and a line Antioch-Aleppo-Meskeneh. For details of the part of Syria beyond this line reference must be made to the Handbook of Asia Minor , Vol. iv, Part 2 (C.B. 847 C).'

'Contents. Chapters:

  • I. Boundaries and Physical Survey, p 9 (folio 7)
  • II. Climate, p 24 (folio 14v)
  • III. Minerals, Flora and Fauna, p 93 (folio 50)
  • IV. Military History, p 109 (folio 58)
  • V. Inhabitants, p 175 (folio 91)
  • VI. Turkish Administration, p 236 (folio 121v)
  • VII. Agriculture, p 252 (folio 129v)
  • VIII. Industry and Trade, p 276 (folio 141v)
  • IX. Currency, Weights and Measures, p 318 (folio 162v)
  • X. Jebel Ansarīyeh, p 325 (folio 166)
  • XI. Country East of Jebel Ansarīyeh, p 344 (folio 175v)
  • XII. Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, and Damascus Plain, p 357 (folio 182)
  • XIII. River Systems of Northern Syria, p 395 (folio 201)
  • XIV. Judea and the Southern Desert, p 427 (folio 217)
  • XV. Samaria (including Carmel), p 472 (folio 239v)
  • XVI. Galilee, p 515 (folio 261)
  • XVII. Haurān and Jaulān, p 556 (folio 281v)
  • XVIII. 'Ajlūn and Northern Belqa, p 580 (folio 293v)
  • XIX. Southern Belqa and Ardh el-Kerak, p 612 (folio 309v)
  • XX. El-Jibāl and Esh-Shera, p 636 (folio 321v)
  • XXI. The Ghōr (Jordan and the Dead Sea); and Wādi 'Arabah, p 645 (folio 326)
  • Appendix: Conventional Spellings, p 668 (folio 337v)
  • Index, p 669 (folio 338)
  • Plates, p 725' [missing]
Extent and format
1 volume (365 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a contents page (folio 6) and an index (folios 338-365).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 367; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence. The volume originally contained fourteen plates showing maps, bound into the back of the volume. These are now missing; details of the plates can be found at folio 5v.

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English in Latin script
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎56r] (116/738), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033282269.0x000075> [accessed 9 March 2025]

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Reference
IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15
Title
'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919'
Pages
front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:366v, back-i
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence