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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [189v] (383/738)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
372 LEBANON. ANTI-LEBANON. DAMASCUS PLAIN
horses are sent here for spring grazing. The crest of the
watershed, alt. 3,600 ft., lies, at this point, between the
channels of the Litani and the Orontes; the upper springs of
both rivers lie westward of Ba'albek, separated by a narrow
strip of rolling country. East of Ba‘albek are the copious
springs of Ras el-‘Ain and, high up in a valley of the lower
Anti-Lebanon, is ‘Ain Lujuj. North of the watershed the
plain is a partially cultivated stretch of slightly undulating
land. Opposite Lebweh a fine vale extends diagonally across
the whole plain from mountain to mountain ; farther N. the
surface commences to break into hard, sterile, parallel ridges
and swells strewn with basalt blocks intermingled with
limestone and flint.
In the midst of this barren tract lies the well-watered oasis
of Hermil. In the neighbourhood of Ribleh, alt. 1,740 ft.,
there is a sudden change to a tract of fine deep soil, well
cultivated and abundantly watered, which continues for two
or three miles. Plains of great fertility and beauty stretch
on every side, affording plentiful pasture for large flocks
whose Bedouin owners encamp along the low river banks.
Here access is easy from every direction and this, together
with abundant water and salubrious air, make the locality
most suitable for military encampments. Indeed the ancient
city of Ribleh, now entirely destroyed, was, in antiquity,
used as the head-quarters of large armies. Beyond this fertile
tract the stony and barren plain again commences, finally
merging into the fertile Homs plateau.
Metawileh villages are sparsely scattered about the plain
and western mountain slopes all the way between Ba‘albek
and Ribleh and there are numerous mounds similar to those
found throughout the plateau as far N. as Aleppo. Wild
ducks, herons, and storks are seen everywhere.
El-Biqd', the name often given to the whole plain,
strictly applies only to that part extending southward from
Zahleh to the parallel of Rasheya ; south of this the J. edh-
Dhahr ridge divides the depression into two parallel valleys.
In order to distinguish this plain from others so named, it is
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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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