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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [78] (87/432)
The record is made up of 1 volume (214 folios). It was created in 1917. 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.
78
KIVEK ROUTES
where it flows in a single channel: in flood-time its breadth is
generally much greater, and in places may be 1 m. or more.
Before the war the Lesser Zab was navigated only down-stream by
the large rafts called heleks (see vol. i, p. 166). A raft in August
took three days from Altun Kopril to the Eiver Tigris, this time in
cluding stops for the night. In low water it is impossible to run by
night.
Above Taktak a sandstone ledge forming a fall of 2 ft., and other
obstructions, are said to make navigation impossible.
From Taktak to its junction with the Tigris the river flows
between banks of conglomerate or earth over a bed of shingle or
sand. In the river-bed there are very numerous ledges consisting
either of sandstone or, less commonly, of conglomerate, which form
rapids. Eocks occur in the channel occasionally : these latter would
probably be nearly or wholly submerged in high water. The river
frequently divides into two or more channels, enclosing flat shingle ,
islands, many of which are probably under water in flood time.
Along the sides of the main channel there generally extend broad
stretches of shingle which are covered by the floods. The banks
frequently rise to bluffs 20-50 ft. in height, which occasionally come
close to the edge of the low-water channel.
Between the mouth of the Zab and the neighbourhood of Shamagheh
(see m. 571) the country on either side of the river is a gently
undulating plain with a few scattered rising from it. On the S.
Bight Bank
Mouth of the Lesser Zab (see Tigris, III E, m. 87^).
Width of stream here 260 yds. Several small rapids
above the deep reach at the mouth. Up to Bisereriyeh
(15 m.) scattered camps of Jebur Arabs, who cultivate some
millet.
Conglomerate cliffs 40 ft. high on both banks, where the
river cuts through a low ridge. Channel 150 yds. wide.
Between m. 6 and m. 7 shingle ledges, with 18 in.-2 ft.
of water.
Rapid, with 18 in. of water.
Diagonal rapid, with 2 ft. of water,
Shnmeit, a halting-place for rafts.
Total
distance
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume III, Central Mesopotamia with Sourthern Kurdistan and the Syrian Desert (Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, January, 1917), covering the Tigris and Euphrates from Baghdad and Fellūjeh [Fallujah] to Mosul and Meskeneh [Maskanah], the Lesser Zāb, the country east of the Tigris towards the Persian frontier, and the routes running westward from the Euphrates valley across the Syrian Desert. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, and appears to be based on official and unofficial publications and maps which are cited in a bibliographical section in the volume. This volume was supplemented with corrections and additions in June 1918 (see IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/5).
The volume includes a note on confidentiality, a title page, 'Note', 'Abbreviations'. There is a page of 'Contents' which includes the following sections:
- Introduction;
- River Routes (The Tigris and the Lesser Zāb, The Euphrates);
- Land Routes (The Tigris Valley with Region to East, The Euphrates Valley, Connexions between Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, The Syrian Desert);
- Gazetteer of Towns;
- Bibliographical Note;
- Transliteration of Names;
- Glossary;
- Appendix;
- Index;
- 'Sketch Map of Routes', which includes 'City Map of Baghdad' (f. 212) and 'Mesopotamia: Outline Map Showing Routes, Volume III' contained in a pocket.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (214 folios)
- Arrangement
This volume is arranged according to numbered routes. There is a page of contents and an alphabetical index. There are two maps housed in a pocket.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; 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 (except for the front cover, where the folio number is located on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ).
Pagination: The volume also has an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/4
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:422, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence