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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [195] (204/432)
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.
KOUTES 28 a, b 195
%
the latter part of the route the water appears to be good and fairly
abundant from streams. Along the road itself there would be
practically no transport animals obtainable, as the districts passed
through are almost without inhabitants except for some nomad
tribes.
Miles from
Baghdad
0 Baghdad. The general direction of the route is NE.
The country through which it runs is flat but inter
spersed with mounds which are seldom more than 15 ft.
above the surrounding country and have gently sloping
sides. They form no real obstacle to the movement
of men, horses, or even carts, but they afford cover
to view or fire to a considerable distance in rear of them.
For the first 8 m. the track is passable for carts in dry
Aveather, but even a little rain is a serious obstacle, and
after a heavy fall it would be impassable for at least
24 hours after the ground began to dry. An inch of rain
makes the country difficult even for men on foot.
3| The first group of mounds mentioned above.
7 Silted-up remains of old canals running generally N. by W.
to S. by E. There are two or three such embankments
varying in height from 15 ft. to 5 ft., and in breadth from
40 ft. to 10 ft.
8 The soil, which up to this point has been a light clay,
now becomes more sandy.
13 Boat ferry at the Diyaleh. The river here has steep banks
even at the ferry, and they are in many places precipitous.
It is about 60 yds. wide. The depth varies considerably
according to the season, say from about 15 ft. to 2 ft.
The current of the river varies according to the season
from 4 m.p.h. after a rise to an almost imperceptible
flow during the dry season. The ferry a few years before
the war consisted of a light boat of rectangular or punt
shape, about 30 ft. long by 10 ft. wide, one end of which
was open and nearly flush with the bank ; at this end
embarkation and disembarkation took place. A slack
hemp rope was stretched from bank to bank and moored
to wooden pegs let into the banks. Along this rope the
ferry-boat was hauled by men in the boat; two men
sufficed for this unless the wind was unusually strong and
directly up and down stream, when more labour would be
required. The boat could carry eight horses at a time,
n 2
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