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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [363] (372/432)
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
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MOSUL
363
garrison, and partly, apparently, as a cattle market. At the end of
the road, about f m. from the city gate, are the barracks and
Government offices, and the residences of the Vali and other officials.
The post and telegraph offices lie on the road somewhat nearer to
the town.
The streets of Mosul are narrow, undrained lanes, winding
between blank house walls. A few of the streets are paved with
stones, which make very slippery going. The houses are built of
sun-dried bricks or of stone (' Mosul marble ') set in gypsum cement.
Little wood is used in their construction. The larger houses are
built round a courtyard, into which the rooms and a hall open.
They usually have serdahs, or underground rooms, for use in the hot
weather. The number of houses has been estimated at 12,000.
There are numerous mosques and several large khans. The bazaars
are held in booths in the streets. About the middle of the river
front, not far above the bridge, is an old citadel. The church of the
French Dominican Mission is marked on a plan of 1873 as slightly
W. of the centre of the town.
Mosul is not an attractive place; it is insanitary and dirty, with
a bad climate and smoky atmosphere. The smoke comes from the
gypsum kilns. The most unpleasant quarter appears to be a cluster
of some 300 houses near the river, which serves as abattoir, tannery,
and dye-works for the whole town. In 1906 it was stated that the
Government had twice endeavoured to abolish this quarter, but on
both occasions the attempt had provoked a riot.
Climate and Hygiene. —The climate of Mosul is very trying in the
summer. The worst part of the hot weather is from July to
September, when the thermometer may go as high as 120° F. in
the day, and not fall below 95° at night. Hot winds blow in from
the desert. Even in May a temperature of 100° may be looked for,
and the cool season does not begin till November. In the cool
weather, which is also the rainy season, the nights are often frosty.
(See chapter on Climate, vol. i, and accompanying tables.)
Owing to the glare and the dust, the amount of which is appreciably
increased by the numerous kilns and pounding mills in which gypsum
is worked, ophthalmia is common, and tuberculosis is said to be
terribly prevalent'. Cholera, on the other hand, is not common,
though its existence has been suspected. Visitations of plague are
reported. Mosul has its 1 boilfrom which few who reside there
long escape ; it is said to be not distinguishable from the Baghdad
date-mark'. Almost all travellers comment on the filthy and
insanitary conditions of the place; which, in the opinion of one
observer, call for the abandonment of the site and the building
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