'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1382] (437/688)

1382
NIQ-NIS
Kuyunjik, the larger of the two mounds, is about 100 feet high. Nabi Yunu^ tti
emaller, has a fair-sized village on the top and a mosque (said to contain the tomW
the Prophet Jonah) with a greenr minaret.
There is a ford with stepping stones across the Khausa a short distance before fh*
Walls of Nineveh are reached. There is a second ford, in ordinary floods not more than
5 feet deep, behind this mound. 1
The country in this neighbourhood is plough land and slightly undulating
The other mounds near here which are worthy of mention are •
Khorsabad Ancient Dur Sargina, where Sargon had his palace : an easv hall
day s ride. J
Sharif Khan. Ancient Tarbitsu, where Sennacherib had a small palace • about
an hour or two from Kuyunjik. '
Nimrud. Ancient Calah ; south of Nineveh ; a day's quick ride there and back
Tel Kaifi— (Enc, Brit. ; K Campbell Thompson).
NIQA-AL-MAHARAF—
Some sand hills on the north side of and overlooking Khor -al-'Odaid (q.v.) at the
eastern foot of Qatar, Eastern Arabia.
NIQQAH(U mm>—
A hill and some sweet water wells ih the Kuwait Principality, situated 5i miles east-
south-east from the wells of Qash 'aniyah, otl the Kuwait-Safwan-Basrah route.
NlR (Jabal-an)—
A mass of low hills in the south-western district of Najd (j.v.), Central Arabia. They
are also known as Dhula»'an-Nlr.— [Doughty).
NISA'H (R a S -an)—
A small promontory at the extreme end of the town of Dohah {q.v.), in Qatar, Eastern
Arabia. It is a low projecting rocky point with a fort on It 1£ miles westward from Ras
Bu Abut, with a smaU bay between them. A spit runs off from it three cables to the
northward and is nearly dry at its outer end at low water. Westward of this spit and
about three cables from it is the most convenient inner anchorage off Dohah. In the
small bay here are several shoal patches which, however, show plainly.—(Feman Gulf
Pilot.)
NISAB ( or A nsab)—
A town in Western Hadhramaut, Southern Arabia, situated rather more than 150
miles (crowfly) north-east from Aden and 130 miles by road north of the anchorage
of Maqatin.
Niaab lies about 4 miles to the east-north-east of Maidak, the ddr of the upper 'Aulakl
Sultan, and close to the confluence of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Durra and Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. 'Abadan. The greater
part of the surrounding land is under cultivation. Near the eastern edge of this plain
are a few ranges of low hills beyond which, to the north-east and east, stretches the
desert of Hamam, also bounded by ranges of hills. The most important of these is
Haid Hadhanah, about two days' caravan journey to the east. The desert is dotted
here and there with metamorphic outcrops, the chief of which is Haid Megah ; near it ia
a dry well said to be of Himyaritic origin. Across this desert to the north-east,
two days caravan journey, lies the town of Shabwah, and half-way is Eyad {sic),
a \ i lage containing the only well on the road. The water is, however, very brackish,
and two hours to the west of the village is a mountain composed largely of rock salt.
Nisab is an unwalled mercantile town of some 4,000 inhabitants. It is built of the
Usual composite of stones and mud and contains several good houses and a mosque.
The broad cultivated tracts round the town produce cotton, indigo, and millet, in
considerable quantities. The crops depend for irrigation mainly on the valley streams
and are often affected by drought. In dry seasons Nisab often runs short of grain and
the Sultan has a standing arrangement with the neighbouring settlement of Markhah
for its supply during such times.
The Sultanof Nisab retains some 900 W.V and in the district round the town
are some 2,000 tribesmen. Towards the west and south-west the fortified towers of