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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎309r] (622/738)
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎309r] (622/738)

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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919'
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Ref: IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15

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. .

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POPULATION
611
as those of ‘Amman and Jerash, are able to protect themselves.
The Beni Sakhr regard themselves as overlords of the half-
nomadic Belqawlyeh tribes. It is noted elsewhere that
farther south they own corn lands in the most fertile parts of
the plateau, tilled for them by cultivators not of their tribe
(see p. 634).
Dwellings .—The houses of the fellahin Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. usually consist of
one or two small rooms built of hewn stones selected from
among the ruins of ancient buildings. The roof is formed
of oak branches plastered over with white clay, renewed
every year. A yard added for cattle, goats, and sheep com
pletes the premises. A sheikh’s house with all its depen
dencies will be entirely enclosed in a large yard surrounded
by a wall perhaps 6 ft. high, and entered by a heavy gate,
barred at night. The dwelling will here have additional
rooms for guests, while each wife will have her own room.
There is a large chamber for entertaining travellers (manzil),
one half covered with mats and carpets. Often semicircular
additions project from the side of the house ; these have raised
floors and temporary roofs of branches, and are occupied in
hot weather. In the middle of the court there will usually be
a cistern.
A house described by Oliphant at Kefr Asad had a circular
enclosing yard with a high wall, round which were disposed
the dwelling of the owner, a cattle-shed, a donkey-pen, and
a large oven-building with domed roof and hole for fire in the
floor : such a nuqrah, or depression, is the normal place for the
fire in any room, the smoke escaping as best it may. Mortar
is not always used in construction, but the stone of the country
is a crumbling limestone which can be readily burned for lime.
In Circassian villages the house is of better construction,
though generally in like manner built with hewn stones taken
from ruins; the village of W. es-Sir has been described as
built of brick-like slabs of dried earth, whitewashed. Each
house is a unit, with its ovmyard, and all are regularly aligned
to form village streets.

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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
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎309r] (622/738), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033282272.0x000017> [accessed 5 April 2025]

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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