'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [‎322r] (648/738)

PHYSICAL FEATURES
637
name of El-Jibal, 1 and in the southern by that of Esh-Shera (or
(?) Esh-Sher’ah), the division between the two being marked by
a gap or depression south of ShSbek : according to Burckhardt
the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ghuweir (or Seil ed-Dathneh) is regarded by the Arabs
as a boundary. It is chiefly along the southern half of El-Jibal,
from the gap northwards to the neighbourhood of Dhana, that
the country, viewed from the east, actually creates the im
pression of an open sloping plateau ; north of this point it
appears as a mass of hills, south of it as a steep slope with
numerous patches of green. For the greater part of its length
the crest runs rather west of south ; but south of the latitude
of Ma'an, Esh-Shera bends to the south-east, and a secondary
line of hills continues parallel with the ‘Arabah ; in the bifurca
tion thus formed begins the great sandstone plain of El-Hisma,
which extends far into Arabia. This country is very little
known, but may acquire importance should the branch line
destined to connect the Hejaz Railway with Akaba run, not
from Ma‘an, but from a point much farther south, for example,
from the station of El-Madawwareh (more than 80 miles ESE.
of Akaba; see Handbook of Arabia, vol. ii, p. 125), between
which place and the sea it is reported that a survey has been
made.
Successive sections along El-Jibdl from north to south have
the following names: Jebel Sobaleh, Qenan el-Qarn, Jebel
Zbbar, Zahret ‘Azareh, Hala el-Qaran (alt. according to Musil,
1,640 m.), after which comes a line of escarpment with no
conspicuous heights extending to the above-mentioned gap
where El-Jibal ends. Esh-Shera begins with Magharib el-
Khdr (1,650 m.), after which follow Jebel Madeirej, Jebel
Milghan, Jebel el-Haddad, Ras Ail (1,610 m.), Qareinet ez-
Zeyyat, Jebel el-Jedeid, and Jebel el-Hafeir, where the range
sinks to El-Qedreyyat, a hilly tract with scattered eminences.
With Esh-Shera ends the long ridge which began at Mt. Hermon:
farther south are found hill-systems of which the general trend,
is east and west.
To the west of the great plateau-crest are lesser hills dropping
1 Not to be confused with El-Jibal, farther north (Chap. XIX, p. G13).