'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎63r] (130/862)

description of the LAND 79
some extent brackish, though drinkable by the Dulaim and Shammar
nomads who graze their sheep and camels in this district. A few main
caravan tracks cross the country: from Samarra to Ramadi, from
Tikrit to Hit and to Ana, from Mosul through Hadhr to Ana (Darb as
Sultan), and from Sinjar to Ana (Darb Sinjar). The pipe-line and
motor-track from the Kirkuk oilfields also cross the Jazira from below
the Fat-ha gorge to the Euphrates 3 miles below Haditha.
Umm Rahal, into which the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Tharthar drains, is, according to
Musil, an elliptical depression about 20 miles from north to south
and about 150 feet below sea-level, enclosed by double or treble
escarpments broken by numerous wadis. All the slopes overlooking
the depression are composed of gypsum or rock salt and supply the
lake with salt, which is deposited on the bed and collected by people
of the settlements along both Tigris and Euphrates. Large tree-like
bushes (raza) with long flexible branches and needle-shaped leaves
grow at the base of the depression. The lake apparently dries up
during the summer months, and is quite dry by November.
The Tharthar no longer forms a useful line of communication from
south to north, even for camel caravans. But there are numerous
references in history to it having served this purpose in ancient times,
and in early Arab times there were halting-places or khans (bamya)
about every 20 miles. The road led from the Maskin district of the
Dujail canal through Hatra to Nisibis (Nusaybin). Arab geographers
were, however, incorrect in attributing the source of the Tharthar to
the Hermas river of Nisibis and in writing that it ever had an outlet in
either the Euphrates or Tigris. 1
The Jazira North of the Jabal Mak-hul
The Jabal Mak-hul and Jabal Khanuqa rise steeply from the
Tigris and form narrow parallel ridges with characteristics very
similar to those of the Jabal Hamrin (p. 82). Both are rugged ranges,
scored deeply by ravines, and except for goat-tracks are crossed by no
regular paths except towards the lower north-western end. Qa a
Sharqat, the ancient Ashur (p. 213), is on the Tigris near the
northern end of the Jabal Khanuqa. The difficulty of passing the
Tigris gorge at Fat-ha and the natural defences of the Hamrin and
Mak-hul rendered it secure from attack from the south. These
features explain the deflection of the ancient caravan route north-
■ Musil suggests that, after the Captivity of the Jews, the returning exiles were
collected by Ezra in the neighbourhood of Sumaicha and led back by im y
Tharthar route (Ezra vii. 9).