'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎95v] (195/862)

120
GEOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND
The Western Desert of Wadiyan (fig. 30)
The principal characteristic of this region is the series of long
continuous wadis which traverse it from south-west to north-east and
which give the region its name. The composition of the desert surface
is rather similar to that of the Hajara, and the surface is stony and hard
on tyres, but the main wadis are longer, more deeply dug, more
continuous, and fed by a closer pattern of subsidiary watercourses
which often offer serious obstacles. Though they rise at over 2,000
feet, none is perennial throughout its course, but water is not as
a rule far from the surface in their beds and sometimes stands stagnant
in the wider parts of the channels. Little water is added by them to
the Euphrates, on whose regime they have no appreciable effect
(pp. 22, 24).
Three of these wadis are more important than the rest: Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Hauran, Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ghadaf (or W. Burdan), and Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ubaiyidh. The
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Hauran rises at 2,900 feet above sea-level, in the Jabal Anaiza,
the junction of the three undemarcated boundaries between Iraq,
Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , and Saudi Arabia. From Rutba eastwards it is a
considerable obstacle, and east of Muhaiwir the bed is 150 feet below
the plain. It reaches the Euphrates between Haditha and Hit. The
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ghadaf has numerous tributary shaiban rising in the plateau south
of Rutba, and drains into the low ground about 30 miles south of
Lake Habbaniya. The Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ubaiyidh rises far to the west at about
3,000 feet above sea-level in the volcanic uplands east of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Sirhan and between Jauf and the Jabal Anaiza. The tributary de
pressions, Hamir, Arar, and Khalaija, have most intricate courses,
and in winter are liable to be soft and difficult to cross. The Ubaiyidh
ends in the low ground west of Karbala and Najaf after being joined
near the police post of Nukhaib (1,000 ft.) by its most prominent
left-bank tributary, the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Tubal. Two less important water
courses to the south of the Ubaiyidh are the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Khirr and the Shaib
Hisb.
The region of A 1 Wadiyan is the desert link between the lower
Euphrates on the east and Syria, Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , and Palestine on the
west. In Ottoman times the mail-route between Baghdad and Damas
cus left the Euphrates at Hit and took the Darb as Sai through
Kubaisa, Kubbaz, and Qasr Amij, to Muhaiwir on the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Hauran,
after which it passed the depression of Jumat Qaara. From here water
was always precarious until Dumeir was reached, 9 hours’ camel-ride
from Damascus. In earlier times there was more traffic, and water was