'Field notes: Mesopotamia. General Staff, India. February, 1917.' [‎18r] (42/350)

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W ith thna two-fold object in view the Engineers of the Meso
potamian Field Force were ordered to build a bank, with
one flank on the Shatt-al-’Arab and the other on the Shaiba
ridge.
This bank of earth is about forty feet wide at the bottom and
seven feet high. The first mile of it lies through a belt of palm
trees on the right bank of the Shatt-al-’Arab; from there on
wards it stretches across the desert for ten miles till it meets the
ridge which is well above any possible flood level. The first
two miles run due west and the remaining eight roughly south-
west The main channel of the Euphrates is about three miles
north of the bank.
The prevailing winds are from the North and North-West
across the immense lake formed by holding the flood water back!
so tnat tne bank is subject to continual lapping.
•nn 6 waters , be g in to drop early in June and after the
middle of the month all danger of the bank being breached is
over. 0
Zubair.—-This town, the site of old Basrah, stands in the
desert 9 miles to the south-west of the modern Basrah, and forms
tfie first stage on the route from Basrah to Kuwait or Najd.
Around the town, which is walled, the country is entirely
barren except to the south-east, on which side a scattered series
of lucerne and melon fields, hedged with tamarisks, extends to a
distance of 3 miles; this tract is called Dirhamiyah, and the
drinking water of the town is supplied by its wells.
There is in the town a large covered bazaar, mostly of
masonry, and the dwelling-houses are either of sun-dried or of
burnt brick, the latter being excavated in great quantities on the
adjoining site of ancient Basrah.
n/r P 0 P u ^ a ^ 0n about 6,000, and virtually all are Sunni
Muhammadans, as is natural in a place which holds the tomb of
Zubair arch-rebel against ’Ali, and killed here in fighting against
him. Many notables and land-owners of the Basrah neighbour-
hood have country houses at Zubair, to which they retire in the
ot weather m quest of a drier atmosphere, and some important
amiiies of Central Arabian origin are also located here.
Juss or gypsum mortar is exported from Zubair, and sandals
and rude saddlery are manufactured, but the carrying trade pro
bably supports a larger number of the population than any other-
industry. The melons of Dirhamiyah have a high reputation.