"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد I. ١٩١٨" [‎١‎٥] (٥٦٨/٢٤)

BOUNDARIES AND PHYSICAL FEATURES 15
the lower valleys is burnt up, lie among its ranges or on its northern
side upon the Persian plateau. The south-western side of the country
is somewhat sparsely wooded ; much destruction of timber has been
caused by the nomads.
Some 110-130 miles NE. of Baghdad, where the Sir wan
(upper Diyaleh), the Alvand, and the Quretu descend from the
Jrersian plateau, the mountains of the plateau-edge sink to low hill-
ranges (largely gypsum and sandstone) or to rolling plains. The
Qasr-i-Shlrln and Zohab plains form a kind of bay running up into
the mountains from Mesopotamia. North of the Zohab district the
mils rise again up to the Avroman Dagh beyond the Sirwan. East
and south-east of Zohab there are ranges of considerable height
traversing the plateau from NW. to SE., but an easy line can be
tound to Kirmanshah by making a detour to south-east down the
Jvarmd valley As has been already mentioned, this depression in
the borderland ranges affords by far the easiest approach from Meso
potamia to the Persian plateau. Its plains and valleys are generallv
well watered, and in parts are fairly well cultivated.
(c) The Desert South and West of Euphrates.—The Arabian
Desert, where it borders on south-western Irak, is a fairly hard
gravelly plain, broken in places by belts and patches of sand Its
general slope is towards the north and north-east, and it terminates
in a drop of 50-100 ft. on the edge of the Euphrates valley. It is
intersected by wadis (watercourses, dry except after rain) running
towards the Euphrates. Here and there are wells and water-holesl
their supply is at its best in winter and spring after rainfall. These
rams moreover produce some grass-vegetation, which for a time
alfords a fair amount of camel-grazing. The usual low desert scrub
is also found.
West of the Euphrates between Hit and Nejef the southern part
of the Syrian Desert (Hamad) has the same general character. Here
the desert plateau contains a depression running southwards from
the Euphrates near Ramadiyeh (30 miles below Hit) for about 60 miles
to the neighbourhood of Kerbela. This depression is divided into
wo large basins, a northern and a southern, known respectively as
Habbamyeh and Abu Dibis. The Habbaniyeh basin contains a lake
about 56 square miles in area, and at the south-east end of the Abu
iJibis is the small lake of the same name about 8 miles W of
Kerbela. These basins will probably be of importance for the irri-
gation ot Mesopotamia as reservoirs in which to store flood-water from
the Euphrates and possibly from the Tigris (see further pp. 159,163-4).
On the western side of the Abu Dibis depression are the cultivated
oases of Shifatheh (or Shetateh) and Rahaliyeh. The former is