"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد I. ١٩١٨" [‎٢‎٣‎١] (٥٦٨/٢٤٠)

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
231
Pitch is obtained at Hit, where there are five bitumen springs, or
groups of springs, four on the right bank of the Euphrates, one on
the left. In 1909 four of these were being worked and were said to
be capable of yielding altogether over 2,000 donkey-loads a day;
much less was actually collected. The methods of collection and
preparation were primitive. The bitumen is used for pitching boats,
bridges, floors, &c. Lack of transport has confined the sale of bitumen
to the local Mesopotamian market. On the possibilities of the Hit
district as an oil-producing area see p. 61.
Miscellaneous. [a) Minor Handicraft —Pottery is manufactured
throughout the country, though a certain amount is imported from
abroad ; the pottery of Baghdad, very light and porous, is sold
throughout Irak. Much matting is produced in Irak, especially by
the marsh Arabs. A number of crafts are specially practised by the
Persians of Irak, e.g. at Kazimain house-decorating and painting, and
the manufacture of small objects of ivory, wood, and tortoise-shell.
At Kerbela filigree work in the precious metals and engraving on
mother-of-pearl are executed, and here and at Nejef are made rosaries
and praying tablets which, like the inscribed shrouds mentioned
above, find a sale among Shiah pilgrims.
{b) Distilling.— -Arag^ is distilled at Qarareli three miles south of
Baghdad, and an inferior quality is made at Hilla. In the first half-
year of the British occupation of Baghdad the Government monopoly
for the sale of araq in the city and surrounding districts brought in
£16,000. The spirit is made from dates together with mastic,
orange-peel, cardamoms, and other ingredients.
(c) Dried Fruit. —There is a dried-fruit industry which is said to
contain possibilities of development.
[d] Milling is a fairly important industry in some towns, but
modern machinery has not been used, except to a slight extent at
Baghdad and Basra.
(e) Wool-pressing is carried on at Baghdad, Basra, Kut el-Amara,
and Amara.
(/) Gypsum-mortar is manufactured in considerable quantities at
Mahmudiyeh (between Baghdad and Museyib), and at Zobeir near
Basra.
(g) Collection of Salt. —Salt is collected for local use from some of the
large fields of Irak and the Jezlreh (see p. 58). The fields have been
Turkish Government property, and the right of supplying the pro
duce to the larger towns was leased to contractors; otherwise the
Arabs seemed to have helped themselves as they pleased. The
produce of the fields in the Sairt district (south of Bitlis) was ex
ported to neighbouring vilayets.