"دليل الجزيرة العربية المجلد I" [‎٥‎٧‎٥] (١٠٥٠/٦١٢)

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EUPHRATES
575
In this section, 68 miles in length, the Euphrates flows'through a dry but arable
country ; its bed is broad and open, and the current is ordinarily slight. In the table
above reference has not been made to some small canals which take oft: on the bank ; they
will be mentioned in the paragraph on irrigation below.
After passing through the town of Musaiyib the Euphrates runs for two miles and then
throws off from its right bank the important Husainlyah canal; just below this point a
former loop of the river, called the Shatt-al-Atiq or Old River, takes its departure on the
opposite side ; this branch is now altogether dry. Three miles lelow the head of the
Husainiyah canal the river reaches a crucial point in its career, and its v/aters divide into
two streams which separate at an acute angle ; that to the west or right is the great
Hindiyah canal; the other — here known as the Shatt-al-Hillah—is the one which we
shall follow, for it is the true Euphrates of the last thousand years, though its stream
is now thin and sluggish. About a mile below the bifurcation of the Hindiyah canal and
the Euphrates, the Shatt-al-Atiq already mentioned rejoins the Euphrates from the left •
most of the land enclosed between the Euphrates and the Shatt-al-'Atlq now belongs
to the Dairat-as-Saniyah.
A tabular account of the second section of the Euphrates follows here in continuation
of the preceding table:—
Name.
Husainiyah Canal
Hindiyah (Shatt-al-;
Hillah
(1) On which side
situated; (2) distance
by stream, and (3) average
direction from the
last place.
Nature.
Right bank.
2 miles.
South-south-west.
(This is the posi
tion of the head.)
Right bank
3 miles.
South-south-west.
(The positin given
is that of the
head.)
See article Husaini
yah canal.
See article Shatt-al-
Hindiyah.
Both banks
24 miles.
South-south-west.
See article Hillah.
R emarks.
From Musaiyib to
the head of the
Husainiyah the
left bank of the
river hs some wood
ing, but the right
bank is almost tree
less. The breadth
of the river imme
diately below the
head of the
Hiisainlyahis about
120 yards.
Here the Hindiyah
canal withdraws
nearly the whole
water of the river;
throughout the re
mainder of this
section the Euphra
tes, as a large river,
is non-existent. This
point is more fully
discussed at the end
of the present table.
The ruins of Babylon
being about 8 miles,
and end about
3 miles, above
Hillah : the great
bulk of the remains
are on the left bank
r