"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎٣‎١‎١] (٧٣٨/٦٢٦)

mi
PHYSICAL FEATURES 615
alternating, and, as the zone of exposed sandstone near the
sea is entered, becoming more and more difficult to cross.
But there are parts of this slope which deserve special mention.
When the hills rise by terraces, and the upper course of
a wadi turns along one of these, there is formed a small plain
or upland valley where cultivation is profitable and rare
villages occur. Such a tract is found in the upper valley of
Seil en-Nimeireh, known in this part of its course as W.
Jedeireh; here the villages of Khanzireh, ‘Araq and Tar‘m
enjoy the advantages of a good soil with abundant water for
irrigation, while the more important village of Kefrabbeh
occupies a somewhat similar position in the valley of Seil
‘Esal, across the next ridge to the north. All lie on or
near the southern route connecting Es-Safiyeh, at the S.
end of the Dead Sea, with Kerak. Terrace ground of a
similar kind is found on the slopes between Kerak and the
lower Mojib, though here there are no settlements through
the absence of frequented tracks traversing the region.
North of W. Mojib, hills push out from the plateau in a
NE.-SW. direction, and there is no room even for small
plains : here the projecting western end of El-Jibal divides
the whole western slope into two unequal halves. This
ridge forms the watershed between Seil Heidan on the
south and W. Zerqa Ma‘m on the north, watercourses
running from all its sides except the eastern. It slopes
from J. ‘Atarus on the edge of the plateau past Khirbet
el-Mekawar (the ruins of Herod’s Machaerus) with its citadel-
hill of El-Meshneqeh ; its southern sides towards Seil Heidan
have cultivable valleys and, a rarer feature in Moab, occa
sional woods (see below). Below Mekawar to the W. the
marshy plain of Ez-Zara along the shore contains the famous
hot springs of the same name ; and much of the ground
leading down to them, like that not far away along the south
bank of W. ez-Zerqa, is of volcanic rock and lava. (Cf. above,
p. 614.) A track connects the shore at Ez-Zara, one of the few
points between the head of the sea and Lisan bay where boats
can land, with the plateau in the neighbourhood of Libb.