"ملاحظات ميدانية: بلاد الرافدين. هيئة الأركان العامة في الهند. فبراير ١٩١٧". [ظ‎‎٢‎٠] (٣٥٠/٤٧)

The Christian sect of Sabians have their principal location
at Amarah. The two towns, R-ut-al-Amarah and ’Amarah are
the principal places between Baghdad and Basrah.
After Amarah had fallen into our hands, steps were imme
diately taken to acquire these houses for hospitals and billets
for troops and to improve the sanitation and communication. A
road is being made to Shaikh Saad. Road making is most difficult,
owing to the absence of stone in the country, and the construc
tion of a road, to take heavy motor traffic in all weathers,
presents a problem difficult to solve. At Amarah it was found
that a certain quality of silt clay when deposited in layers
and well rammed produced a surface capable of throwing off
dhe rain-water and thus maintaining a hard crust on the road
way. This is in great contrast to the ordinary mud roadways
of the country which soon become seas of mud under the in
fluence of rain, and in which heavy carts sink to their axles.
If, however, the hard crust gets worn into ruts during wet
weather, rain water is held up and the road surface is soon
■destroyed.
Much land has also been reclaimed from the river at and
near Amarah by means of earthen revetments or bunds, and
huts for the accommodation of troops and hospitals have been
and are being built. All materials for these huts have to be
obtained from Basrah, through the Engineer Field Park. This
latter organisation is responsible for the supply of all enmneer-
ing material, nearly all of which has to be obtained from India,
since at the present time the only resources of the country
tor building purposes are mats, reeds, and a poor quality of
buck. Date palms are the only trees growing in the country
m any quantity, and are too valuable to be cut down as timber
in any case such trees would be of very little value for con-
■structional purposes.
Bridges at Amarah.
1. There are three Boat Bridges at Amarah
(c) Over Tigris River. (b) Over Jahalah Creek,
(c) Over Musharrah Creek.
2. The Tigris Bridge as left by the Turks on their retire
ment from Amarah, is a little over 500 feet long and consists