"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد III. ١٩١٧" [‎٣‎١‎١] (٤٣٢/٣٢٠)

KOUTES 49 a, b
311
Miles from
Mosul
96
128
140
160
1661
181
189
191
El-Bidah. Eight hours by carriage from c Ain el-Ghazal.
No village ; wells of brackish but drinkable water difficult
to find without a local guide.
From here Shedadi is 8 hrs. ride over flat sandy desert via Abu
Hamda.
General direction SW. across open desert with several hills
on the r. The going is good in the dry season, but very
heavy after rain.
Fadgham, small village on the Khabur, with khan. Nine
and a half hours by carriage from El-Bidah. No supplies
are available, but there is an ample supply of good water
from a stream. Irrigation by water-lifts.
Authority of 1880 left the plain and went through a narrow
gorge: the cliffs receded, forming lines of hills between
which the track ran for about 9 m. But this may not be
the track followed by the carriage-road.
Cross Khabur Eiver, here 86 yds. broad, by a ferry.
Sawwar, small village with a khan, on the r. bank of ihe
Khabur Kiver. It is the head-quarters of a Mudir.
Zaptieh post. Mound and ruins.
Sawwar is 7—8 hrs. from Fadgham.
The track now strikes W. across the desert.
Cross an area intersected by many dry water-courses which
contain salt. The name of the district is El-Melha.
Reach the end of this area.
About here is the watershed between the Khabur and the
Euphrates.
Reach the edge of the Euphrates Valley.
Track now WSW. across the alluvial plain.
Deir ez-Zor, bridge. 7—8 hrs. from Sawwar.
EOUTE 49 b
MOSUL—DEIR EZ-ZOR m.)
Via Beled Sinjak and Shedadi.
Authorities as for Route 49 a ; also E. Sachau, Euphrat und journey in 1898.
Water is scarce and apparently usually brackish between Sekenik
and Shedadi, and between Tel Sawwar and Deir. Except in the