"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد IV .١٩١٧" [و‎‎٢‎١‎٩] (٥٣٠/٤٤٢)

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are also used in the flood season. The river bank is thickly planted
with gardens and orchards which stretch up towards the town.
On the other (W.) side of the city there rise from the plain two
rounded hills with easy slopes. Their altitude is about the same as
that of the high ground on the E. side of the river. They are about
5 m. from the town.
The city itself is surrounded by a great wall of Eoman origin,
enclosing a rectangular space of about m. square. This wall is of
good rubble masonry faced with large blocks of stone (black basalt
which is said to have weathered to a dull yellow tone). There are
four gates, the Yeni Qapu on the E., the Mardln on the S., the Earn
on the W., and the Kharput on the N.
The wall on the E. side stands on the edge of a basalt cliff about
30 ft. high, and is for the most part in a ruinous condition, having
been partly demolished for purposes of building: the Yeni Qapu is
protected by a projecting town and wall. On the S. the walls are
about 40 ft. high, very solidly constructed, with bastions, generally
square, at 20 ft. intervals, and a ditch 10-20 ft. high and 5-15 ft.
deep. Beyond the ditch are some irregular basalt cliffs, and a steep
slope to the river, where are irrigated plantations and gardens. The
Mardln gateway is 12 ft. wide, and has two sets of gates, 40 ft. apart,
the outer of iron and the inner of 1^ in. planks. E. of the gate is
a long projecting bastion reported in 1903 to contain cavalry stables.
The walls of this bastion, 40 ft. high and 7 ft. thick, are built round
a projecting rock, and a cliff 15-20 ft. high falls away below it.
There is a flanking tower W. of the gate.
On the W. side the walls are about 50 ft. high, with towers (at
the bastions?) rising to about 65 ft. The main wall is 10-15 ft.
thick, and has a roadway along the top. The musketry parapet is
2| ft. thick, 4 ft. high, with loopholes and a 4-ft. banquette. The
bastions in this part are semicircular and more massive than on the
other side of the Mardln Gate, having a diameter of about 50 ft.;
but some are in a more or less ruinous condition. Outside the wide
berm is a basalt cliff of varying but generally considerable height.
From the Mardln to the Eum Gate there is a 20-ft. covered way
with a partial outer wall.
On the N. the wall is about 30 ft. high, much stone having been
removed for building. The bastions are round. From the Kharput
Gate to the river runs a broad ditch or depression containing pools
of stagnant water. About 1 m. outside the gate is a block of two-
storied barracks. One authority states that besides the Kharput
Gate there is a wicket-gate on this side.
At the NE. corner of the town is the old citadel, cut off from the
MES. IV EG