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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. IV. 1917' [227r] (458/530)
The record is made up of 1 volume (263 folios). It was created in 1917. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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TEL ATAR—UEFEH
449
streets of the town, which are narrow and straggling, run generally
E. and W., or N. and S. The houses are built of stone, and there
are some good khans.
Supplies and Commerce. —There is much wheat grown in the
well-cultivated plain S. and SE. of Urfeh, and extensive pastures
are also to be found there. The town and its district would form
important bases of supply. The town has a plentiful water-supply;
several strong springs rise on the northern side of the citadel hill,
and feed the two tanks mentioned above. Another spring called
Qara Punar lies further to the E. Springs also exist in the hilly
ground N. of the town, and water is brought thence in hares.
Lastly, there are numerous small springs in the plain near Urfeh to
the S. Fuel is very scarce. Wood in normal times had to be
brought on camels from the Tur Abdin country. is most in
use: twigs, vine branches, and olive stumps are also employed.
Kerosine was imported in considerable quantities before the war.
Charcoal was very expensive.
Urfeh has been a most important point of transit for commerce
going from the Euphrates to Mosul or to Armenia by Diarbekr.
The railway, however, now passes some 40-45 miles to the S. of it,
and the branch line to Uffeh which is contemplated has apparently
not been taken in hand.
Inhabitants, —The bulk of the population before the war seems to
have been Moslem (Turkish and Kurdish). There was a large
Armenian community, estimated at 7,500, and settlements of
Jacobites, Jacobite Uniates, and Jews. Massacres of the Armenians,
deportation, and some resistance to the deportation order, are re
ported to have taken place in August-October 1915. An American
mission was the centre of a considerable Protestant community.
Administration. —Urfeh is the head-quarters of a Scinjaq in the
Aleppo Vilayet, and is therefore administered by a Mutessarif. A
small regular garrison was maintained here before the war.
History, —Urfeh is the ancient Edessa, and in the first centuries
b . o. and a. d . was the capital of a small state which was a
buffer between the Koman and Parthian Empires. The Roman
Government annexed it in the second century a.d . and for some
time it flourished as a commercial centre, as a in the
Roman frontier defences, and as a university town. In the Middle
Ages it was captured by the Crusaders, and for the first half of the
twelfth century was ruled by Christian counts. At present it derives
some importance from its position on the ordinary Aleppo—Diarbekr
trade route and from its connexion with Abraham in Moslem legends.
In 1896 there was a massacre of Armenians here.
MES. IV
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume IV, Northern Mesopotamia and Central Kurdistan (Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, April, 1917), covering Mesopotamia north of the line joining Rowanduz, Mosul, Meskeneh [Maskanah], and Aleppo, up to Van, Bitlis, Diarbekr, and Mar‘ash. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, and appears to be based on official and unofficial publications and maps which are cited in a bibliographical section in the volume.
The volume includes a note on confidentiality, a title page, 'Note', and 'Abbreviations'. There is a page of contents which includes the following sections:
- Introduction;
- Itineraries;
- River Routes (The Tigris, The Euphrates);
- Land Routes (Central Kurdistan, Routes between Mosul and Diarbekr, Routes between the Plain of Diarbekr and the Moutains to North and West, Routes between the line Diarbekr-Mardīn and the Euphrates, Interior of Norther Jezīreh, West of the Jaghjagha Su, The Euphrates Valley and Country West thereof, Across the Taurus between the Euphrates and Mar‘ash, and Aleppo-Mar‘ash);
- Railways (Aleppo-Ras el-‘Ain-Tel Ermen);
- Gazetteer of Towns;
- Bibliographical Note;
- Transliteration of Names;
- Glossary;
- Index;
- Plates;
- 'Sketch Map of Routes'.
The volume contains 15 plates, which illustrate the content of the various chapters, and 1 map entitled 'Mesopotamia: Outline Map Showing Routes'.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (263 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged by numbered routes. There are pages of contents, an index, and a list of plates. There is one map house in a pocket.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio (except for the front cover, where the folio number is located on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ).
Pagination: The volume also has an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/6
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. IV. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:262v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence