'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1239] (288/688)

MOSUL
1239
Zahar ; there are some gardens and fields irrigated by a watercourse from Jabal Rasian.
Moshij'belongs to the Hasasin tribe. The small isolated group of hills 6 or 7 miles east-
south-eastward from the village is called Jabalain. Moshij is wrongly shown on some
mapo as Musa or Mauza'.—( Wauhope, 1916).
MOSUL-
An important town in Iraq, situated some 230 miles by road (via right bank of Tigris)
north-north-west of Baghdad ; it is a great route-centre, containing about 14,000 houses
and with a population of 70,000 souls. There are post and telegraph offices,
with communication, before the war, with Baghdad, Diarbakr, Ruwanduz (through
Arbil, and Sulaimaniyah (through Kirkuk).
General Description. —Mosul stands on the west side of the Tigiris trough and is
bounded on the east by the river. To the west of the city the country consists of rocky
formations, rising in gentle undulations out of the plain. In the immediate vicinity
these formations consist of solid beds of compact, granular, calcareous gypsum, in
horizontal strata and non-fossiliferous. This rock is extensively quarried as ' Mosul
marble, ' which varies in colour from pure white to bluish gray. Superimposed on the
gypsum is a layer of coarse friable limestone, abounding in shells. This layer is thin to
the west, but much thicker to the south of the city, where it is extensively quarried for
building purposes.
The Tigris at Mosul cuts into the side of its trough and threatens some of the buildings
of the town. The whole river-bed covered, in high flood, is about 675 yards broad,
and there is a deep channel on the west of about 150—200 yards. The bridge of boats
crosses the river from a pier 32 yards long opposit the Bab-al-Jiar Gate (in the southern
half of the river front) to a gravelly bank which is submerged when the Tigris is in
flood. The boat-bridge is 125 yards long, and has a roadway of rough planking 24 feet
wide, which is laid on 17 pontoons, flat-bottomed boats 26 feet long by 10 feet wide,
with a waterway 10 feet between each and its neighbour. The gravelly bank on the
east side of the river is crossed by a bridge of brick faced with sandstone, which is laid
at an bangle of about 45° to the boat-bridge. The masonry bridge is approached
from the pontoon-bridge by a ramp 46 yards long, and has a total length of 278 yards;
the roadway, which is 16 feet wide, is laid on 29 arches, each of 20 feet span, and at the
eastern end there is a ramp 52 yards long. Beyond the east end of the masonry
bridge the road may be under water for as much as 150 yards in the flood season. In
high flood the boat-bridge is removed, and the river is then crossed by boats. These
boats (of which about 30 used to be available) are each about 24 feet long by 8 feet wide-
They are punt-shaped, with the stern cut down to allow animals to go on board. Each
boat can take 6 laden mules. The boat-bridge may be expected to be in position from
some time in the early part of June to the end of March.
The town of Mosul, though dusty, glaring, and treeless, is not unpicturesque at
a distance, the outline of the walls|being broken by numerous domes, minarets and
towers. The city is partially surrounded by badly built rubble walls, 15—20 feet high,
with a thickness of about 6 feet at the bottom and 3 feet at the top. These were
constructed at the beginning of the last century as a protection against Bedouin raids,
and are now out of repair. In many places they have already been breached, and the
ditch has been filled in. There are 11 gates. On the river side, houses have been built
into the wall, and their windows look out on to the river. To the north and west
there is an expanse of waste land between the houses and the walls. To the south,
beyond the Bab-as Sarai, the river is fringed with mud houses inhabited by raftsmen,
boatmen, and fishermen. Behind these houses is a broad road planted with trees, and
east of this is a broad open space used partly as the drill-ground of the garrison, and
partly, apparently, as a cattle market. At the end of the road, about f mile from tho
city gate, are the barracks and Government offices, and the residences of the Wali and
other officials. The post and telegraph offices lie on the road somewhat nearer to the
town.
The streets of Mosul are narrow, undrained lanes, winding between blank house
walls. A few of the streets are paved with stones, which make very slippery going.
The houses are built of sundried bricks or of stone (' Mosul marble ') set in gypsum
cement. Little wood is used in their construction. The larger houses are built round