'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎621] (664/1050)

2Tc
F AR—FAR
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The ownership of this island, like that of 'Arab!, appears to be undetermined, but it
is apparently an appanage of Al-Hasa.— {Oazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .)
FARSIYAH—
See Bahrain (Island); towns, villages, etc.
FARSlYEH—
See 'Abbadan ; north shore,
FARTAK (J abal)—
See (Ras) Fartak.
FARTAK (R as)—
A prominent headland in southern Arabia, affording a good landmark, and forming
the south-western horn of the indentation, known as Qamar Bay, between the Dhufar
district and the Mahrah coast. Ras Fartak is bold and safe to approach, there being
9 to 10 fathoms of water close to the cliffs, 20 and 30 fathoms at one mile, and 100 fathoms
about 6 miles from the shore. It is a lofty, mountainous headland about 2,500 feet in
height, and visible at a distance of 60 miles on a clear day. Next to Ras Sajar {Sakar,
Seger) it is the highest and largest promontory on the coast.
The sea-cliff, which at Khalfut, 12 miles to the northward, is about 60 feet above the
sea level, increases rapidly in height with the land and soon arrives at a perpen
dicular escarpment of 1,900 feet, a height which it maintains onwards to the summit
of Ras Fartak. It is by far the grandest escarpment on the south-eastern coast of
Arabia, being uninterruptedly perpendicular from top to bottom for an extent of
6 miles. No part of this range has any vegetation except near the summit, and that
chiefly on the western side where the range slopes gradually to the plain below. Indeed,
the barrenness of the Fartak range generally, as well as that of the country side, seems
to indicate that this part of the coast does not catch the rains of the south-west monsoon.
From the extreme of the cape the cliffs extend in a northerly direction for about 8 miles,
then they become lower and less regular for a further distance of about 9 miles, when
they end in the sandy beach off the village of Tabut, the rocky projections forming
several small bays with deep water.
When about 30 miles off Ras Fartak in a southerly direction it appears like an island
with a gap in the middle. It is supposed to be the ancient Syagros, from its resem
blance to a boar's head when seen at from 20 to 30 miles, either from west or east. The
current, which begins to set east-north-eastward along the south-eastern coast of Arabia
early in April, is apparently deflected at Ras Fartak, and strikes the coast about Damqut,
in Qamar Bay. Its average strength is 2 miles an hour. During the north-east monsoon
it runs in the opposite direction at 1 mile an hour.— {Bed Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot*
1909.)
FARTAK (R as)—
See 'Aqabah (Gulf of).
fartus—
A section of the Bani Hakim, one of the rural tribes of 'Iraq {q, v.).
FARU—
See Samail ( Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. ).
FARUJJA (Tribe)—
See 'Anizah.
FARUQ (W adi)—
A long, narrow depression in eastern Arabia, apparently running north by west and
south by east and divided from the Hasa oasis (to the east of it) by an interval of about
30 miles. The head of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Faruq is in Summan at Judah, and it ends at the hilly
ridge called Jau-ad-Dukhan, perhaps 30 or 40 miles short of Jabrln. Where the Riyadh-
Al-Hasa route crosses it it is about one mile broad, and has a sandy bed with a steepish
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