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File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎96v] (201/834)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (411 folios). It was created in 1917-1920. 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. .

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— nO —
away. According to Aylmer and Butler, the region from Skaka
right up to the foot of Mghaira appears to be ‘ the bed of a lake
long since dry.’ Jebel Mghaira is more truly a Jal —an escarp
ment forming the eastern limit of the depression.
I have come to these conclusions from an analysis of Huber’s
aneroid readings. These needed careful adjustment between
Azrak and Jauf on the strength of the late Captain Shakespear’s
and Miss Gertrude Bell’s very reliable series of altitudes, which
check Huber at Kasr Azrak and Hail, while they check each other
at Haiyyaniya, and are themselves checked independently on
the Hejaz railway at Ziza and Mudowara.
The 500 metre contour lines are drawn approximately on to
spot heights taken by the above-mentioned authorities and by
Leachman. They roughly outline the beds of the Jauf and
Sirhan depressions, and show the land-fall towards the Euphrates.
The surface of the Sirhan is practically of the same level
throughout its extent ; in places it sinks to a lower level, for
instance in the neighbourhood of Kaf, where Huber records an
altitude of 498 metres ; he notes that it is said to be the lowest
point in the basin, which it probably is, if the existence of
moisture in the form of salt marshes and bogs proves anything.
If Huber’s altitude for this locality is reduced, in the same
proportion as his other readings have had to be, it becomes 276
metres. The margin of the depression is quite definite, and we
know the watershed of the whole basin fairly accurately, except
towards the east. We do not know what lies between the
escarpment of Mghaira (Aylmer and Butler) and the Nefud,
but we do know that Shakespear could see this feature all the way
from the Nefud edge forty miles distant, which seems to point
to there being no rising ground between. In fact, it suggests
the possibility of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Sirhan having once had an outlet to
the Euphrates. In this case, had Jebel Druz sufficient rainfall, it
might have been the source of a 600 mile water-way ! and
anyway the Sirhan and Jauf basins would have been inland seas.
We should know a little more on this matter had we the
knowledge Musil must have gained on his journey from Kara to
Jadaidet el-Arar, making a wide circuit to the east into the
northern part of the Lubba tract. The Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Khar drains most,
if not all, of the region to the east of Jauf. We know it for 200
miles between Hazil and Bahr-i-Nejet ,* it is a big wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. with a
four-mile-wide bed where Leachman crossed it north-west of
Hazil. Westwards of this point we only know of it by report,
as having its^ head in the Lubba tract. From Shakespear’s
altitudes in this region it looks as if the Khar must turn south
wards into the sands at a point about 10(1 miles east of Jauf.
The lowest part of the gap between the Nefud and Mghaira
is m its northern portion, where Musil found the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ab-
el-Kur, probably an affluent of the Khar, and if so its
main head. Although only recently discovered, Huber knew
of it from native information, recording it—with the Arar

About this item

Content

The volume consists of individual copies of the Arab Bulletin produced by the Arab Bureau at the Savoy Hotel, Cairo numbers 66-114. These publications contain wartime, and post-war intelligence obtained by British sources. They deal with economic, military, and political matters in Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and elsewhere, which – in the opinion of British officials – affect the ‘Arab movement’; the bulletins cover a wide range of topics and key personalities.

The volume contains the following maps:

  • A map of Central Arabia showing St John Philby's route from Uqair to Jidda 17 November to 31 December 1917: folio 103.
  • Sketch map prepared from RNAS photographs and reconnaissance by HMS City of Oxford of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Mur February to March 1918 : folio 170.
  • Sketch map of Hejaz (1919): folio 317.
  • Tribal sketch map of the Hadhramaut ‘showing only tribes of fighting value’: folios 333v.

Towards the back of the volume is a small amount of correspondence respecting the distribution of Notes on the Middle East ; the Arab Bulletin was superseded by this publication. Copies of numbers 3-4 of this publication can also be found at the back of the volume.

Tables of content can be found at the front of each issue. A small amount of content is in French.

Extent and format
1 volume (411 folios)
Arrangement

The Arab Bulletins are arranged in numerical order from the front to the back of the file. The Notes on the Middle East follow on from the bulletins at the back of the file in reverse numerical order.

The subject 759 (Arab Bulletins) consists of two volumes. IOR/L/PS/10/657-658.

Physical characteristics

Condition: the edges of some of the folios towards the back of the volume have suffered damage to their edges due to general wear and tear. The affected folios are 389-390, 407-409, and 412.

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 413; 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. The front cover and the leading flyleaf have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 357-363 and ff 374-412 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎96v] (201/834), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/658, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048056855.0x000002> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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