'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from September 1850 to June 1852. Edited by the Secretary. Volume X.' [‎109] (242/458)

MEMOIR ON THE “ TIGRIS.”
109
scort
' Position 414 ,
'k for tk site «
of Harbeli,
• in MinganJ
liair, irliicliil
ited in the sttii
ie old clianneloli:
idge ofHai'tek
lat, previous tot
ter side of tliei
; age, points tot
aid sliowtliafr.
: of the oldU*
ninutes fnrtlioi 1 . !
of the Sh#
strewed in every direction around with bricks and vast quantities of
lottery, marking the site of an old town (of which, perhaps, the mound
was the citadel) that had derived its water apparently from one of the
canals noted in page 39. Unlike the soil bounding the old channel
of the Tigris to the West, the district here is a kind of friable marl with
out a blade of verdure, and bearing every appearance of having been
frequently submerged. Quitting Tel Dhahab we cantered in the
direction of a still loftier heap that appeared within a mile of us,
being situate on the other side of a deep and broad indentation which
we had to cross, and in the bottom of which we lost sight of the mounds
altogether. To our surprise, too, instead of being a mile off as we had
supposed, the party coming on at a walk were occupied an hour—so
deceptive was the distance across the valley—in reaching Tel Manjur,
the name of this elevation, which is certainly the highest and most
considerable mass in the whole country. Standing on its summit we had
no difficulty in recognising the indentation* we had crossed as the
continuity of the Atkeim in former ages, when the Tigris was confined in
its old channel to the West, and, much interested in the subject, the
determined positionsf of surrounding tumuli in an examination
made on this and the subsequent day, proved the whole to have formed
at one time the continuous walls of a considerable town, that was of
circular shape on three of its sides, and straight, as I judge, on the
West face, or that running parallel with the indentation formerly
occupied by the Atkeim. The character of these mounds (Manjur par
ticularly) differed from all others we had seen in our progress, for though
much loftier than the rest, there was but little debris of material ex
posed, like in ruins of a comparatively recent date ; the whole being
buried under the accumulated dust of ages, which, indeed, is the
characteristic of the older vestiges in all this country. The diameter
of the city—one and a half geographical miles~-whatever its name
may have been, proves its extent, and in addition to its venerable
appearance, we found strewed about the surface of the sur-
* Marked a a a on the map.
t I went to the whole of the mounds of Manjur and took bearings for their individual
positions from the summits of each. These are in the Appendix under Y.
. Manjur, its present Arabic name ) signifies “ fashioned” and perhaps traditionally
implies the former beauty of, the place.