’amarah, a small town on the left hank nearly midway
between Baghdad and Kurnah, being about 178 miles by
water from the former city, and 97J miles directly S.S.E.
from the latter.
Nearly opposite to this miserable specimen of an Arab
town, a bifurcation takes place; and it may be remarked here,
that the Tigris, instead of receiving, as before, an addition to
its waters from the Euphrates, now sends a considerable
portion to the latter river, by means of the canals above and
below Baghdad; through these canals, however, the waters
only pass during the season of floods.
The greater of these branches continues its easterly direction,
under the new name of Shatt el ’amarah, till it joins
the Frat;1 whilst the smaller turns off nearly at a right angle
towards the heart of Lower Mesopotamia. The latter branch,
or Shatt el Hai, has a breadth of nearly 150 yards, and takes
a southerly direction to the mounds called Neishaget Wasit,
where it forms two branches. One of these, called the Bu
ji He'irat, follows a circuitous course, by the old fort of Tesaine,
to Tela Tendhiyah, where it is rejoined by the other branch,
called the Shatt el ’Amah,8 which flows near the modern
Wasit.3 It is not navigable in this part of its course ; but
the western is so, and is, in consequence, the regular passage.
These united streams take the direction of S. 22° E., under
the name of Sub-bil. At about 20 miles below the junction
just mentioned, the trunk of the Hai sends off a canal, called
Be Dukhan, towards the eastern side; and also another in
the opposite direction, to Shatrah, about 11 miles lower.
At the tombs of Hamzah the main stream of the Ha'i again
divides into two branches; of these, the most northerly, or
that which is navigated, enters the Euphrates opposite to the
custom-house of A1 Arkah; and five miles lower, near the
village of .Abu Sof, which is 78 miles by the river from
Kurnah, the smaller branch also falls into the Euphrates,
1 “ The principal,” says Abii-l-fedd, “ is Mara (woman), and it waters all
the land on the west side of the Tigris. The remainder flows into the other
river (Euphrates).”—MS. translation by Mr. Rassam.
! Or the Wanderer. 8 Wdsit el Hai.
after a course of about 140 miles from Kut el ’amarah. The
banks are inhabited, and, owing to the inundations and the
facilities of irrigation, the country is easily cultivated at those
places. It is navigable during eight months of the year, and
at that season • the canal is preferred by the boatmen to the
passage along the main stream, on account of the heavy dues
exacted by the Beni Lam Arabs.1
The Tigris appears to preserve its original size, notwithstanding
the diminution of its waters in consequence of the
canal diverging from i t : in all the remainder of its course,
which is in a direction E. by N., its average width is 200 yards.
A few miles below Kut may be traced the ancient bed of
a branch, now dry, running in a S.S.E. direction through
the ruins of Wasit, and onwards from thence, in the same
direction, under the name of Shatt Ibrahim, till it enters the
Euphrates, about midway between the Hai and Kurnah.
This appears to have been the bed of the river described as
passing between the two towns of Wasit, which were in
former times connected by a bridge of boats ;2 and the state
of the ruins on each side, as well as the size of the ancient
bed, confirm the opinion.3 It is, however, probable that this
was merely a previous derivation, which gradually became
dry after the waters had taken the course of the Hai, on the
banks of which the people of Wasit then settled, at the spot
now bearing the same name.
The course of the Tigris below the Hai is, as we have
already observed, E. by N., and it preserves that course,
under the name of Shatt el ’amarah, for about 28 miles; it
then turns S. by W. for an additional distance of 32 miles,
or as far as a spot close to Imam Gharbi, where it has reached
its greatest distance from the Euphrates ; this point being
95 miles in a direct line S. 22° W. from a bend near Ummu-1-
Huntali, on the latter river. At 66 miles by water, S. 57° E.
1 As the Expedition passed up and down the main river only, the preceding
account of the Hai is chiefly taken from the Journal of Sayid All, one of
the interpreters belonging to the Expedition.
2 MS. translations of Abu-l-feda and Ibn-el-Wardi, by Mr. Rassam.
a These were examined by Messrs. Ormsby and Elliott in 1830 and 1831.