TNT History Archives: Searching for Salt in Ottoman Mesopotamia (early 1900s)/Part I

//Ed. note: This article was published in the journal of the
literature faculty of Darülfünun (Istanbul University) in 
1916 and was authored by one Dr. Onger, who identified
himself as a history teacher.

The article focuses on the salt deposits south of Sinjar
Mountain in today's northwestern Iraq and northeastern
Syria, but also mentions an artifact from the time of 
an Assyrian king found near the salt deposits.//



This map was included with the article. Mosul is at
far right-center. The long dark strip west of Mosul
is the Sinjar mountain range.  The Bevara salt 
deposit, the main focus of the article, is south of
the left extremity of the Sinjar range.  To the west
of Bevara is Deir ez Zor. The smaller map at 
bottom is a close-up of Bevara.

Some recent TNT reports about this same area
are referenced here:

syria exploration click here for the second of two
TNT reports about a trip scouting a path from 
Mosul to Aleppo for German archeologists in about
1914.

mosul to van click here for the third of three TNT
reports about a trek from Mosul to Van via Hakkari
in 1911.


Ottoman salt was important for paying off foreign debt. 
Consequently, the importation of salt into the Empire was 
forbidden.

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Geographical Observations About the Salt Deposits in the
Plain South of Sincar Mountain in Mesopotamia

Up until now, the plain containing salt deposits between the Euphrates
River, the Habur River, Sinjar Mountain and the Çarçar Valley have
not been explored.  However, there is some information available
about the areas to the north and west thanks to three expeditions:

First expedition: Austen Henry Layard conducted excavations at
Nineveh during his expedition in 1850 from the south of Sinjar
Mountain westward up to Tal Acaba, also known as Urban, on the
Habur River (1);




Second expedition: in 1878, Lady Anne Blunt made a trek from
Elhatıra in the Çarçar Valley across the plain the Tel Fatıram on the
Habur River (2).  The geographic information obtained by Madam
Blunt during this trip was included in the Kiepert map that was
added to Max Von Oppenheim's travel log (3);

Third expedition: In January 1880, Edward Sachau made a trip that
began at Suvvar on the Habur River and continued eastward and then
northeast to Sinjar Mountain (4).  This region was subsequently
traversed by local government officials and inspectors from 'Düyun-u
Umumiye' (Ottoman Public Debt Commission), who conducted
serious investigations resulting in discoveries.  The information was
included in Vital Gwinnet's 4-volume work (5).


                       Edward Sachau

(1) A.H. Layard: Ninive und Babylon, Deutsch Von Zenker, Kapitel XI.

(     (2) L.A. Blunt: Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, London 1879, 2 Bde.

(     (3) M.V. Oppenheim: Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen Golf, 1899/1900,
2     Bde Karte 2.

(     (4) E. Sachau: Reise in Syrien und Mesopotamien, 1883, S. 297-326.

(     (5) Gwinnet: La Turquie d’Asie, Bd. II 1892, S. 285 u. 802 ff.

In 1904 and 1905, inspectors of Düyun-u-Umumiye Messrs. Krepin,
Aum, Logutatidis and Rigu made meticulous investigations.  Vahid Bey,
a teacher at Darülfünun (Istanbul University)  and the secretary of
Düyun-u Umumiye, allowed me to review their reports and I am
especially grateful to Messrs Krepin and Logutatidis for their valuable
studies.

If we compare the information in the Oppenheim map with that of the
Gwinnet map of Düyun-u Umumiye we attain important knowledge.
Certain contradictory information we find in the Kiepert map was
based on Madam Blunt's input and has not been confirmed.  Madam
Blunt's notes are abbreviated and her map is rough.  Perhaps Madam
Blunt's geographic names ought not be considered scientific.  Von
Oppenheim also mentioned mistakes on Madam Blunt's map (1).

Let us now examine Madam Blunt's path, which includes the plain
from Elhatıra.  She came to "Umm Midjabe", which is west of Elhatıra.
This location is identified as "Um Midhjâbe" on page 313 of Sachau's
publication; as "Omedjiaba"  on page 726 of Gwinnet's map; as
"Elaâdjebé" in the Düyun-u Umumiye map; and recorded as "İdiabe"
in the reports of the aforementioned group (2).  (On Cevad Paşa's map
in the museum (probably Müze-i Hümayun in Istanbul) it is mistakenly
written as "Um Bediyada".)  "Elaâdjebé"'s position near the mountain
range has not been entirely settled.

Madam Blunt subsequently came to the "Opvara" salt deposit.  This is
not the "Bevara" salt deposit that is located south of Cebelülroda. 
Madam Blunt's and Sachau's trips were completely separate. In my
opinion, Madam Blunt's "Opvara" salt deposit must be the "Favarat"
location that Sachau heard from the Arabs. 

According to Sachau, "Favarat" is located along the road that goes
west to Um Midhjâbe, in the vicinity of the Opvara salt deposit. In
that case, Madam Blunt went further south and continued along the
road that the Arabs showed to Sachau. (refer to the map).

(      (1) Bd. 11, S. 413.

(     (2) Kiepert: Karte von Kieinasien, DV1.

               Heinrich Kiepert's map of Mesopotamia

//END of PART I//

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