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

//Ed. note: "Bevara" is also known as "Al Buwarah salt 
pan". It is located east of Deir ez Zor and Al Mayadin
on today's Iraq-Syria border.//

After Opvara, Madam Blunt came to "Snéisele" salt deposit, which is
written on the Düyun-u Umumiye map, and in its report, as "Silslé" or
"Sillessel".  This salt deposit is in a valley, 12 hours northeast of
Bevara (Logutatidis).  Sinjar Mountain is the same distance away. 
The coordinates are 41:45 east longitude and 35:20 north latitude
(Garinovich).  The salt deposit, with pure and white salt, stretches
from north to east for 51 kilometers with a width of 3-4 kilometers.

"Snéisele" or "Silslé" resembles the name Vakiülasla on a road that
Sachau mentioned.  On separate maps the location is always written
as either "Sillessilé" or "Elasla" but is never written the same way.
It is even this way on Kiepert's map, which contains the best geographic
terms and explanations.  These two (salt) lakes are the same one. The
fact that they have various names stems from the Bedouins who live
in this region.  It is possible that tribes like the Şimara, Anize and
Alayan who crossed the plain looking for salt used various names based
on their particular tribe's pronunciation.  

Lower map is Bevara (Al Buwarah) salt pa-n. On the 
larger map at top Mosul is at far right-center on the 
Tigris River.  An arrow points to Deir ez Zor in the 
center of the map. Bevara (Al Buwarah) is almost 
directly east of Deir ez Zor and its northern side is 
formed by the Cebelülrruda basalt rocks.

According to available information, three-days journey from Mosul 
brings one to the Aşkiya salt deposit. On the Düyun-u Umumiye map,
this salt deposit is located 7 hours away, to the southwest of Elhatıra.
It is 29 hours away from Mosul (Rigu).  Logutatidis made the journey
in 32 hours but the discrepency is likely because of Logutatidis's 
advanced age, which no doubt slowed him down.  

Aşkiya is 26 hours away from Bevara (Logutatidis).  The geography of
Bevara salt deposit has not yet been recorded in studies.  But as we said
above, on the meticulously prepared map done by Gwinnet in 1892 
there are nevertheless some mistakes (1).  Kiepert drew a beautiful map
of Bevara salt deposit, which is quite valuable and which was taken into
the account of Düyun-u-Umumiye in 1904 - see the map included here.
   

(1) Bd. II. p. 285 u. 802 f.



Mapmaker extraordinaire Heinrich Kiepert.

Bevara is located at 41:08 east longitude and 35:13 north latitude
(Garinovich).  The salt deposit is 12 kilometer in length from west
to east and two kilometers wide.  A horseman could traverse the deposit
in 4 hours.  The salt is ash-colored.  Bevara is 20 hours from Deir ez
Zor (Rigu); 14 hours from the villages of Besire and Meyadin (Rigu);
26 hours from Aşkiya (Logutatidis); 12 hours from Sillessilé, also
known as Aynülasla (Logutatidis); 28 hours from "Ravaana" on the
Euphrates River (Rigu); and 9 hours distant from the Seb'a salt deposit
(Logutatidis). 

Someone walking slowly from the villages of Meyadin and Besire over
sand dunes would reach the Bevara salt deposit, which is bounded on
its north by steep black rocks.  There are wells there, also.  The
mountain called Cebelülrruda was discovered by Sachau and the rocks
have been identified as basalt by Blanchenhorn and Berg (1).

In 1905 an Assyrian artifact called a "sitil" (pail or bucket) made
from basalt was found at the Seb'a salt deposit.  The stone for the sitil
was brought from Cebelülrruda.

It is surprising that such an important salt deposit as Bevara has
remained unknown until now.  The reason is that it is not on the caravan
route and that it is east of the horseman's road two hours from the
Şeriyye-i Salih waterway (Gwinnet estimated this distance as 12 hours).
The value of the salt deposit stems from the abundance of salt in it. The
amount of salt is estimated to be between 50 and 60 tons.  Bevara salt
deposit is also called Lacus Beberatsi, after the famous man who visited
there in ancient times (Butiniger, world map) (2).

On the Kiepert map, Hatuniye salt deposit is shown to the west of Sinjar
Mountain (3).  This is a supposition, not based on documentation.
Butiniger's map of this area is very confused - for example, it shows
Ressaina,today's Rasül Ayin village on the Habur River north of Edessa.
Edessa is today's Urfa and Charrae is today's Harran.

(1) Blanchenhorn-Berg in der "Carte géologigue de l'Europe, Blatt 41
     (FVI).
(2) Miller: die Weltkarte des Castorius, Ravensberg 1887.
(3) Pauly - Wissowa: Reallexikon, 1 aufl. I. 2319.

//END of PART II//

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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//

(  

Flintstonian Masterpiece of Architecture For Sale in Cappadocia

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 30 December 2019)


Another TNT Real Estate Offering click here for a recent deal
announced worldwide by TNT.


              Looks more like the Fortress of Solitude.           

A cave-house in Nevşehir's Cappadocia region with 40 rooms and
800 square-meters of space is being offered for sale for 2,750,000 TL
(about $500,000).  An offer of 2 million TL has been turned down by
the seller.


                                 A view of the interior.

The cave-house is situated in Mustafa Kemal Paşa village of Ürgüp
district, an area of Nevşehir famous for rock houses and caves.  The
5-story cave-house was previously occupied by Greeks and Armenians.
The entrance is currently blocked by large stones and the windows have
measures to forestall threats from outside. 


                                             Ürgüp (A)

Elit Real Estate representative Enver Öz stated that the cave-house has
been cleared with government officials for occupancy.


     Certain prospective buyers are being actively solicited.

TNT Animal Kingdom Edition: Loyalty & Exile

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 29 December 2019)


     "C'mon Mom, you can pull through!" (and she did!)

In Manavgat district of Antalya province, a stray dog, the mother of
six puppies, was shot with a hunting rifle.  City officials found the
dog lying on the ground with her puppies around her.  The mother was
taken to a shelter for an operation and 7 pellets were removed from
the dog's rib area.

As the mother was being operated on her puppies remained by her
side the whole time.  Veterinarian Osman Coşar said that the dog is
being treated with antibiotics and is recovering nicely.  He added that
since the puppies are so young they couldn't bear to leave their
mother's side.

//Ed. note: the pups' dad was away on a business trip, no 
doubt.//


                      Manavgat is east of Antalya city. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 18 December 2019)


                         Geese exiled to ancient Greece.             .

Seven geese in the garden of the Antalya Museum created a crisis
among visitors, Culture & Tourism bureaucrats and museum officials.
One of the geese chased and bit a child of a tourist.  The incident
was settled amicably but, nevertheless, the family filed a complaint
with the Ministry of Culture & Tourism.

Ultimately, the geese were exiled to Perge Antique City, 20
kilometers away, and penned in a special area away from tourists.
A museum official explained to Hürriyet that "we put the geese in
the museum garden as an attraction and used them sort of like
guard dogs, as well.  But a child visiting the museum taunted them
and one of the geese bit the child. The incident was reported to the
Ministry in Ankara so we had to send them away to Perge.  We're
now calling them the 'Perge exiled geese'. "

Ministry official Ali Rıza Altunel summed up the situation as
follows: "our geese are very happy in Perge and all the tourists
who visit there can see them."