414 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
Any railway going east from Damascus or Homs must pass through 
Palmyra, founded by Solomon in Israel’s great days, and the capital 
of Zenobia in later times. From Palmyra will diverge the railways 
of the future, which will either go north to Thapsacus on the Eu- 
phrates, another creation of King Solomon, or to Der Zor of the 
Khalifs, or eastward to Abu Kemal near Salahia, a creation of 
Saladin’s. The Damascus-Baghdad Railway will pass through Pal- 
myra, Abu-Kimal, Hit, and Baghdad. At Abu Kemal the railway 
will tap only part of the upper Euphrates Valley capable of great 
development. In the center of this tract is situated the rising town 
of Meyadin, on the site of the ancient Rehoboth. At Hit we have 
the terminus of free navigation on the Euphrates and the future 
port of the river. Rivers whose waters are used up in irrigation 
have their ports where they begin to be navigable. 
The Euphrates upstream of Hit, up to E] Kaim past Anah, has a 
narrow valley, but the current is sufficiently strong to turn large 
water wheels, which irrigate the country up to the edge of the desert. 
Upstream of Suk-es-Shaytik this is the only tract on either of the 
rivers which enjoys perennial irrigation without having to lift the 
water by means of oxen or pumps. For the area cultivated the 
population is very dense and the crops excellent. We can here form 
an idea of what the country will be when perennial irrigation with 
free flow is available over extensive areas. 
From El Kaim near Abu Kemal right up to Meskene opposite 
Aleppo, the current is incapable of turning water wheels, and the 
cultivation is confined to the areas flooded by the river or irrigated 
by lifting machinery. From Abu Kemal to Der Zor past Meyadin 
the valley is very broad, and, judging from the ruins of towns and 
villages, must have been at one time well cultivated. To-day the 
cultivation is confined to the water’s edge. From above Der Zor to 
Meskene past Rakka, the summer residence of Harun-el-Rashid, the 
valley contracts and the ground is covered with dense jungle, which 
supports very many buffaloes, sheep, and camels. Occasionally one 
meets a patch of rich cultivation, as at Meskene, where an English- 
man had erected many water wheels and was preparing to put up 
a 20-horsepower engine and pump. 
The desert at Hit is flat, and only some 50 to 100 feet above the 
level of the Euphrates Valley. This height gradually increases until 
at Meskene it is from 300 to 400 feet. For some miles on either side 
of the valley the desert is broken up into ravines; but as one leaves 
the river the desert becomes flat, and was described by Xenophon as 
being level like the sea. The farther north one goes the more un- 
dulating becomes the desert, but south of Der Zor the undulations 
are insignificant. Here and there one meets a wady finding its way 
to the Euphrates Valley. Gypsum is the ordinary rock, and there 
