of dense sandy clouds. Rifʻat and Tûmân complained that their eyes were hurting them and that they were physically worn out. Accordingly I decided that we would not go either to al-Ḥeǧr or to Dâr al-Ḥamra’ but turn direct to the station of al-Muʻaẓẓam. I hoped that somewhere to the north of this station I should find a camp of the Âjde or the Fuḳara’, where we could exchange our camels, and that after recuperating we could proceed either to the south or to the east. My companions were in full accord with this plan.
Mounting a high rock not far away, we drew a sketch map of the surrounding district.
To the southeast could be seen the black hills of Abraḳ al-ʻAšâr, partly covered with sand. From them descend the šeʻibân of aṣ-Ṣadr and as-Srajjed in a southeasterly direction. To the east loomed up the black rocks of ʻAfejž al-Asmar, penetrated by the šeʻîb of al-Ǧenûd, which joins the šeʻîb of Abu Ǧnêb to the south of the station of Ḫašm Ṣanaʻ. To the northeast, through a black undulating plain, extended the gray strip of the šeʻîb of al-ʻEšš, to the north the long šeʻîb of al-Ḥâka. This šeʻîb begins by Mount Nâjef, under the name of Mdejsîs, and on the right is joined by the šeʻîb of al-Ḥmejjeṭe, descending from the volcano of al-Ḫmâm; on the left by al-Mǧejnîn, al-Ḥaṣnawên, and al-Muṭawwaḳ. Al-Ḥâka also merges into the šeʻîb of Abu Ǧnêb.[1]
From the elevation of ar-Rḥajje descends the šeʻîb of al-Mâlḥa, which, after joining the šeʻibân of Ṛadîr al-Ḥṣân, Rwêšde, and al-Lwij, merges into the šeʻîb of Ammu Wêzrât between Ḥala’ umm ʻAwâḏer and Dirʻ. The latter šeʻîb starts from the volcanoes of al-Ḥaṣnawên and Ḥlej as-Semeḥ and forms the šeʻîb of ad-Dirʻ, which terminates by the station of al-Muʻaẓẓam. To the east and northeast appeared the gray šeʻîb of al-Mṣaḥḥ which is traversed by the Pilgrim Road and the railway. Behind it, to the east, rise gray, table-shaped hills, in which can be clearly seen the gap formed by the šeʻîb of al-Ḥammâẓa, which on the right is joined by the šeʻibân of Umm Arṭa and al-Msêfre and merges into the šeʻîb of Abu Ǧnêb.
At 11.10 we turned off to the north (temperature: 33.5° C). After a short time we observed far away on the horizon Mount al-Farwal and nearer to us Ḫašm Ḫibt aṯ-Ṯemâṯîl with the railway station of Ḫašm Ṣanaʻ. At first we rode through a bare plain covered with coarse gravel. After 12.45 we reached deep, narrow ravines, round which it became necessary to make a detour. The sides of the ravines are twenty to one hundred meters high and so steep that it is impossible to crawl along them. The beds are covered with
- ↑ Jâḳût, Muʻǧam (Wüstenfeld), Vol. 2, p. 187, refers to the valley of al-Ḥaka in the territory of the Beni ʻUḏra and recalls the battle which once raged there. As our šeʻîb of al-Ḥaka traverses the former territory of the Beni ʻUḏra, we may identify it with the valley of al-Ḥâka mentioned by Jâḳût.
