midsummer. Still the lower flanks of the mountains are in general
cultivable, while the valleys teem with orchards and gardens, and the
plains furnish excellent pasture. The region closely resembles Zagros,
of which it is a continuation. As we follow it, however, towards the
south-east into the Bakhtiyari country, where it adjoins upon the
ancient Persia, it deteriorates in character; the mountains becoming
barer and more arid, and the valleys narrower and less fertile.

All the other acquisitions of Babylonia at this period lay towards the
west. They consisted of the Euphrates valley, above Hit; of Mesopotamia
Proper, or the country about the two streams of the Bilik and the
Khabour; of Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Idumasa, Northern Arabia, and
part of Egypt. The Euphrates valley from Hit to Balis is a tract of no
great value, except as a line of communication. The Mesopotamian Desert
presses it closely upon the one side, and the Arabian upon the other.
The river flows mostly in a deep bed between cliffs of marl, gypsum, and
limestone, or else between bare hills producing only a few dry sapless
shrubs and a coarse grass; and there are but rare places where, except
by great efforts, the water can be raised so as to irrigate, to any
extent, the land along either bank. The course of the stream is fringed
by date-palms as high as Anah, and above is dotted occasionally with
willows, poplars, sumacs, and the unfruitful palm-tree. Cultivation
is possible in places along both banks, and the undulating country on
either side affords patches of good pasture. The land improves as we
ascend. Above the junction of the Khabour with the main stream, the left
bank is mostly cultivable. Much of the land is flat and well-wooded,
while often there are broad stretches of open ground, well adapted for
pasturage. A considerable population seems in ancient times to have
peopled the valley, which did not depend wholly or even mainly on its
own products, but was enriched by the important traffic which was always