جولة ١ : الضفة اليمنى لنهر الفرات ٤_a .. كتاب في ربوع سورية

Reconstruction over the archaeological hill. Until the fifties, it remained confined to the boundaries of that hill, whose area is estimated at one square kilometer, and its height is about 14 m above the level of the Euphrates River. Since the beginning of the sixties, it began to spread outside the hill over the Euphrates plain, west and south, for a distance of no less than one kilometer. Therefore, the distinction is clear between the old town (above the hill with built-up mud, and the modern town outside the hill made of limestone and from the district). The population of Al-Ashara (center) is around 7,000 people. It is linked to the left side of the Euphrates by its wooden-iron bridge, which is It is about 380 cm long, 400 m long, and its construction dates back to the year 1960. Cement.

And as soon as we pass the town of Al-Asharah for a distance of 2 km, we enter the village of Swaidan Shamiya, and then the village of Ghariba, the village of Dablan, those three villages connected to each other and extending along the road for a distance of about 5 km (3 km to Dublan alone). After Dublan, we pass near the village of Sabikhan, whose buildings are spread on the bank of the river, connecting to it by an asphalt sub-road of 15 km, with some of its construction reaching the main public road. The level of the valley plain is about 10-20 meters. The soil appears to have a clear salinity in the lower parts of the lands of this village, whose inhabitants suffer from poverty. They are indicated by their homes, which are dominated by the old mud style, and they still secure their bread in the traditional way (saj and tandoor). After we passed Al-Kashma, we climb the rocky cliff of medium steepness to enter the desert land, and then we pass about 2 km through the village of Al-Duwair, its houses are scattered from one another (about 200 houses), and it is newly established, as it does not go back to more than 35 years ago. On irrigated agriculture in Wadi

Euphrates.

After we passed the village of Dweir by about 10 km, we reached the historic city of Dura Arbus (Al-Salihiya) located to the north of the road by about 300 m at the edge of the desert plateau overlooking the Euphrates valley and its river and surrounded by valleys from the east, north and south, while it connects with the desert of the Levant from the west, so it was fortified from this side with a defensive wall. Impenetrable and the construction of this city dates back to the year 300 BC, during the reign of Seleucus Nicator. It was established according to the plan of the Greek cities in the form of a checkerboard, where the streets intersect at right angles and the strength of their axes is a main north-south street with a length of 650 m perpendicular and intersecting with an east-west street with a length of 373 m. The city is surrounded by an external and an internal wall that supports it. In the eastern, northeastern part of it, a fortified castle was built overlooking the river and its valley. The city had three gates, the most famous of which is the Palmyra Gate located in the western wall. Many of the old urban facilities are still visible in many of its features within the ancient city wall (residential buildings, a theater, many religious temples). The city lived in prosperity from its inception until its destruction at the hands of the Persians in 256 AD, and it was called Al-Salihiyah for the residence of Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi in it, despite what was in it of ruin and destruction.

As soon as we cross the ruins of Al-Salihiya, about 500 meters, we come across a secondary asphalt road extending south to the oil field known as the Rose Field. After that, we will continue our tour to enter, after about 2 km, a narrow gorge dug across the rocky cliff, to return again to the widening Euphrates Valley, and to enter first the new village of Al-Salihiya, which approaches one of the elbows of the Euphrates Valley and is spread longitudinally on the road, about three kilometers, and we pass in the middle of the village over a bridge built on the valley. The well that the Euphrates waters submerge within the Euphrates plain to a depth of more than

1.5 km, with a width of about 50-100 m. Salinization appears clear in some of this widening plain depression, especially after the As-Sawab bridge. The Bekaa is connected from the village of Al-Salihiya with the village of Al-Qatta that follows it, so that we enter directly after Al-Tawataha, which is affiliated to the neighboring village of Al-Abbas. The village of Al-Maslakha (currently Al-Jalaa) is about to connect with the village of Al-Abbas, where the phenomenon of salinity appears clearly in a vast and growing area. We are on our way to Al-Bukamal, where we leave on our left the villages of Al-Ramadi, Al-Hasrat and Al-Sayal, which are 2-3 km away from the main road towards the Euphrates River. Where large areas of the land appear deserted and deserted, and it is only about three kilometers after the secondary road leading to the village of Al-Sayyal, until we look to our left at about 300 m. The dirt to tell the story of its long history, which dates back to the middle of the fourth millennium BC, and during its long history it lived through different eras, including: the Sumerian era, which was one of its important cities, and the Sargonian Akkadian era (mid-third millennium BC) and the Babylonian era, when Hammurabi extended his influence over him and eliminated The last of its great kings (Zimri (Lim) inflicted ruin and destruction on it. It also underwent Assyrian sovereignty during the reign of their king, Tukulti-Ninurta, which had no value, and then ceased to exist in a deep slumber. Archaeological excavations have revealed there Many important archaeological monuments, most notably: the temples of Ishtar and Nini Zaza, the temple of Dagan and the ziggurat, and the great royal palace known as the palace of Zimri Lim, king of Mari in the second millennium BC, which is one of the most important discoveries in Tell al-Hariri and one of the most magnificent palaces of kings in Mari. Thousands of paintings were also found in Mari. Written in cuneiform. Tel al-Hariri is currently about 2.5 km south of the Euphrates River, and its length is about 2.5 km. It is a small village in the Old East.