DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36287#0166
EXPLANATION OF THE MAPS PUBLISHED IN THIS VOLUME
*W*N order to enable the reader to understand fully the
t degree of accuracy attained in the maps, it will be
well to point out in some detail their good features and
a few of their imperfections.
A number of difficulties were encountered during
the journey, and because of them it would have been
impossible, even had I been an expert cartographer,
to make an elaborate and detailed survey of the terri-
tory through which we traveled. The amount of time
at my disposal for this work was limited and the as-
sistance in the held rendered by my camp attendant
was imperfect; furthermore, the information given by
the natives in response to my questions was often most
inaccurate. It was hard to make my assistant under-
stand what was expected of him, since he apparently
had no comprehension whatever of the task that I was
endeavoring to accomplish. The inaccuracy of the
information given by the natives in each region vis-
ited was due to several causes. In some cases, when
a question concerning the name of a certain place or
region was asked, the guide was either ignorant upon
the subject, or was utterly careless in giving the an-
swer, or again, he misled me intentionally. In certain
instances, however, the questions were put in the wrong
manner. It is frequently noted in the Orient that if
one asks about something in such a way that a par-
ticular answer seems to be expected, that answer is
very apt to be made. To make my meaning perfectly
clear, I shall give an example or two of a question of
this sort. One may ask, "Is that village called Bdita?"
The reply is very apt to be "Yes," whether it is Bdita
or a village with a very different name. Again, one
might ask, "Is that mountain far to the south the
Djebel Riha?" It is much easier for the native to say,
"Yes," than to exert his mind to the extent of decid-
ing whether it is that or some other mountain, so he
assents without hesitation. I always tried to have my
attendant ask the question in a non-committal way, so
that the local guide would have to give some real in-
formation. It was often possible, fortunately, to ver-
ify or to correct the statements made by one man by
asking others at widely separate points some of the
same questions that had been put to him. A number
of errors, however, were discovered only after the
journey was at an end and the plotting of the maps
had been taken up.
One instance of apparent ignorance on the part of
one of our guides may suffice. Perhaps the most
prominent feature of the region of Djebel Riha is the
conical hill known as Tell Nebl Aiyub. When it was
sighted from a point in the Djebel Barisha, some
twenty miles farther north, its name was asked of the
guide. He stated, after some hesitation, that it was
the Djebel iz-Zawiyeh. This we learned later is an-
other name for the whole region which is usually called
Djebel Riha.
Instances of apparent carelessness or intentional
misleading were numerous. When the name for the
ruin called Ksedjbeh was asked of a native who had
come to our encampment in the near-by ruin of Ba-
biska, he told us it was Serdjibleh. It turned out after-
ward that this is the name of a ruin not far away but
in another direction. Again, the natives sometimes
confused two places which are to be seen near
the northwestern corner of local Map 1: they would
sometimes call Harran, Yeni Shehr, and W7*j<3.
They would also confuse the towns of Kferya and
il-Fu'ah, which are near the southern extremity of
Map 1.
The latitudes and longitudes do not pretend to be
exact. Some observations were taken to determine
them, but my instruments were not adequate for this
work, and I had not had sufficient experience to enable
me to obtain accurate data. So far as was possible,
the latitudes and longitudes were used in determining
the locations of places. To supplement these the aid
of existing maps and of one or two publications was
sought. Some use was made of Raper's "Practice of
Navigation." My efforts were mainly expended in
locating, with reference to each other, the places in-
cluded in the three smaller maps.
It was often difficult, especially in regions in which
a very short time was spent, to measure suitable base-
lines from which the distances of points observed could
be calculated. The most accurate one was secured
between the hills called Tell Nebl Aiyub and Tell
Shekh Tammam, which are indicated in Map 11. For
this reason I believe it will be found by those who
140
*W*N order to enable the reader to understand fully the
t degree of accuracy attained in the maps, it will be
well to point out in some detail their good features and
a few of their imperfections.
A number of difficulties were encountered during
the journey, and because of them it would have been
impossible, even had I been an expert cartographer,
to make an elaborate and detailed survey of the terri-
tory through which we traveled. The amount of time
at my disposal for this work was limited and the as-
sistance in the held rendered by my camp attendant
was imperfect; furthermore, the information given by
the natives in response to my questions was often most
inaccurate. It was hard to make my assistant under-
stand what was expected of him, since he apparently
had no comprehension whatever of the task that I was
endeavoring to accomplish. The inaccuracy of the
information given by the natives in each region vis-
ited was due to several causes. In some cases, when
a question concerning the name of a certain place or
region was asked, the guide was either ignorant upon
the subject, or was utterly careless in giving the an-
swer, or again, he misled me intentionally. In certain
instances, however, the questions were put in the wrong
manner. It is frequently noted in the Orient that if
one asks about something in such a way that a par-
ticular answer seems to be expected, that answer is
very apt to be made. To make my meaning perfectly
clear, I shall give an example or two of a question of
this sort. One may ask, "Is that village called Bdita?"
The reply is very apt to be "Yes," whether it is Bdita
or a village with a very different name. Again, one
might ask, "Is that mountain far to the south the
Djebel Riha?" It is much easier for the native to say,
"Yes," than to exert his mind to the extent of decid-
ing whether it is that or some other mountain, so he
assents without hesitation. I always tried to have my
attendant ask the question in a non-committal way, so
that the local guide would have to give some real in-
formation. It was often possible, fortunately, to ver-
ify or to correct the statements made by one man by
asking others at widely separate points some of the
same questions that had been put to him. A number
of errors, however, were discovered only after the
journey was at an end and the plotting of the maps
had been taken up.
One instance of apparent ignorance on the part of
one of our guides may suffice. Perhaps the most
prominent feature of the region of Djebel Riha is the
conical hill known as Tell Nebl Aiyub. When it was
sighted from a point in the Djebel Barisha, some
twenty miles farther north, its name was asked of the
guide. He stated, after some hesitation, that it was
the Djebel iz-Zawiyeh. This we learned later is an-
other name for the whole region which is usually called
Djebel Riha.
Instances of apparent carelessness or intentional
misleading were numerous. When the name for the
ruin called Ksedjbeh was asked of a native who had
come to our encampment in the near-by ruin of Ba-
biska, he told us it was Serdjibleh. It turned out after-
ward that this is the name of a ruin not far away but
in another direction. Again, the natives sometimes
confused two places which are to be seen near
the northwestern corner of local Map 1: they would
sometimes call Harran, Yeni Shehr, and W7*j<3.
They would also confuse the towns of Kferya and
il-Fu'ah, which are near the southern extremity of
Map 1.
The latitudes and longitudes do not pretend to be
exact. Some observations were taken to determine
them, but my instruments were not adequate for this
work, and I had not had sufficient experience to enable
me to obtain accurate data. So far as was possible,
the latitudes and longitudes were used in determining
the locations of places. To supplement these the aid
of existing maps and of one or two publications was
sought. Some use was made of Raper's "Practice of
Navigation." My efforts were mainly expended in
locating, with reference to each other, the places in-
cluded in the three smaller maps.
It was often difficult, especially in regions in which
a very short time was spent, to measure suitable base-
lines from which the distances of points observed could
be calculated. The most accurate one was secured
between the hills called Tell Nebl Aiyub and Tell
Shekh Tammam, which are indicated in Map 11. For
this reason I believe it will be found by those who
140