THE OASIS OF ŠARMA TO TEBÛK
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called upon us to surrender if we were enemies. They were shepherds tending the camels of the Beni ʻAṭijje, and they had ridden up to ascertain whether the well of an-Naʻemi were safe or not. Having discovered that we were peaceful travelers, they greeted us and promised that they would lead us to the nearest camp as soon as they had let their camels drink. Jumping down from the saddle, they dug with their hands and sticks a pit about sixty centimeters deep in the sand of the river bed, and it soon filled with water. One man led up the camels; the other stepped into the pit, collected water in a wooden dish, and poured it into a large, deep copper plate, from which the camels drank. While doing this they sang in a monotone. Meantime two other shepherds had driven up two flocks, and I beckoned to my companions to help them dig a new pit and to water the flocks, so that we might depart as soon as possible.
Accompanied by the elder of the shepherds and Tûmân, I climbed a knoll not far off and drew a sketch map of the surrounding district.
Before us, to the east, extended a vast plain covered with hills, cones, horns, mutilated pyramids, and obelisks, just as we had viewed it from Mount aš-Šera’ (see above, pp. 41, 43, 47–49). This was the upland of Ḥesma’. Northeast of us appeared the flat elevation of al-Ṛurûr, from which the šeʻîb of al-Ḥadad extends eastward to the lowland of al-Mamlaḥ, northeast of Tebûk. To the north of al-Ṛurûr is the white plain of ʻElw ar-Rwa’, on the eastern edge of which is situated the cone of Ammu Ẓumejrîne, while east of it, on the left-hand side of the šeʻîb of al-Ḥadad, are the two knolls of al-Ḫwij, and farther to the northeast the al-Mzannad group with the šeʻîb of the same name, which joins al-Ḥadad east of the broad mutilated pyramid of ar-Râkeb and the peaks of Umm ʻAdâme. Farther to the east, under the hill of Umm Ǧeba’, al-Ḥadad is joined by the šeʻîb of Ammu Rḥa’, which rises at the foot of Dafdaf between Ammu Daraǧ and al-Balas. The šeʻîb of aẓ-Ẓamm runs out from the pass Naḳb al-Maḳla. This šeʻîb begins near Šaǧara Maṭʻama, under the name of al-Ḫwejme, and forms the northern border of the cluster of cones known as al-Aḥâwâṭ and Ammu Rẓîm. From the right it receives Ammu Šṭân, formed by the arms of Rakak, ar-Rkejb, and al-Mḥawa, which collect the rain water from the eastern slopes of the mountains of ar-Râḥa, al-Muʻaffara, and al-Ḫejmri and twine around the rocks of Bejdwât and Abu ʻAlejḳât. Lower down aẓ-Ẓamm is joined on the right by the šeʻibân of ʻArejka and Umm Lâṭje, which wind between the rocks of an-Ndêrât, ʻArejka, Abu Zejjer, al-Bâred, and Abu Ṛzejlât; while it is joined on the left by the šeʻibân of al-Mirǧihem and al-Mḥarraḳ. Al-Mirǧihem proceeds from the mountains of ar-Rass, Jabb, and Farʻûn; on the right it receives al-Ḥeseb (which rises near the pass Naḳb al-Ḫeǧijje) and al-Ḫwejmân (which begins in the mountains of al-Lowz, al-Maḳla, and aṯ-Ṯlêṯe); it
