volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Markadah on the KhdbHr. 203
furlong in length and 60 feet high. The general
appearance of the ground about it suggested that the
mound itself contained the remains of the fortified
buildings of the old town, and that the town must have
been of considerable size. The large blocks of worked
stone on both banks of the Khabur seemed to indicate
the existence of a bridge in the old days, and if this
were so the town must have been of great importance.
Istakhri says that there were two towns on the Khabur
between R§.s al-'Ain and Karkisiya (Circesium), where it
flowed into the Euphrates, viz., 'Araban, and Makistn. or
Makesin.^ Now the site of 'Araban is well known, but
that of Makisin is still unidentified, and it is possible
the moimd of Markadah contains its ruins. The same
writer mentions the bridge of Makisin, but it may have
been a bridge of boats. We had some trouble with
the quarantine ofiicer at Markadah, and we pitched our
tent some distance from the village, there being several
cases of cholera there.
We left Markadah at 6.45 a.m., November i6th,
and rode nearly due north, leaving the Khabur away
on the right, and we followed a track near the range of
hills on the west, which was called "Khism," and had
almost the shape of the letter S. We then bore a little
to the east so as to get a sight of Tall Shamsaniyah,
which Layard visited in 1850.* The large TalP is
surrounded by many small mounds, and all the ground
about it was strewn with pottery of Arab manufacture
and bricks of different periods. The ruins of the old
fort were easily discernible. A few miles further on
we saw Tall Fad'am on the east bank of the river, and
next we passed Tall Lajmiydt on the west bank of the
river, just opposite to the reedy jungle on the east bank,
which the natives call "Al-Bistan " or the " garden
' The town was important for its excellent textile fabrics, made
from the cotton which grew in abundance along the banks of the
Khabur. For Arab notices of the town see Istakhri, p. 74 (note h) ;
Ibn Hawkal, p. 139 ; Mukaddasi, p. 138 ; Yakut, iv, p. 396, etc.
2 He calls it "Shemsha!n} " {Nineveh and Babylon, p. 298).
^ See Mukaddasi, pp. 34, 138, and Yakut, iii, p. 319.