ds the turret of Balaam,
which he built to tell the hours of the day. About ten Jews live here.
Thence it is half a day to Kalat Jabar, which is Selah of the
wilderness, that was left unto the Arabs at the time the Togarmim took
their land and caused them to fly into the wilderness. About 2,000
Jews dwell there, at their head being R. Zedekiah, R. Chiya, and R.
Solomon.

Thence it is one day's journey to Rakka[112], or Salchah, which is on
the confines of the land of Shinar, and which divides the land of the
Togarmim from that kingdom. In it there are 700 Jews, at their head
being R. Zakkai and R. Nedib, who is blind, and R. Joseph. There is a
synagogue here, erected by Ezra when he went forth from Babylon to
Jerusalem. At two days' distance lies ancient Harr[=a]n, where twenty
Jews live[113]. Here is another synagogue erected by Ezra, and in this
place stood the house of Terah and Abraham his son. The ground is not
covered by any building, and the Mohammedans honour the site and come
thither to pray.

Thence it is a journey of two days to Ras-el-Ain[114], whence proceeds
the river El Khabur--the Habor of old--which flows through the land of
Media, and falls into the river Gozan[115]. Here there are 200
Jews[116]. Thence it is two days to Geziret Ibn Omar, which is
surrounded by the river Hiddekel (Tigris), at the foot of the
mountains of Ararat.

[p.52]

It is a distance of four miles to the place where Noah's Ark rested,
but Omar ben al Khataab took the ark from the two mountains and made
it into a mosque for the Mohammedans[117]. Near the ark is the
Synagogue of Ezra to this day, and on the ninth of Ab the Jews come
thither from the city to pray. In the city of Geziret Omar are 4,000
Jews, at their head being R. Mubchar, R. Joseph and R. Chiya.

Thence it is two days to Mosul, which is Assur the Great, and here
dwell about 7,000 Jews, at their head being R. Zakkai the Nasi of the
seed of David, and R. Joseph surnamed Burhan-al-mulk, the astronomer
to the King Sin-ed-din, the brother of Nur-ed-din, King of
Damascus[118]. Mosul is the frontier town of the land of Persia.

[p.53]

It is a very large and ancient city, situated on the river Hiddekel
(Tigris), and is connected with Nineveh by means of a bridge. Nineveh
is in ruins, but amid the ruins there are villages and hamlets, and
the extent of the city may be determined by the walls, which extend
forty parasangs to the city of Irbil[119]. The city of Nineve