Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/20

 tion had been transformed. The wall of this garden is still visible running all along the foot of the elevation, but, suffering the same fate as other gardens in the surrounding district, this one fell into neglect during centuries of unrest, and only some scattered remains of the other gardens have been preserved near the two entrenched settlements, today known as Maʻân.

The southern settlement, Maʻân al-Maṣrijje or al-Kebîre, sometimes called also al-Ḥeǧâzijje, contains one hundred and eighty families, which form two groups: at-Taḥâta and al-Karâšîn. To the former belong the clans:

Al-Karâšîn comprise the clans:

The headquarters of the Government are at the southern settlement of Maʻan.

The northern settlement is called aṣ-Ṣaṛîra, aš-Šâmijje, or al-Moṛâra, and contains about one hundred and ten families. The largest clan here is that of the Ḳarâmse, smaller being the clans:

The inhabitants of both settlements are occupied principally in trading. The soil in the immediate neighborhood of Maʻan contains limestone, and grain will not grow there unless it is continually irrigated. For that reason it is said that only arâẓi al-baʻal (bare grounds, because they are insufficiently watered by rain) belong to Maʻan. In places which are continually irrigated there is successful cultivation of grain, vegetables, and particularly figs, pomegranates, grapes,