Hit Waterwheels

Hit stands on the Euphrates where bitumen wells up naturally from the ground, and that asphalt has been quarried here since Mesopotamian times, used as mortar in Babylonian brickwork and for caulking boats; Herodotus describes the springs. The town's other feature is its norias, large wooden waterwheels set in the river that are turned by the current and lift water into channels for irrigation, a technology that ran here for centuries; several have been maintained or rebuilt and still turn. The old town sits on a mound above the river with a minaret rising from it. The bitumen pits still bubble and smell of tar. It is a modest stop but an unusually direct link between an ancient technology and a working town.

What to look for

• Turning norias - wooden waterwheels lifting river water into channels.
• Bitumen springs - tar pits bubbling at the edge of the town.
• The old town mound - the settlement raised above the Euphrates.
• The river frontage - the Euphrates running past the wheels.

When to go

November to March; Anbar summers are severe. The wheels turn when there is current, and low water in the river can stop them. Mornings are best for light and heat.

Before you go

Fewer wheels survive than photographs from earlier decades show, and some are static. The bitumen pits smell strongly. There are no visitor facilities.

Nearby

Ramadi lies southeast; Habbaniyah lake is beyond it.