Rub al Khali, sometimes spelled Rub al Khali (meaning "Empty Quarter" in Arabic), is the largest desert in the world, and a kind of vast "kingdom" of uninterrupted sand. However, it was here in 1948 that the first Al Ghawar oil field was discovered for the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is considered one of the largest in the world. Rub al-Khali extends over 650,000 square kilometers and covers parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
As soon as you leave the major cities of the UAE, you immediately find yourself in the desert. But such a desert is mostly flat, the sand is a little gray and hard, which greatly reduces interest in it. If you want to take interesting panoramic photos, you will have to look for places in the desert where the dunes will be concentrated. Fortunately, such places are quite common in the UAE if you drive a few hours from major cities.
Leaving Dubai towards Al Ain, you will quickly find some dunes that lie scattered along the road. Many people stop here to rent a quad bike or buggy (prices are quite affordable), or just to get up the dunes using 4WD.
Leaving Abu Dhabi towards Al Ain there are also some sand dunes worth a trip to.
But the most beautiful and largest dunes in the country are in the south, not far from Saudi Arabia, near the Liwa oasis. In the evenings, the sand turns bright red as the sun sets, and here it forms huge dunes, the largest of which exceed 300 meters.
It is one of the most inhospitable areas on the planet, with a minimal number of Bedouin nomads, and very difficult to cross from one end to the other. All this creates an atmosphere of peace and quiet, where you can be alone with yourself all alone.
"It is very quiet here," wrote Wilfred Tesiger, "a silence that we have banished from our world."
In 1947, a British explorer sat alone on a ridge overlooking the desert and wrote down his thoughts on one of two epic journeys with the Bedouins of Arabia, which took them through the massive dunes of al-Khali and the population centers of the Liwa oasis. His book "Arab Sands" about experiences and experiences stands as a masterpiece of classic travel literature.
While others imagined the desert as an endless void, the Bedouins as wild natives, Tesiger saw them for what they considered themselves - noble and courageous people for whom the desert was a sea where they roamed freely and found refuge. For them and for him, the desert became all life. Beautiful. Strict. epic. The "Arabs of the desert", as he called them, were full of "severe dignity."
The dunes on which the traveler sat still exist, as does the oasis of Liwa. An hour and a half drive south of the city of Abu Dhabi on a smooth highway. Further, following narrow concrete roads, you will quickly find yourself in isolated places, cut off from the world.
The sand is soft with multi-colored shades from khaki and orange to deep red, and it flows, driven by all the winds from the hills, which are tens of meters high. Stand and look into the distance as far as the eyes can see the endless desert, where there is not a dried tree, not a single cloud.
Driving off-road in the arms of the desert gives you the chance to experience that penetrating silence, especially if it happens at night. The night sky flares with stars flashing and falling; The Milky Way is like thick cream spilled on a satin fabric.... and time stops.... Spend a night in the desert - it will leave a truly unforgettable experience. Gazing at the stars, enjoying the silence or walking through the dunes under the moonlight will leave you wanting to go back as soon as possible.
The fauna and flora of the UAE desert is much richer than one might think. After night falls, you realize that the desert is teeming with life.
There are a few scorpions and snakes in Rub al Khali, but the risk of stumbling upon them is low. Try not to walk barefoot (even if it sounds very tempting), especially between the dunes and near the islands of greenery, as these are the favorite places of these charming creatures. If you are "lucky enough" to see a snake or scorpion, don't get close, just look at them from a distance: most of the time these animals are very shy and not aggressive. However, if you are bitten, you should have enough time to get to the hospital. Death from bites is extremely rare.
Crossing the desert is a great adventure for an active lifestyle, but it does come with some risks. Here are some tips to help you enjoy the wilderness in safety:
Never travel alone. You need to have at least two cars, because if you get stuck in the sand, then the second car will be the only solution.
Always let someone know where you plan to go, as if someone knows where you are, it will be easier to start looking if you don't come back.
Take plenty of water with you. If you do not have enough water with you, this will be the first thing you will miss if you get lost or stuck in the sand.
If you plan to climb the dunes, don't forget a 4WD, as well as a shovel, carpet, gasoline, matches, and rope.
Have fun, but don't forget that the desert is an amazing place with an incredibly fragile ecosystem. Look out for local wildlife and please take your trash with you. In other words, leave only your footprints in the sand...
Some myths and legends.
In 1932, Bertram Thomas recorded Bedouin tales of a legendary trading city that disappeared under the sands of Hali, starting a love affair between Western explorers and the Arab myth of the city of Ubar. When the British explorer Bertram Thomas crossed the Rub al-Khali in 1930, he approached its southern edge and his guide, pointing to the faint outline of the road, remarked: “Look at the Sahib, this is the road to Ubar, which was once a large city, rich treasures, date gardens, and a fort lined with red silver sheets. Now it was buried under the sands. It was destroyed in punishment for the wickedness of its inhabitants." Thomas had heard of Ubar on previous travels in Central Arabia, but no one could tell where his place was. He named the city "Atlantis of the Sands" and suggested that it could be a trading center in the southern Omani province of Dhofar. Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, Strabo and other ancient authors, although they did not specifically mention Ubar, left reports of cities in southern Arabia, where resin from frankincense and myrrh were sold in the markets. The city of Ubar remained a fairy tale for 1001 nights. There is no city with that name on the maps of the second century by the geographer Ptolemy ...
In 1992, after decades of fruitless research, scientists finally made progress. The use of spaceborne radar images has revealed ancient caravan routes that converged near present-day Shisr in southwest Oman. Their excavations uncovered a large octagonal fortress with thick walls three meters high along with eight towers at the corners. Greek, Roman, and Syrian pottery shards found in the ruins - the oldest of which date back to 2000 BC - only confirmed the site's importance as a trading center. The fact is that the city met a catastrophic end - it literally fell into the ground due to the collapse of limestone in the caves under the city. This was convincing evidence to suggest that this is indeed the legendary city of Ubar. But over 20 years of excavations, a number of scientists can call this city Ubar only with a stretch if wishful thinking. They indicate that Ubar was most likely an agglomeration of cities or a self-designation of people in a certain region. Shisr is most likely the remains of one of the many ancient trading cities where merchants stopped, or perhaps just an isolated city next to the lake.
The Rub al Khali lakes now represent a mirage of nature, but that they once quenched the thirst of man and animals - including the hippopotamus, buffalo and antelope - is undeniable. The presence of hippos is evidenced by the findings of their fossilized teeth. Fossilized bones of buffalo and long horns of cattle, as well as wild donkeys, wild goats and sheep, oryx, gazelles have also been found in the fossilized deposits of mud lakes, which are hundreds of kilometers from the nearest coast. Stone tools are scattered in the immediate vicinity of the lakes. They were home to a wealth of algae, including species, some of which are used to decorate aquariums.
Today, excavations continue at various points in al-Khali, where archaeologists continue to unearth Arabia's mysterious and colorful past.
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort - outpost of luxury in the middle of the desert.
Qasr al Sarab, located at the end of the Rub al Khali desert and the beginning of the Liwa oasis, appeared to us as a lost, flourishing legendary city of Ubar, which cannot be found by scientists for centuries. Impressive architecture in the traditional style of the inhabitants of Arabia, which is combined with modern amenities. We had our own terrace and we could watch a cup of coffee as the sun rises and illuminates the red sand with its rays. Atmosphere of cleanliness and tranquility. As British scholar Wilfred Tesiger wrote of Rub al Khali: "It is very quiet here...a silence that we have banished from our world." Perfectly fits the description of this wonderful place.
The road to the hotel is good, paved, there is a sign on the road "Do not move out for photography", it is better not to neglect the sign, as soon as we pulled over to the side of the road, we immediately fell into the sand with our front and rear wheels and got stuck right up to the door, thanks to the hotel workers for prompt rescue us from the sand. The desert sand is really very different from the desert sand of other emirates.
Food at the hotel. The hotel is literally located in the desert, where there are only dunes around, and several tens of kilometers to small towns. Accordingly, I advise you to take food with you or taste dishes in a restaurant. But, if you are not a millionaire and not a gourmet, I advise you to order food along with the reservation, that is, breakfast and dinner. It will be cheaper and tastier that way. The buffet will have all sorts of pastries, delicacies and expensive cheeses, and it will be much cheaper than eating at the grill restaurant on the top floor. The most inexpensive dish on the menu was sea soup for $30. They brought us a very small plate, opening which revealed one small shrimp lying alone in an empty plate, which was immediately poured with peppered water, seeing the confusion on our face. Grilled meat was also ordered for $ 100, which turned out to be three pieces of tenderloin from different parts of veal and without a side dish. In general, with juice, two dishes with juice came out at $ 180. Very expensive and unsatisfactory. After eating, the stomach ached with all the consequences, it is possible that the sea soup was stale.
Apart from the food, we really liked the hotel itself, if we are in these places, we will definitely stay there.
The Rub al Khali Desert is perhaps one of the main attractions of the UAE, which occupies most of the country in terms of area.
Translated from Arabic, Rub al Khali means “empty place” or “empty valley”. In the manuscripts of the 15th century, part of this vast desert was called Fedj al-Khali, which exactly corresponds to the name “empty valley”.
But later this name began to be attributed to the entire desert, and the Arabic word fedj (valley) was replaced by a more general rub (land, territory).
But since in Arabic the words slave and rub do not differ in writing, and rub (quarter) is spoken much more often than slave (land), the first part of the name began to be read as rub.
Therefore, instead of “empty land” (desert), the not very clear name “empty (desert) quarter” appeared. Or else there is the name “empty quarter”.
It is this translation of the name of the desert that can be found in many guidebooks.
The Rub al-Khali Desert is one of the largest deserts in the world, located on the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
This is not only one of the largest, but also one of the hottest flat deserts in the world, where during the day the fiery red sand has time to heat up to seventy degrees.
The Rub al-Khali desert stretches about 1,000 kilometers long and 500 kilometers wide, rising 800 meters in the southwest, and approximately coinciding with sea level in the northeast.
For a long time, the desert was considered the most impassable, difficult and even life-threatening terrain. For many centuries, caravans passed through it, transporting precious incense, spices and fabrics from South Asia.
From above, the desert seems relatively flat with small elevations, although you can also find dunes 200 and even 300 meters high.
An amazing feature of the local landscapes can be considered the alternation of sand dunes with gypsum plains and gravel. The sand has a characteristic reddish-orange color due to its feldspar content.
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The Rub al-Khali desert, which at first glance looks lifeless, was actually once inhabited, for example, scientists confirmed the existing hypothesis that several cities flourished on the site of the desert about five millennia ago, among them - Ubar, which still called the City of a Thousand Pillars.
Once upon a time, meadows were green here, lakes sparkled with water, trees towered, birds flew, although now, looking at the endless sea of sand, it's hard to believe.
Although even now the desert lives its own life, perhaps imperceptible at first sight.
Despite the tropical hot climate with low rainfall (about 55 mm per year), water can be found at a depth of about ten meters.
It is believed that a whole network of rivers is hidden under the sands. Once upon a time, these territories were the bottom of a small network of lakes that disappeared decades ago.
These lakes were formed due to very heavy rainfall, similar to the current monsoons, and lasted from several tens to hundreds of years.
There is plenty of evidence that these lakes were home to representatives of various species of flora and fauna, hippos, Indian buffalo and other cattle lived here.
Traces of human activity were also found dating back to the period from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago - various tools and so on, but the human remains themselves were not found.
There are oases in the Rub al-Khali desert.
The largest of them - and Al Ain. But the most picturesque is still considered El Jiva, located in the center of the desert, which stretches for 50 km.
Vegetation in the desert is very sparse. Basically - camel thorns and saltwort. And the animal world is not so replete with diversity.
It seems that there is no one in the desert except for camels, jerboas, snakes and scorpions. But it's not. If you collect representatives of the entire animal world that inhabits Rub al-Khali, then you can count more than a hundred of its species, among which you can even meet the Beizu antelope (lat. Oryx beisa).
It has straight conical horns. The weight of such an antelope reaches 100 kilograms.
In some parts of the desert there are also salt marshes, such as Umm el Samim in the eastern part of the desert.
This area is the driest, with the least rainfall. The fauna and flora here are also quite scarce.
The population in the desert is nomadic, mostly Bedouins who breed camels.
The main wealth of the eastern part of the Rub al-Khali desert is, of course, oil and gas fields. Geologically, Rub al-Khali is the most oil-rich place on the planet.
The largest oil fields in the world are located here, and the oil lies at a very low depth, thereby ensuring a low cost of its extraction.
One of the first Europeans to penetrate into the depths of Rub al-Khali and map it was the British subject Wilfrid Tesiger in 1946-1950.
He was able to appreciate this beauty at its true worth:
In this cruel land one can see scenes so wonderful that they will not be found equal in our climate.
The discovery of the richest oil and gas deposits under the sands in the east of Rub al-Khali caused in the second half of the 20th century. rapid and dramatic changes in the lives of former nomads.
The fabulous income from the sale of hydrocarbon raw materials suddenly turned a wild desert into a more than civilized one.
Thus, in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, caravan trails have been replaced by eight-lane highways, like mirages in the desert, skyscrapers, hotels and business centers have grown.
Literally in one generation, part of the Arabs changed their way of life, turning from camel drivers into big businessmen and engineers, replacing camels with expensive cars…
Entertainment for tourists is off-road driving on high dunes, ATV and sidecar racing, skiing and boarding from sandy hills, visiting a stylized traditional Bedouin camp.
Rub al Khali desert(eng. Empty quarter - "empty quarter") is located in the south of the United Arab Emirates. More precisely, its small northern part is located in the south, and the rest - on the territory of Saudi Arabia. Rub al Khali desert- this is world's largest sandy desert. And I beg you, do not confuse with the Sahara! Rub al Khali is the largest sandy desert! In the sense that this is the largest area covered with sand! Summer temperatures here are over 50 degrees Celsius, colder in winter - about 30 Celsius.
To the very desert Rub al Khali You can get there in three ways:
- The first and easiest is through Abu Dhabi on a chic 6-lane highway that ends in Liwa oasis. Oasis is located just on the very border of the desert.
- The second way is also as simple as two pennies and goes along the road from Abu Dhabi through Hamim(Hameem) to Liwa oasis. The road is simpler, but still two lanes, wonderful asphalt, and trucks are brought to a separate road that runs parallel at 50 meters.
- And the third option is the most interesting - through El Ein, along the border with Oman, then along the border with Saudi Arabia and then through the desert to the side Liwa oasis. That is, not to drive from the north to the desert, but to drive as far as possible from the South through the desert itself.
From El Eina Liwa Oasis A little less than 400 kilometers. Without gas stations, the distance is about 250 kilometers. Our car Chevrolet Spark. Gas tank 35 liters. We pour under the neck 98 gasoline. We take the most necessary things with us - sleeping bags for spending the night in the car, a supply of water, a supply of food. Last gas station in the village Al Qua.
The sand dunes are getting higher, the vegetation is getting smaller. Camels are also becoming rarer. But it's not a desert yet. This is an ordinary landscape. United Arab Emirates, which by the way is given out to all tourists for the desert, riding jeeps in the suburbs Dubai for 50 dollars. And tourists naively believe that they have been on a real desert safari. But no! There is only one real desert safari in the United Arab Emirates - in the desert Rub al Khali!
We drive along the border with Oman - a solid fence on the left and huge solar-powered tracking stations every 3-4 kilometers.
The road is excellent, in places there are repair zones with a detour on a gravel road. Moreover, they repair the road where only small cracks appeared on the asphalt and repair it not by “patching”, but completely remove the asphalt coating and do everything all over again! The weather is sunny and it's quite hot outside, around 30 degrees (yes, it's mid-January!). Fortunately, the car has air conditioning! And now the point of the navigator shows that we are at a bend in the road. To our left Oman, directly Saudi Arabia, on right United Arab Emirates. Class! Are we really here??? The mood is positive, the road is perfect, we keep the speed around 100 km / h, periodically stopping to take pictures.
Do you know what happens when you drive into a snowstorm on the road? Behind the car, clouds of snow dust rise. Here we also began to curl the sand! We pass some border point with clearly border Nissan Patrol sand color and matt finish. They look very impressive! The most important thing is to chase them through the desert for illegal immigrants from Oman. The road is blocked by concrete blocks in a checkerboard pattern and with a red color, but you can go around them. Some signs weigh red, but everything is written in Arabic there, although they are usually dubbed in English. We drive carefully without stopping. There is no one nearby. There seems to be no chase either, so you can go further!
The sun is getting lower! dream to meet sunset in the desert, obviously today will become a reality! Now we are driving through the desert! The real desert, and not heaps of sand with thorns and small shrubs, as is the case throughout the country. There are huge sand dunes, absolutely no vegetation, and the color of the sand is not light yellow, but already some kind of orange tint at sunset! The road is a strip of black asphalt goes beyond the horizon. I step on the gas pedal to go deeper into the desert, and then climb some sand dune to contemplate the sunset!
And suddenly after a hill and a turn, I brake. The road ends. And it’s simple: there is perfect asphalt, and then just a direction on the sand. It can even be seen that cars drive here periodically: D. Now in my head there is an understanding of why only jeeps met us towards us, and then very rarely!
We do not think for a long time, because there are only two reasonable options. What would most people do in this situation?
- They would not initially go to the desert in a minicar
- They would turn around and drive back, seeing that there is no further way.
After an hour and a half, tired, but incredibly pleased, we returned about 5 kilometers back and turned towards the border with Saudi Arabia, which runs two kilometers from the main road. Yes, the road is paved, but after a couple of kilometers we run into a huge barbed wire fence. A bunch of red tablets in Arabic and among them one in English. "Travel and passage are strictly prohibited! Closed territory!". Along the fence there is an asphalted road with sandy lanes, a meter and a half wide. More like a sidewalk. There is a hill ahead. We decide to get to it, pretending that we did not notice the signs. We went upstairs. There is a huge tracking station, the road goes down and far ahead up again. All along the border fence. I look at the maps on the navigator - yes, apparently we will almost reach the right place along this road, but there we will have to turn and there are 7 kilometers of unknown, and most likely there will not be a road, but only a direction through the sand dunes. It's almost dark outside. Plus, prohibition signs were remembered. The laws in the Emirates are harsh ... Adventures have already been snatched off! Perhaps enough for today. The plans were to spend the night here, but unanimously decide to turn around and go back. There is hope to find another way, not much returning to civilization, but I am already mentally prepared for a detour of several hundred kilometers.
In general, the road in the desert is very difficult to compare with anything else. She is completely different! The closest association that comes to mind is snow, snow blizzards, snow breaks, poor visibility at night in a snowstorm. Only it's not snow! This is sand, which is able to change the appearance of the desert very quickly and cold-bloodedly, absorbing anything in its path.
Another busy day was coming to an end. It was not possible to go fast, because the rising sandstorm literally closed the entire view and only a wall of sand was visible in the headlights. Visibility tended to zero and did not exceed 10-20 meters, sand was everywhere, and gusts of wind rocked the car very unpleasantly.
And also about finding a road, spending the night, fog in the desert and the highest sand dune in the world, read in a separate day after tomorrow.
The Rub al-Khali desert occupies about a third of the Arabian Peninsula in the south, but is called “empty quarter” in Arabic. Initially, it was simply "a desert, an empty land." But since the words “slave” (land, territory) and “rub” (quarter) do not differ in writing, and the second is much more often used in speech, such a strange substitution has occurred. Still a third not a quarter. However, since this desert began to form about two million years ago, it has constantly expanded its boundaries. The sandy desert in general is such an ominous "creature" that can grow, attack, absorb without a trace houses, oases and entire cities ...
Only a strong state capable of organizing the construction and maintenance of hydraulic structures, planting a strip of green spaces (“green wall”), etc. can resist the onset of the desert. The kingdoms of “Happy (Southern) Arabia” in their heyday were able to do this.
Many pre-Islamic sources mention Ubar (aka "Iram of many columns") - a magnificent rich city with iridescent towers built of metal and precious stones. The Koran says that the city of Adites (the indigenous inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula) was wiped off the face of the earth by the will of Allah "by a noisy, violent wind" because its inhabitants were arrogant and did not heed the appeals of their countryman - the prophet Hud (c. 2300 . BC.). The sandstorm raged for seven nights and eight days, leaving no trace of the city. “Now these once fertile lands, where the Khuda people used to live, are a desert. But in those days these places were fertile, the forests softened the harsh climate of the region and made it favorable for life. There was also a desert, but it did not occupy such a space as it does now. But, despite this mercy of Allah, the people of Hud were not grateful to their Lord for the bounties that they had, but, on the contrary, persisted in their godlessness and debauchery. For a long time, Ubar was considered just a legend, but in 1990, its traces were discovered by the Americans thanks to filming from space. The pictures show how ancient caravan routes converge to the "sandy Atlantis" in the southwestern sector of the Rub al-Khali desert in Oman.
The Qur'an also mentions that the symbol of the entire "Happy (Southern) Arabia" - the Marib dam - collapsed during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (571-632). This is symbolic in its own way: with the Arab conquest of South Arabia in 628, a new era began here, the nomadic Bedouins pressed the farmers. Cultivated irrigated lands gradually turned back into a barren desert.
The dam on Wadi Dhana (600 m long, more than 15 m high) was erected by the Sabeans near Marib, the capital of the legendary Sabean kingdom, in VII. in. BC e. Probably, the Marib dam was the most grandiose and significant hydraulic structure of antiquity - a gigantic complex that required constant maintenance. It allowed the inhabitants to engage not only in nomadic pastoralism (camel breeding from 1300 BC, sheep breeding) and the collection of spices and incense, but also to grow date palms, orchards, wheat, spelt, barley, legumes and vegetables in irrigated fields spread over several kilometers around the city. The dam served for thirteen centuries and began to gradually collapse when the South Arabian kingdoms fell into decline, including due to the replacement of caravan trade routes, naval wars, changes in the domestic and foreign political situation, and also due to significant changes in climate.
Rub al-Khali, stretching in a wide sandy strip in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the largest deserts in the world. The surface rises from east to west from the average 100-200 m above sea level. m. up to 500-1000 m above sea level. m. Under the sands - gypsum and limestone, on the outskirts - rare oases, in the east - extensive salt marshes.
The administrative division of the desert is a pure formality. This is a gigantic neutral territory on the border of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Dunes 150-200 m high, covering 80% of almost 650 km 2 of the "Empty Quarter", are practically uninhabited. The biodiversity of the hyper-arid and extremely hot desert is represented by an extremely limited number of species: among animals, these are mainly arachnids and rodents; among plants in the depressions between the dunes, camel thorn and saltwort. Daytime heat with a sand temperature of 70 ° C in the sun can withstand only dromedaries (one-humped camels are able to lose more than a quarter of their weight without dying of thirst or hunger). The Bedouins, who somehow adapted to life in such harsh conditions, let them go in the daytime to look for pasture, while the Aesami wait in the shade. European tourists, even penetrating here thanks to the invention of cars with all-wheel drive and air conditioning, take a minute and a half - just to have time to take a picture outside against the backdrop of a fantastic landscape. One of the first Europeans to penetrate into the depths of Rub al-Khali and map it was the British subject Wilfrid Tesiger in 1946-1950. He was able to appreciate this beauty at its true worth: “In this cruel land you can see such wonderful pictures that there are no equals to them in our climate.”
It seemed that it would always be like this: sand dunes, tents of wild nomads, camels... From the cities of "Happy Arabia" only ruins remained, and from some, like from Ubar, not a trace remained. From time to time, the Bedouins accidentally found the ruins of the Sabaean and Minean cities in the sands, brought with them fragments of bas-reliefs and statues and sold them for next to nothing to tourists. As a result, the culture of ancient Arabia was better represented in European museums than on the peninsula itself. The Yemeni authorities did not show much interest in pre-Islamic culture, so the most valuable monuments of the ancient South Arabian kingdoms either lay there, gradually disappearing into the sand, or were taken away for souvenirs.
The sad paradox is that the heir to the ancient Sabaean civilization, Yemen, has one of the lowest human development indices in the Arab world. Half of Yemenis live below the poverty line, a third are starving. Until very recently, things were about the same with the Bedouins from neighboring states, partially occupied by the sands of Rub al-Khali. Until the discovery of the richest oil and gas deposits under the sands in the east of Rub al-Khali caused in the second half of the 20th century. rapid and dramatic changes in the lives of former nomads. The fabulous income from the sale of hydrocarbon raw materials suddenly turned a wild desert into a more than civilized one. So, in the emirates and Dubai, eight-lane highways replaced caravan routes, like mirages in the desert, skyscrapers, hotels and business centers grew. Literally in one generation, part of the Arabs changed their way of life, turning from camel drivers into big businessmen and engineers.
general information
Location: in the southeast of the Arabian PeninsulaAdministrative affiliation A: Most in Saudi Arabia, also Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Oman.
Type: sandy desert.
Oases: El Ain, El Jiva, Liwa, etc.
The largest city: Dubai.
Nearest airport: international airports in Abu Dhabi, Dubai.
Numbers
Area : approx. 650,000 km2.Length : approx. 1200 km.
Width: up to 500 km.
About 80% of the territory is occupied by sands.
Average height: in the east - 100-200 m above sea level. m., in the west - 500-1000 m above sea level. m.
The height of the dunes: 150-200 m, up to 300 m.
Climate and weather
Tropical hyperarid.Exceptionally dry hot climate.
Sandstorms.
Average daily high in July: +47°С.
Average temperature in January: +25-30°С.
Average annual rainfall: 35 mm.
Economy
Minerals: the richest oil and gas fields (Sheiba, Al-Ghawar, etc.).Industry: oil and gas production.
Agriculture: oasis agriculture, nomadic pastoralism (camels, sheep).
Traditional crafts and trades.
Service sector: tourism, trade, transport.
Attractions
■ Natural: sand dunes 150-200 m high, including one of the largest dunes in the world, Morib, 300 m high and 1600 m wide; "desert roses" from gypsum crystals; "Desert Park" (in the emirate of Sharjah, UAE), where about one hundred representatives of the entire animal world that inhabits Rub al-Khali, including the Beizu antelope, are gathered in one place.
■ Cultural-historical Ancient: the city of Ubar (aka Iram multi-column, probably founded in the 2nd millennium BC) - under the sand, discovered thanks to space photography in 1990; Old Marib (from the 9th century): the ruins of the Marib dam (built 2700 years ago); temple of Avvam; Marib fortress with a collection of cultural objects of ancient Arabia (reliefs, bas-reliefs, etc.); the ruins of the Minean and Sabaean cities in the northeastern sector of Rub al-Khali - known from reports of Bedouins who accidentally came across them, have not yet been explored.
■ Modern: ultra-modern architecture of Dubai.
Curious facts
■ Renowned racing driver Vadim Nesterchuk died tragically in the Rub al Khali desert in the United Arab Emirates on June 24 while he and his partner were preparing for the 2013 Silk Way Rally.
■ The once flourishing Marib, which has a history of four thousand years, today is a provincial Yemeni town with a population of less than 20,000 people.
■ The South Arabian Sabaean civilization - one of the oldest in the Middle East - developed at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The advance of the Sabeans (and their rivals, the Mains, who founded the kingdom a little to the north absorbed by the Sabeans in the 7th century BC) from the northwest to the southwest of Arabia was directly connected with the formation of the Trans-Arabian way of Incense (or the way of Incense), along which the Sabeans traded with many countries of the ancient Eastern and ancient world.
■ Huge organized caravans of hundreds of camels moved once or twice a year from the port of Aden, later because of the Romans from Cana, to Shabwa, then through Marib, Najran, Mecca, Jeddah, Yathrib-Medina and Petra to Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea. On this route, which also passed through the desert, there were dozens of hydreumas (fortified and guarded wells) and cities. Caravaners always followed the same caravan routes: for deviation from the route, they could pay with their lives - for trying to smuggle.
■ According to a study by the English geologist McClure, published in 1984, in the middle of the desert at least twice, between 37 and 17 thousand years ago, and then again between 10 and 5 thousand years ago, a network of small lakes was formed, which existed from several tens of up to several hundred years. The researcher claims that hippos, Indian buffalo and other cattle lived on the lakes.
■ Mangrove swamps were on the site of Dubai 7,000 years ago, which were covered with sand about 5,000 years ago after climate change.
■ One of the local curiosities - the so-called "desert roses". The nomads believed that these "roses" grow from the urine of a camel. In fact, they are formed in the thickness of the sand after rain by crystallization of gypsum, then due to weathering they are on the surface.
general information
The name Rub al-Khali is translated from Arabic as "empty quarter". For a long time, the desert was considered the most impassable and difficult terrain to live in. Through it, for several hundred years, caravans brought precious incense, spices and fabrics from South Asia.
If you look at Rub al-Khali through the window of an airplane, it may seem that someone covered a huge area with sand and leveled everything. It really is a flat desert. Although there are also some elevations 200-300m high in the form of dunes and sandy hills. So in the southwest the desert rises to 800 meters, and in the northeast it approximately coincides with sea level.
An amazing feature of the local landscapes are sand dunes up to 250 meters high, alternating with gypsum plains and gravel. The sand has a characteristic reddish-orange color due to its feldspar content.
But has this now deserted place on the Arabian Peninsula always been lifeless? Far from it.
Studying this territory from satellites, scientists confirmed the existing hypothesis that several cities flourished on the site of the desert about five millennia ago, among which is Ubar, which is also called the City of a Thousand Pillars.
The desert of Rub al-Khali is not quite lifeless even now.
Despite the fact that the climate here is tropical with low rainfall (about 55 mm per year), water can sometimes be found at a depth of 10 meters.
It is assumed that a whole network of rivers is buried under the sands. Once upon a time, these territories were the bottom of a small network of lakes that disappeared decades ago. These lakes were formed due to very heavy rainfall, similar to the current monsoons, and lasted from several tens to hundreds of years. According to numerous evidences, these lakes were the birthplace of representatives of various species of flora and fauna, hippos, Indian buffalo and other cattle lived here.
Evidence of human activity was also found, dating from the period from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago - various tools and so on, but the human remains themselves were not found.
There are oases in the Rub al-Khali desert. The largest of them are Liwa and Al Ain. But the most picturesque, perhaps, is El Jiva, which stretches for 50 km.
The vegetation in these parts is poor. Mostly camel thorns and saltwort. And the animal world is not so replete with diversity. It seems that there is no one in the desert except for camels, jerboas, snakes and scorpions. But it's not. In the Desert Park created in the emirate of Sharjah, they decided to gather representatives of the entire animal world that inhabits Rub al-Khali, and counted more than a hundred of its species, among which you can even meet the antelope. It has straight conical horns. The weight of such an antelope reaches 100 kilograms.
In some parts of the desert there are also salt marshes, such as Umm el Samim in the eastern part of the desert. This area is hyper-arid, with minimal rainfall. The fauna and flora here are also quite scarce.
The population in the desert is nomadic, breeding camels.
The main wealth of the eastern part of the Rub al-Khali desert is, of course, oil and gas fields. Geologically, Rub al-Khali is the most oil-rich place on the planet. The richest oil fields in the world are located here, and the oil lies at a very low depth, thereby ensuring its easy extraction.
Not only many documentaries are devoted to this desert, Rub al-Khali is also mentioned in many fantasy and adventure stories, in cinema and even in computer games.
