Rub al-Khali desert: description, coordinates. Sandy deserts of the world. Unknown Emirates: Rub al-Khali Desert flora and fauna
Rub al-Khali desert(English: 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 is on the territory of Saudi Arabia. Rub al-Khali desert- This world's largest sand desert. And I ask you, do not confuse it with the Sahara! Rub al-Khali is the largest sandy desert! I mean, this is the largest area covered with sand! Summer temperatures here are over 50 degrees Celsius, winters are colder - about 30 degrees Celsius.
To the desert itself Rub al-Khali You can get there in three ways:
- The first and simplest is through Abu Dhabi along a luxurious 6-lane highway that ends at Liwa oasis. Oasis is located just on the very border of the desert.
- The second path is also as simple as two kopecks and runs along the road from Abu Dhabi through Hamim(Hameem) to the Liwa oasis. The road is simpler, but still two lanes, wonderful asphalt, and the trucks are taken to a separate road that runs parallel 50 meters away.
- 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 across the desert to the side Liwa oasis. That is, drive not from the north to the desert, but drive as far as possible from the south through the desert itself.
From El Eina the Liwa oasis is a little less than 400 kilometers away. Without gas stations, the distance is about 250 kilometers. We have the car Chevrolet Spark. Gas tank 35 liters. Fill the neck with 98 gasoline. We take the essentials 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 Kua.
The sand dunes are getting higher and there is less and less vegetation. Camels are also becoming increasingly rare. But this is not a desert yet. This is an ordinary landscape United Arab Emirates, which, by the way, is passed off to all tourists as desert when riding in 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 continuous fence on the left and huge solar-powered tracking stations every 3-4 kilometers.
The road is excellent, in some places there are repair zones with a detour on gravel roads. Moreover, they repair the road where only small cracks have appeared on the asphalt and do not repair it with “pothole repair”, but completely remove the asphalt covering and do everything all over again! The weather is sunny and quite hot outside, about 30 degrees (yes, yes! It's the middle of January!). Fortunately, there is air conditioning in the car! And now the navigator point 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 ideal, we keep the speed at about 100 km/h, stopping periodically to take photographs.
Do you know what happens when you drive on the road in a snowstorm? Clouds of snow dust rise behind the car. The sand has also started to curl up here! We pass some border point with clearly border Nissan Patrol sandy color and matte painting. They look very impressive! The best thing would probably be to chase illegal immigrants from Oman through the desert. The road is blocked by concrete blocks in a checkerboard pattern and painted red, but you can go around them. Some signs are red, but everything is written there in Arabic, although they are usually duplicated in English. We drive carefully without stopping. There is no one nearby. There seems to be no chase either, which means we can move on!
The sun is getting lower! Dream to meet sunset in the desert, apparently will become a reality today! Now we are already driving through the desert! A real desert, and not heaps of sand with thorns and small bushes, as is the case throughout the country. There are huge sand dunes here, absolutely no vegetation, and the color of the sand is not light yellow, but something with an orange tint at sunset! The road, a strip of black asphalt, goes beyond the horizon. I step on the gas pedal to drive deeper into the desert, and then climb onto some sand dune to watch the sunset!
And suddenly, after a hill and a turn, I slow down. The road ends. And it’s simple: here there’s perfect asphalt, and then there’s just a direction on the sand. You can even see that cars drive here periodically: D. Now an understanding arises in my head of why only jeeps came towards us, and then very rarely!
We don’t think for a long time, because there are only two reasonable options. What would most people do in this situation?
- They wouldn't have gone to the desert in a minicar in the first place.
- They would turn around and go back, seeing that there was no further road
An hour and a half later, tired but incredibly happy, we returned 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 come across a huge barbed wire fence. A bunch of red signs in Arabic and among them one in English. "Traffic and passage are strictly prohibited! Closed territory!". Along the fence there is an asphalt road with sandy tracks, one and a half meters wide. Looks more like a sidewalk. There is a hill ahead. We decide to get to it, pretending that we didn’t notice the signs. We went upstairs. There is a huge tracking station, the road goes down and far ahead goes up again. All along the border fence. I look at the maps on the navigator - yes, apparently we will almost get to the right place along this road, but there we will have to turn and there will be 7 kilometers of unknown, and most likely there will not be a road there, but only a direction through the sand dunes. It's almost dark outside. Plus the prohibition signs remembered. The laws in the Emirates are harsh... We've already had enough adventures! That's probably enough for today. The plan was to spend the night here, but we unanimously decided to turn around and go back. There is hope to find another road without going back too far to civilization, but I’m 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's completely different! The closest association that comes to mind is snow, snow blizzards, snow drifts, poor visibility at night during a snowstorm. Only it's not snow! This is sand that can change the appearance of the desert very quickly and calmly, absorbing anything in its path.
Another busy day was coming to an end. It was not possible to drive quickly, because the rising sandstorm literally blocked the entire view and in the headlights only a wall of sand was visible. 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 the road, spending the night, fog in the desert and the highest sand dune in the world in a separate article the day after tomorrow.
The translation of the name of these desert territories located on the Arabian Peninsula sounds like “empty quarter.” In fact, given the fact that the Rub al-Khali desert already occupies a third of the peninsula, the question arises of changing the toponym to reflect the real state of affairs.
From a political point of view, the desert “captured” the territories of four states, including, and. The only question is how to determine the real border inside the desert. The interest of states is understandable; the world's largest oil deposits have been discovered in the desert; no one wants to miss out on their tidbit of the oil pie.
Features of the Rub al-Khali desert
It is one of the largest on the globe, one of the top five. The second point that deserves attention is that the Rub al-Khali desert is considered one of the hottest places on the planet. The thermometer in July and August reaches a maximum of +50°C and above, and the average level for this month is around +47°C.
The third nuance is related to the amount of precipitation that falls here throughout the year. And here too there are record figures, although this time they are minimal. The Rub al-Khali desert is again in the first positions in the ranking of the driest places, with years marked when the amount of precipitation was only 35 mm.
Geological structure of the area
The desert is a large basin, it stretches from northeast to southwest, passing through the Arabian shelf. In the lower layers there are deposits of gravel and gypsum, in the upper layers there is sand. It consists mainly of silicates, with quartz taking the lion's share as a percentage - up to 90%.
Interestingly, feldspar, which makes up only 10% of the mass of sand, gives the desert its fantastic color. Feldspar grains are coated with iron oxide on top, so they are colored red or brick-orange. Accordingly, the appearance of the desert in a photo or video resembles, according to people’s ideas, the red landscapes of Mars.
In the southeastern half of the desert, massifs consisting of white quicksand have been discovered. The dunes are so huge that they rise up to 250 meters. People find salvation in one of two oases - El Ein or Liwa.
Road to hell
Many tourists who come to relax in the UAE and nearby countries dream of seeing this miracle of nature with their own eyes and feeling the hot breath of the desert. There are three ways to get to Rub al-Khali: through the Liwa oasis along a luxurious six-lane highway; via Abu Dhabi and Hamim to Liwa Oasis via a smaller motorway (two-lane).
The third option is the most original, it involves a journey along the border strip with Oman, then also, but along the border with Saudi Arabia. On the way, tourists pass El Ein and the desert itself; by the way, guests of the Arabian Peninsula are very often deceived - they are actually taken to the suburbs, where you can see the dunes, which are passed off as a desert. But real desert adventure awaits on a safari in Rub al-Khali.
Unusual local landscapes are recorded not only in documentaries, but also in many science fiction films, literature and even computer games.
Who lives in the Rub al-Khali desert
At first glance, it seems that not a single living creature on earth has a chance to survive in such heat. But this is not entirely true; occasionally you can meet both ungulates and predators. At night, when it gets cooler, the active life of representatives of the desert fauna begins; you can see rodents and lizards. Rare vegetation in the form of camel thorn, tribulus and saltwort is the main food of these animals.
Scientists claim that once upon a time there was a network of lakes in place of the desert, which were home to mammals, amphibians and reptiles, including hippos and buffalos. And Homo sapiens left traces of his presence. Among the artifacts discovered in the area are tools that are between 5,000 and 10,000 years old, although the remains of the man himself could not be found.
Desert entertainment
Despite the high temperatures that persist all year round, there are plenty of tourists who want to not only see the desert, but also take part in some active activities. Accordingly, the local population has to get out and come up with activities.
The most popular and easiest thing at the same time is off-road driving; other cars have nothing to do here. The only competition they have is ATVs that can overcome tall dunes. Among the exotic entertainments is skiing (!), however, specially designed for the desert, and on the same special boards. Women prefer less extreme entertainment in the desert; trips are specially organized for them to a Bedouin camp, where they can get acquainted with the life of the ancient inhabitants of these lands.
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The Rub al-Khali desert occupies approximately a third of the Arabian Peninsula in the south, but is called "empty quarter" in Arabic. Originally it was simply “desert, empty land.” But since in writing the words “slave” (land, territory) and “rub” (quarter) do not differ, and the second is much more often used in speech, such a strange substitution occurred. Still, a third is not a quarter. However, since this desert began to form approximately two million years ago, it has been constantly expanding its boundaries. The sandy desert is generally such an ominous “creature” that can grow, advance, and completely absorb houses, oases and entire cities...
Only a strong state can resist the onset of the desert, capable of organizing the construction and maintenance of hydraulic structures, planting a strip of green space (“green wall”), etc. The kingdoms of “Happy (Southern) Arabia” in their heyday were able to do this.
Many pre-Islamic sources mention Ubar (aka "Iram the many-columned"), a magnificent, rich city with rainbow towers built of metal and precious stones. The Koran says that the city of the Adites (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 listen to the appeals of their fellow countryman, the prophet Hud (c. 2300). . BC.). The sandstorm raged for seven nights and eight days, and not a trace of the city remained. “Now these once fertile lands, where the people of Hud used to live, are a desert. But in those days these places were fertile, the forests softened the harsh climate of the area and made it favorable for life. There was also a desert, but it did not occupy such space as it does now. But, despite this mercy of Allah, the people of Hud were not grateful to their Lord for the bounties they had, but, on the contrary, persisted in their godlessness and debauchery.” For a long time, Ubar was considered simply a legend, but in 1990 its traces were discovered by the Americans thanks to filming from space. The photographs show how ancient caravan routes converge on the “sandy Atlantis” in the southwestern sector of the Rub al-Khali desert in Oman.
The Koran 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 farmers were displaced by the Bedouin nomads. Cultivated irrigated lands gradually turned back into barren desert.
The dam on Wadi Dhana (600 m long, more than 15 m high) was built by the Sabaeans near Marib, the capital of the legendary Sabaean kingdom, in VII. V. 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 residents to engage not only in nomadic pastoralism (camel husbandry 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 , stretching for 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, a wide sandy strip stretching 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 an average of 100-200 m above sea level. m. up to 500-1000 m above sea level. m. Under the sands there is gypsum and limestone, on the outskirts there are rare oases, in the east there are vast salt marshes.
The administrative division of the desert is a pure formality. This is a giant neutral territory on the borders of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The dunes with a height of 150-200 m, covering 80% of the almost 650 km 2 of the “Empty Quarter”, are practically uninhabited. The biodiversity of the hyperarid and exceptionally hot desert is represented by an extremely limited number of species: among animals, these are mainly arachnids and rodents, and among plants in the depressions between the dunes - camel thorn and saltwort. Only dromedaries can withstand the daytime heat with a sand temperature of 70°C in the sun (dromedaries are able to lose more than a quarter of their weight without dying of thirst or hunger). The Bedouins, who have somehow adapted to life in such harsh conditions, let them go during the day to look for pasture and wait in the shade. European tourists, who even penetrate here thanks to the invention of cars with all-wheel drive and air conditioning, only need about a minute and a half to take photos outside against the backdrop of a fantastic landscape. One of the first Europeans to penetrate into the depths of the Rub al-Khali and map it was the British subject Wilfrid Thesiger in 1946-1950. He was able to appreciate this beauty: “In this cruel land you can see such wonderful pictures that there is no equal to them in our climate.”
It seemed that it would always be like this: sand dunes, tents of wild nomads, camels... Only ruins remained of the cities of “Happy Arabia”, and of some, like Ubar, not a trace remained. From time to time, the Bedouins accidentally found the ruins of Sabaean and Menaean 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 stolen 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, and a third are hungry. Until very recently, things were approximately the same for the Bedouins from neighboring states, partially occupied by the sands of the Rub al-Khali. Until the discovery of rich oil and gas deposits under the sands in the east of Rub al-Khali in the second half of the 20th century. rapid and dramatic changes in the lives of former nomads. Fabulous profits from the sale of hydrocarbons suddenly turned the wild desert into a more than civilized one. Thus, in the emirates and Dubai, caravan trails were replaced by eight-lane highways, like mirages in the desert, skyscrapers, hotels and business centers sprang up. In just one generation, some Arabs changed their way of life, turning from camel drivers into large entrepreneurs and engineers.
general information
Location: in the southeast of the Arabian PeninsulaAdministrative affiliation: Most in Saudi Arabia, also Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Oman.
Type: sandy desert.
Oases: Al Ain, Al Jiwa, Liwa, etc.
The largest city: Dubai.
Nearest airport: international airports in Abu Dhabi, Dubai.
Numbers
Area: approx. 650,000 km 2.Length: approx. 1200 km.
Width: up to 500 km.
About 80% of the territory is occupied by sand.
Average altitude: in the east - 100-200 m above sea level. m., in the west - 500-1000 m above sea level. m.
Height of dunes: 150-200 m, up to 300 m.
Climate and weather
Tropical hyperarid.Extremely arid hot climate.
Sandstorms.
Average daily maximum in July: +47°С.
Average temperature in January: +25-30°C.
Average annual precipitation: 35 mm.
Economy
Minerals: the richest oil and gas fields (Sheiba, Al-Gawar, etc.).Industry: oil and gas production.
Agriculture: oasis agriculture, nomadic cattle breeding (camels, sheep).
Traditional crafts and crafts.
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” made of gypsum crystals; “Desert Park” (in the emirate of Sharjah, UAE), where about a hundred representatives of the entire animal world inhabiting the Rub al-Khali, including the beiza antelope, are collected in one place.
■ Cultural-historical Ancients: the city of Ubar (aka multi-columned Iram, probably founded in the 2nd millennium BC) - under the sand, discovered thanks to space photography in 1990; Old Marib (from the 9th century): ruins of the Marib Dam (built 2,700 years ago); Avvam Temple; Marib fortress with a collection of cultural objects of ancient Arabia (reliefs, bas-reliefs, etc.); the ruins of Minaan 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
■ Famous racing driver Vadim Nesterchuk died tragically in the Rub al-Khali desert in the United Arab Emirates on June 24, when he and his partner were preparing for the Silk Way Rally 2013.
■ Once thriving Marib, with a four-thousand-year history, is today 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 advancement of the Sabaeans (and their rivals, the Mainians, who founded the kingdom absorbed by the Sabaeans in the 7th century BC) from the northwest to the southwest of Arabia was directly related to the establishment of the Trans-Arabian Incense Route (or the Frankincense Route), along which the Sabaeans 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 Qana, to Shabwa, then through Marib, Najran, Mecca, Jeddah, Yathrib-Medina and Petra to Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea. Along this route, which also passed through the desert, there were dozens of hydreumas (fortified and guarded wells) and cities. Caravanners always followed the same caravan paths: for deviating from the route, they could pay with their lives - for attempting to smuggle.
■ According to a study by the English geologist McClure, published in 1984, a network of small lakes formed 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, lasting from several dozen up to several hundred years. The researcher claims that the lakes were inhabited by hippopotamuses, Indian buffalo and other cattle.
■ On the site of Dubai 7,000 years ago there were mangrove swamps, which were covered with sand about 5,000 years ago after climate change.
■ One of the local wonders is the so-called “desert roses”. The nomads believed that these “roses” grew from camel urine. In fact, they are formed in the thickness of the sand after rain by crystallization of gypsum, then due to weathering they appear on the surface.
The Rub al-Khali, sometimes spelled Rub al-Khali (Arabic for "Empty Quarter"), is the largest desert in the world, and a vast "kingdom" of continuous sand. However, it was here in 1948 that the first oil field for the emirate of Abu Dhabi, Al Ghawar, was discovered, which is considered one of the largest in the world. The 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 significantly reduces interest in it. If you want to take interesting panoramic photos, you will have to look for places in the desert where dunes will be concentrated. Fortunately, such places are quite common in the UAE if you drive a few hours from major cities.
As you drive out of Dubai towards Al Ain, you'll quickly find some dunes lying scattered along the road. Many people stop here to rent a quad bike or buggy (prices are quite affordable), or to simply climb the dunes using 4WD.
Driving out of Abu Dhabi towards Al Ain there are also some sand dunes that are worth a trip to.
But the most beautiful and largest dunes in the country are in the south, near 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 minimal numbers 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 in complete solitude.
"It is very quiet here," wrote Wilfred Thesiger, "a silence that we have banished from our world."
In 1947, a British explorer sat alone on a ridge overlooking the desert and recorded his thoughts on one of two epic journeys with the Bedouins of Arabia, which took him through the massive dunes of al-Khali and the populated areas of the Liwa Oasis. His book of experiences and experiences, Arabian Sands, stands as a masterpiece of classic travel literature.
While others imagined the desert as a vast void, the Bedouins as wild aborigines, Thesiger saw them as they considered themselves - noble and brave people for whom the desert was a sea where they roamed freely and found refuge. For them and for him, the desert became their whole life. Beautiful. Strict. Epic. The "Arabs of the desert," as he called them, were full of "stern dignity."
The dunes on which the traveler sat still exist, as does the Liwa Oasis. An hour and a half drive south of Abu Dhabi city 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 dark 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 your eyes can see the endless desert, where you will not find a dried tree or a single cloud.
Driving off-road in the arms of the desert gives you the chance to experience that pervasive silence, especially if it happens at night. The night sky bursts with stars, sparkling and falling; The Milky Way is like thick cream spilled onto satin fabric... and time stops.... Spend a night in the desert - it will leave a truly unforgettable experience. Stargazing, enjoying the silence or walking through the dunes under the moon will leave you wanting to return 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 the Rub al-Khali, but the risk of encountering them is low. Try not to walk barefoot (even if it sounds very tempting), especially between dunes and near islands of greenery, as these are the favorite places of these fascinating creatures. If you are lucky enough to see a snake or scorpion, do not come close, but 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.
Trekking in the desert is a wonderful adventure for an active lifestyle, but it does pose some risks. Here are some tips to help you enjoy the desert safely:
Never travel alone. You need to have at least two cars, because if you get stuck in the sand, the second car will be the only solution.
Always tell someone where you plan to go, as if someone knows where you are, it will be easier to start searching if you don't return.
Take plenty of water with you. If you don't have enough water with you, it will be the first thing you'll miss if you get lost or stuck in the sand.
If you plan to climb the dunes, don't forget your 4WD, as well as a shovel, carpet, petrol, matches and rope.
Enjoy your visit, but don't forget that the desert is an amazing place with an incredibly fragile ecosystem. Please be aware of local wildlife and please take your rubbish home with you. In other words, leave only your footprints in the sand...
A few myths and legends.
In 1932, Bertram Thomas recorded Bedouin tales of a legendary trading city that disappeared beneath the sands of Hali, beginning a love affair between Western explorers and the Arab myth of the city of Ubar. When 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 Sahib, this is the road to Ubar, which was once a large city, rich treasures, date gardens and a fort covered with sheets of red silver. Now it was buried under the sands. It was destroyed as a punishment for the wickedness of its inhabitants." Thomas had heard of Ubar on previous travels in Central Arabia, but no one could tell where its place was. He named the city "Atlantis of the Sands" and suggested that it could be a trading center in the southern part of Oman's Dhofar province. Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, Strabo and other ancient authors, although they did not specifically mention Ubar, left reports of cities in southern Arabia where resins from frankincense and myrrh were sold in markets. The city of Ubar remained a fairy tale for 1001 nights. There is no city with this 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 satellite radar images has helped reveal ancient caravan routes that converged near modern-day Shisr in southwestern Oman. Their excavations revealed 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 provided compelling evidence to suggest that this was indeed the legendary city of Ubar. But after 20 years of excavations, a number of scientists can call this city Ubar only with a stretch if it is wishful thinking. They indicate that Ubar was probably just an agglomeration of cities or a self-designation of people in a certain region. Shisr is most likely the remains of one of many ancient trading towns where traders settled, or perhaps just an isolated town near a lake.
The lakes of Rub al-Khali are now a mirage of nature, but the fact that they once quenched the thirst of humans and animals - including hippopotamus, buffalo and antelope - is indisputable. The presence of hippopotamuses is evidenced by the findings of their fossilized teeth. Fossil bones of buffalo and long horns of cattle, as well as wild asses, wild goats and sheep, oryx, and 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 is a luxury outpost 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, appears to us as the lost, flourishing legendary city of Ubar, which has not been found by scientists for centuries. Impressive architecture in the traditional Arabian style, which is combined with modern amenities. We had our own terrace and could watch over a cup of coffee as the sun rose and illuminated the red sand with its rays. The atmosphere is clean and calm. As British scholar Wilfred Thesiger wrote about the Rub al Khali: "It is very quiet here...a silence that we have banished from our world." Absolutely fits the description of this wonderful place.
The road to the hotel is good, paved, there is a sign on the road “Do not leave for photography”, it is better not to ignore the sign, as soon as we pulled over to the side of the road, we immediately fell into the sand with the front and rear wheels and got stuck right up to the door, thanks to the hotel staff for the prompt rescue us from the sand. The desert sand is indeed 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 small towns are several tens of kilometers away. Accordingly, I advise you to take food with you or taste dishes in a restaurant. But, if you are not a millionaire or a gourmet, I advise you to order food along with your reservation, that is, breakfast and dinner. It will be cheaper and tastier. 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 peppery water, seeing the confusion on our face. We also ordered grilled meat for $100, which turned out to be three pieces of tenderloin from different parts of veal and no side dish. In total, two dishes with juice came out to $180. Very expensive and unsatisfactory. After eating, my stomach hurt 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.
Ahead, to the right, to the left is an endless light yellow plain with mountains equally darkening in the distance. Rub al-Khali (“Empty Quarter”) is what the ancient Arabs called this vast desert of the Arabian Peninsula.
Behind, on a gentle hill, there is a pile of gray buildings stretching upward. Marib. Only 800 people live in this Yemeni city. They lead camel caravans and grow millet-durru and corn on irrigated lands. A bright green spot stands out against a monotonously gray background: two palm trees and several banana trees grow in the courtyard of the local governor’s house. At the foot of the hill is a military fortress.
We are going to the Marib Dam - one of the most remarkable structures of antiquity.
Looking at this boundless sea of sand and stone, dotted here and there with fragments of slabs and capitals of broken columns, it is very difficult to imagine that this region was once a blooming garden.
In ancient times, states arose, developed and died in the south of the Arabian Peninsula: the Minaan and Sabaean kingdoms, Qataban and Himyarite. Caravan routes passed here, along which myrrh, incense and other incense were brought to Palestine, Egypt, Babylonia and Persia. Only here, in Southern Arabia, on a narrow strip from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, did trees grow from the hardened resin of which these incense was prepared. Many religious ceremonies could not do without them; among ancient peoples they were considered a gift from the gods. That is why the places from which they were brought were considered sacred.
Our truck, raising a tail of whitish dust behind it, slowly moves along the dry bed of the small river Wadi Dana.
“The dam is there, behind this mountain,” says one of our companions, a young Bedouin from the El-Abid tribe living in the vicinity of Marib, pointing to the hill visible ahead.
He stands on the step of the car, holding onto the side of the body with one hand. The Bedouin's long hair, beard and eyebrows are covered with a fine white dust. He looks like Santa Claus, only instead of a traditional bag with gifts, he has an old Belgian rifle hanging on his shoulder - the barrel is plugged with a wooden stopper, the bolt and magazine are carefully wrapped in a gray cloth.
I have heard and read more than once about the Marib Dam, built 2,700 years ago. It was a very large hydraulic structure for that time. A high kilometer-long dam blocked the Wadi Dana River. Its waters irrigated orchards and fields stretching for several kilometers around the city. At the beginning of our era, the dam collapsed, the water left, and life left along with the water.
We are standing on the slope of Mount Balak el-Qibli. In front of us is a small dam, made of narrow basalt slabs, and a low structure for draining water from the reservoir into an irrigation diversion canal. On the opposite bank you can discern the outline of a tower of another canal. This is all that remains of an ancient irrigation device. The air rings with the chirping of cicadas, large blue lizards run from stone to stone, landing funny on their front legs. There's not a soul here except us.
A few more kilometers through the desert, and we approach the temple of Avvam, which was also the same age as ancient Marib, one of the capitals of the Sabaean kingdom.
Some of the sculptures and bas-reliefs that decorated the temple are now kept in a small dark room in the Marib fortress. They are made with great skill. Among them is an image of a bull's head, which symbolized Illumkuh, the goddess of the Moon - in her honor the Avvam temple was built. The head of a bull adorned the altars on which incense was burned and animals were sacrificed.
In the same room, lime slabs were stacked, on which ancient sculptors carved ears of barley and figurines of rams. A beautiful alabaster bas-relief depicting the goddess of fertility - a woman sitting in front of heavy bunches of grapes.
However, the fortress contains only a small part of what was found in the ruins of ancient Marib. Magnificent collections of cultural objects from ancient Arabia are kept in Parisian museums. Western travelers who had been able to visit Marib in the past bought these finds for next to nothing from the Bedouins, who looked for them in the ruins of the Minaean and Sabaean cities in the Rub al-Khali. The reactionary imams who ruled Yemen until September 1962 instilled in the people the idea that only with the adoption of Islam did they gain “real culture,” and barbarously plundered and destroyed ancient monuments. So, for example, we saw in the wall of the fortress well, in the walls and floor of the Marib hotel... unique stones with Sabaean inscriptions.
The Republican government took under protection all ancient monuments. Valuable handwritten books discovered in the palaces of the deposed imam and his accomplices were transferred to the newly created national library.
Rub al-Khali still holds many secrets. To the southeast of Marib lie the ruins of the Maribam Temple, built about 2,700 years ago. In the northeastern regions of Rub al-Khali, the ruins of Minaan and Sabaean cities have been preserved - reports of them are sometimes brought by Bedouins who accidentally wandered there. Who knows, perhaps important archaeological discoveries will be made here soon.
O. Gerasimov