Rub-El Hali (Desert)

Rub-El Hali desert occupies about a third of the Arabian Peninsula in the south, but is called translated from the Arab "Empty Quarter". Initially, it was just the "desert, empty land." But since the letter of the word "slave" (land, territory) and "rub" (quarter) are no different, 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 about two million years ago, it constantly expands the boundaries. The sandy desert is generally such an ominous "creature" that can grow, step, absorb without the rest of the house, oasis and whole cities ...
Almost a strong state can withstand the offensive of the desert, which can organize the construction and maintenance of hydrotechnical structures, land the lane of green spaces ("green wall"), etc. The kingdoms "happy (southern) Arabia" during their heyday was under force.
In many reported sources, Ubar is mentioned (he "Iram multicolone") is a magnificent rich city with rainbow towers built of metal and precious stones. In the Quran it is written that the city of Aditov (indigenous inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula) was erased from the face of the Earth in the will of Allah "Wind Shummer, Rayin" for the fact that his inhabitants were arrived and did not listen to the appeals of their countryman - the Prophet Hud (approx. 2300 g . BC.). The sandstorm raged seven nights and eight days, the yot of the city was left and the trace. "This is now these once fertile lands, where the people of the Hud also lived, are a desert. But in those days, these places were fertile, the forests softened the sharp climate of the district and made it favorable for life. There was a desert, but she did not occupy such a space as now. But, despite this grace of Allah, the people of Huda were not grateful to their Lord for the generotes that had, but, on the contrary, persisted in their worry and breakfast. " For a long time, Ubar was considered simply a legend, but in 1990 his traces were discovered by the Americans thanks to shooting from space. In the pictures you can see how to "Sandy Atlantis" in the southwestern sector of the Rub-El Hali desert on the territory of Oman converge the ancient cavalo paths.
In the Qur'an, it is also mentioned that the symbol of the whole "happy (southern) Arabian" - Maribskaya Dama - collapsed during the lifetime of the Prophet Mohammed (571-632). It is symbolic in its own way: with the Arab conquest of Southern Arabia in 628, a new era began here, the farmers pushed the Bedouin nomads. The cultivated irrigated land gradually turned into a barren desert.
The dam on Wadi-Dhana (600 meters of length, more than 15 m of heights) was erected by Sabei near Mariba, the capital of the legendary Sabey kingdom, in VII. in. BC e. Probably, the maribian dam was the most grandiose and significant hydrotechnical structure of antiquity - a gigantic complex that required constant maintenance. He allowed residents to engage not only by nomadic cattle breeding (camel-flow from 1300 BC, sheep) and the collection of spices and incense, but also grow dick palm trees, fruit gardens, wheat, shell, barley, legumes and vegetables on irrigated fields , spread a few kilometers around the city. The dam served thirteen centuries and began to gradually collapse when the South Kazakhstan kingdoms were declining, including due to the replacement of caravan trading routes, marine wars, changes in the intra-and foreign policy situation, as well as due to significant changes in the climate.
Rub-El Hali, a wide sandstone stretched in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the largest deserts of the world. The surface rises from the east west from the average 100-200 m above y. m. up to 500-1000 m over y. m. under the sands - plaster and limestone, on the outskirts - rare oasis, in the east - extensive salt marshes.
Administrative division of the desert - pure formality. This is a gigantic neutral territory at the border of Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The verakhan height is 150-200 m, covering 80% of almost 650 km 2 "empty quarters", almost uninhabited. The biodiversity is hyperzashaty and exclusively hot desert is represented by extremely limited amount of species: it is mostly spider and rodents from animals, from plants in lowering between vegans - Camels of a spiny and saltwood. The daily heat with a sand temperature of 70 ° C in the sun can withstand except for dromaders (single-burnt camels are able to lose more than a quarter of their weight, not dying from thirst or hunger). Bedouins, somehow adopted to life in such harsh conditions, release them in the afternoon to seek the footsteps, asymimi in the shade. European tourists penetrating even here thanks to the invention of machines with a full drive and air conditioner, enough minutes per one and a half - only to have time to take pictures outside against the background of a fantastic landscape. One of the first Europeans penetrated into the depths of rubles-el-khali and cartoons, was the British Nazis Wilfrid Tweeger in 1946-1950. He was able to appreciate this beauty in dignity: "In this cruel region, you can see such wonderful paintings that there are no equal in our climate."
It seemed that it would always be: sand dunes, the tents of wild nomads, camels ... Some ruins were left from the cities of "Happy Arabia", and some of some, as from Ubaur, there was no trace. Bedouins from time to time they were accidentally found in the sands of the Ruins of the Sabean and Mining cities, brought with them fragments of bas-reliefs and statues and sold them for visits to tourists. As a result, the culture of ancient Arabia turned out to be better presented in European museums than on the peninsula itself. The Yemeni authorities did not show much interest in the pre-Islamic culture, so that the most valuable monuments of the ancient South Kazakhstan kingdoms or so lay, gradually leaving in the sand, or fell on souvenirs.
The sad paradox lies in the fact that the heir of the ancient Sabean civilization of Yemen is one of the lowest human development indices in the Arab world. Half of Yemen residents lives beyond the poverty line, a third is starving. Approximately the same until recently there were cases of Bedouins from neighboring states partly occupied by the sands of Rub-El Hali. Until the opening of the richest oil and gas fields under the sands of the richest oil and gas fields did not cause the richest deposits of oil and gas in the second half of the 20th century. rapid and cardinal changes in the life of former nomads. The fabric revenues from the sale of hydrocarbon raw materials suddenly turned the wild desert in more than civilized. So, in the Emirates and Dubai, the caravan trails changed the eight-band motorways, like Mirage in the desert, skyscrapers, hotels and business centers rose. Literally in one generation, part of the Arabs changed the lifestyle, turning the camel chalves into large entrepreneurs and engineers.

general information

Location: in the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula
Administrative belonging: Most in Saudi Arabia, also Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Oman.

Type: Sand Desert.

Oasis: El Ain, El-Jiva, Liva, etc.
The largest city: Dubai.

The nearest airport is: International airports in Abu Dhabi, Dubai.

Numbers

Area: OK. 650,000 km 2.

Length: OK. 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 y. m., in the west - 500-1000 m above y. m.
The height of the vehicles: 150-200 m, up to 300 m.

Climate and weather

Tropical hyperd.

Exceptionally arid hot climate.

Sand storms.

Mid day maximum in July: + 47 ° С.

The average temperature in January: + 25-30 ° C.

The average annual amount of precipitation: 35 mm.

Economy

Minerals: Rally Oil and Gas Deposits (Shaba, Al-Gavar, etc.).
Industry: oil and gas producing.

Agriculture: Oasis farming, nomadic cattle breeding (camels, sheep).
Traditional crafts and crafts.

Field of services: tourism, trade, transport.

sights

■ Natural: Sand dunes with a height of 150-200 m, including one of the largest dunes of the world of Morib height of 300 m and width of 1600 m; "Roses of the desert" from crystals of plaster; Desert Park (in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE), where in one place there are about a hundred representatives of the entire animal of the world inhabiting Rub-El Hali, including Antelope Bezu.

■ Cultural and historical ancient: The city of Ubar (he is a multicolone Iram, probably founded in the II thousand to n. e.) - under the sand, detected due to space survey in 1990; Old Marib (from the IX century): Ruins of the Maribskaya Dam (built 2,700 years ago); temple avbam; Maribskaya fortress with a collection of cultural objects of ancient Arabia (reliefs, bas-reliefs, etc.); Ruins of the Mini and Sabean cities in the northeast sector of Rub-El Khali are known for reporting by the random Bedouins on them, not yet studied.

■ Modern: Superior architecture Dubai.

Curious facts

■ The famous Ranker Vadim Nesterchuk tragically died in the Rub-El Hali desert in the United Arab Emirates on June 24, when he with a partner was preparing for the Rally "Silk Road - 2013".

■ Once blooming maribus, having a four thousand meal history, today is a spent Yemen town with a population of less than 20,000 people.

■ SouthAvian Sabea Civilization is one of the oldest in the Middle East - in the end of the II thousand BC. e. Promotion of Sabev (and their rivals of Mains, founded by sub-sabeys in the VII century. BC e. The kingdom is almost north) from the North-West to the south-west of Arabia, it was directly related to the formation of the translate path of the incense (or Ladan's path), according to which Sabeitsa traded with many countries of the ancient and ancient world.

■ Huge organized caravans from hundreds of camels moved one or twice a year from the port adene, later because of the Romans from Cana, to Shabva, then through Marib, Nazran, Mecca, Jedda, Yasrib Medina and Peter to Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea. On this route, held through the desert, there were dozens of hydraulm (fortified and protected wells) and cities. The caravantes have always walked along the same caravan trails: for the deviation from the route they could pay life - for trying smuggling.

■ According to the study of the English geologist McClura, published in 1984, in the middle of the desert at least twice, during periods between 37 and 17 thousand years ago, and then again between 10 and 5 thousand years ago, a network of small lakes that existed from several dozen up to several hundred years. The researcher claims that hypopotamas, Indian buffalo and other horned cattle lived on the lakes.

■ On the place of Dubai another 7,000 years ago there were mangrove swamps, which about 5,000 years ago after climate change brought sand.

■ One of the local dicks is the so-called "desert roses". Nomads believed that these "roses" grow from the urine of camel. In fact, they are formed in the thicker of sand after the rain by crystallization of the gypsum, then due to weathelation turn out to be on the surface.