Rub' al Khali Desert

Rub' al Khali, the “Empty Quarter,” occupies the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula and is considered one of the world’s largest deserts. Endless dunes up to 250 metres high cover gravel and gypsum, while sand composed mainly of quartz and iron oxide shifts through shades of orange and red. In summer, temperatures often exceed 50°C, and rainfall is almost nonexistent. Rare oases, including Liwa and Al Ain, and sparse plants such as camel thorn and saltwort punctuate this fiery sea. Beneath the eastern expanses lie rich reserves of oil and gas, like hidden treasure under the hot sands.

A network of rivers once flowed beneath the endless sands of Rub' al Khali. The land was formerly covered by lakes filled by heavy rains, where vegetation flourished and hippopotamuses lived. Today, archaeologists find ancient lakebeds, animal bones and traces of human activity, including tools left by people between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago, although no human remains have been discovered. The desert preserves the memory of water and life that once moved across its sands.