Lost Cities of Arabia

The Arabian subcontinent is a vast and mysterious place.  It is six times the size of the British Isles, four times the size of Texas, one third of the size of Australia.  It is a forbidding and inhospitable place.  Few enter into the interior.  Those that do multiply the rumours and exaggerate the stories associated with this place.

Saudi Arabia remains off limits to the infidel so our investigation best start with a satellite overflight of the territory.

Source: Wikipedia

From space we can see that the peninsular is bounded to the South and West by mountains. Behind these mountains vast expanses of desert sands.  The mountains, particularly in the South, receive sufficient rain to support lush vegetation. The interior and eastern quarters lie in the raid shadow and are arid.  In the southeast lies the particularly arid inhospitable empty quarter.  There is no water in the empty water. It is said to be impassible due to the combination of searing heat and soaring sand dunes.

One school believes that the Arab people come from the south of the continent.  In the mountains of Yemen there is ample sun, rain and fertile soil to build an agricultural paradise. The queen of Sheba may have lived here.  The great Marib dam was built to hold back waters for irrigation purposes.  When this failed some 50,000 people were displaced into Arabia.

Wadi Shab, Oman showing the fertility of the area. Source: Wikipedia

Quite apart from agricultural prosperity the territory that we now know as Yemen was a great trading centre in antiquity.  It lies on the trading route between India and Europe. and at a cross roads between Egypt and Asia. There was an active coastal trade that took goods from India along the coast of the Red Sea towards Europe.  There was also a lucrative transhipment service whereby goods from the East were transported by camel train across the Arabian continent. 

Scholars have identified the ancient caravan trails.  These are shown on the following map.