Karkemish, Aqaba, Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, Jeddah, Yanbu, and Jbail: are some of the cities that were the center of the life and of the battles against the Ottoman Empire for the British crown and the personal dream of creating an Arab nation of T.E. Lawrence, the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. But there are other little-known…
Jazan and Farasan Island, history and natural Paradise
Jazan, formerly al-Tihamah, is a town and port in southwest Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea, opposite the Farasan Islands. Jazan is a region rich in culture, and history and placed on an ancient caravan route. The history of the region is greatly influenced by its location on the coast of the Red Sea. Jazan…
Al-Rajajil, the Stonehenge of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia encloses heritage, history, culture, and ancient archaeological sites. Placed near the ancient oasis town of Sakakah in al-Jawf province in northwestern Saudi Arabia, mysterious finds have been discovered, a collection of some 50 groups of stone columns erected called al-Rajajil standing stones that represent a very enigma that very few have heard of….
Khamerernebti II, the Pyramid of the Queen
After visiting all three pyramids of the Giza plateau, I was absolutely struck by the majesty of the Pyramid of Cheops and by the perfection and, if you can so define it, the refined interior architecture of the Pyramid of Menkaure. For millennia, the Pyramids of the Giza Plateau have observed the historical events flowing…
Bosra, an amazing Syrian heritage
Bosra, (meaning citadel in Aramaic) is an ancient town in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan. Bosra boasts a prestigious past: it was mentioned in the Egyptian documents 1400 years B.C and it was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom and capital of the Arabia Province under the Roman Empire at the time…
Al-Nafud, Saudi Arabia Sands
Doughty, Thesiger, and Burton fascinated us with their tales about Arabia and its deserts in their books Travels on Arabia Deserta, Arabian Sands, and Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Makkah. In my library these books are always in the foreground, ready to be read again and again. The desert is the most…
Al-Uqair, by the Uqair Protocol the Modern Saudi Arabia
Al-Uqair, located in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia, is an ancient port—the first seaport in the Arabian Gulf, dating back to the Ottomans period but the site’s history extends back at least 4.500 years; it is the gateway to Al-Ahsa from the Arabian Gulf. The importance of Al-Uqair is testified by the fact that…
Unayzah, the “Paris of Najd”
Unayzah is an ancient city located in Central Arabia, in the historical region of Najd, in the south of Al-Qassim province and of the Wadi al-Rummah (Rumma Valley), which is the longest valley on the Arabian Peninsula. Historically, Unayzah was an important stopping point for Muslim pilgrims from Mesopotamia and Persia on their way to…
Ghardaia in the M’zab, the Pentapolis of the desert
I first traveled to Algeria in 1984 on my motorcycle BMW R80GS. I crossed the border between Tunisia and Algeria through the border post of Hazoua, I passed the fascinating town of El Oued, known as “the city of a thousand domes” and reached the city of Ghardaia, stopping there for a few days. Ghardaia,…
Suakin, starting point on the Sudan Hajj Route to Makkah
Suakin, also called Sawakin (Arabic, meaning population), is placed on the Red Sea coast of Sudan and lies in a stunning natural position; it is inscribed on the Sudan tentative list of Unesco as well as on the World Monument Watch list, as evidence to its historical and strategic importance as a trading port and…
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