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Concept
Hijaz Mountains
Summary
The Hijaz Mountains (Jibāl al-Ḥijāz (d͡ʒɪˈbaːl alħɪˈdʒaːz)) or "Hejaz Range" is a mountain range located in the Hejazi region of western Saudi Arabia. The range runs north and south along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and can thus be treated as including the Midian Mountains, and being part of the Sarawat Mountains, broadly speaking.
Geography of Saudi Arabia
The western coastal escarpment of the Arabian Peninsula is composed of two mountain ranges, the Hijaz Mountain to the north and the Asir Mountains farther south, with a gap between them near the middle of the peninsula's coastline. From an elevation of , the range declines towards the vicinity of the gap about .
The mountain wall drops abruptly on the western side toward the Red Sea, leaving the narrow coastal plain of Tihamah. The eastern slopes are not as steep, allowing rare rainfall to help create oasis around the springs and wells of the few wadis.
The Hijaz Mountains have been conjectured as the source of the ancient Pishon River, that was described as one of the four rivers associated with the Garden of Eden. This is a component in the research of Juris Zarins that locates the Garden of Eden at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf near Kuwait. The course of the now dried up river, the modern-day Wadi al-Rummah and its extension Wadi al-Batin, was identified by Farouk El-Baz of Boston University and named the 'Kuwait River.' This tracks northeast across the Saudi desert for , following Wadi al-Batin to the coast of the Persian Gulf. The 'Pishon' or 'Kuwait River,' and the Hejazi region's ecology, is estimated to have dried up 2,500–3000 years ago.
Wildlife of Saudi Arabia
The Arabian leopard had been sighted here. In ancient times, it was reported that Musa al-Kadhim, a descendant of Muhammad, encountered a lion in the wilderness north of Medina. Hamadryas baboons can be seen near settlements, like those of Al Hada and Al-Shafa near Ta'if.
This region includes the district of Mahd adh-Dhahab ("Cradle of the Gold"), between Mecca and Medina.
Official source
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