Nafud desert
(Redirected from
An Nafud
)Nafud desert | |
|---|---|
Desert | |
| Location | Saudi Arabia |
The Nafud desert or simply The Nafud (
Arabic: صحراء النفود, romanized: ṣahrā' an-nafūd) is a desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula at 28°18′N 41°00′E / 28.30°N 41.00°E, occupying a great oval depression. It is 290 kilometres (180 mi) long and 225 kilometres (140 mi) wide, with an area of 103,600 square kilometres (40,000 sq mi).[1][failed verification
]
The Nafud is an
Dahna
, a corridor of gravel plains and sand dunes, 800 mi (1,287 km) long and 15 to 50 miles (24.1 to 80.5 km) wide.
During the
Auda ibu Tayi attacked the Turkish-held coastal town of Aqaba on its poorly defended eastern flank. The approach was via long and wide desert route, passing close to the edge of the Nafud. Colonel T. E. Lawrence asked Auda ibu Tayi to allow their group to stray from their course into the Nafud. Auda refused because it was unnecessary.[2] Their harsh transit did not include entering the Nafud, as is depicted in the film Lawrence of Arabia
.
The discovery of an 85,000-year-old fossilised human finger in An Nafud in 2016 by Dr Mathieu Duval of Griffith University provided the earliest evidence of modern humans outside Africa and the Levant.[3]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nafud.
- ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
- ISBN 978-0-385-41895-9.
- ^ Toumi, Habib (14 May 2018). "85,000-year-old footprints found in kingdom". Gulf News. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
