The Hijaz Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ٱلْحِجَاز, Jibāl al-Ḥijāz ()) or "Hejaz Range" is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

located in the

Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...

i region of western

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The range runs north and south along the eastern coast of the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

, and can thus be treated as including the

Midian Mountains Midian (; he, מִדְיָן ''Mīḏyān'' ; ar, مَدْيَن, Madyan; grc-gre, Μαδιάμ, ''Madiam'') is a geographical place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Ar ...

, and being part of the Sarawat Mountains, broadly speaking.

Geography

The western coastal escarpment of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

is composed of two mountain ranges, the Hijaz Mountain to the north and the

Asir Mountains The Asir Mountains ( ar, جِبَال عَسِيْر, '; (' Difficult')) is a mountainous region in southwestern Saudi Arabia running parallel to the Red Sea. It comprises areas in the Asir Region of Saudi Arabia, however it also generally inc ...

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

, leaving the narrow coastal plain of

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ar, تِهَامَةُ ') refers to the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for ' sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in m ...

. The eastern slopes are not as steep, allowing rare rainfall to help create oasis around the springs and wells of the few

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

River or ''wadi''

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 In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

. This is a component in the research of Juris Zarins that locates the Garden of Eden at the northern tip of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

near

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. The course of the now dried up river, the modern-day

Wadi Al-Rummah Wadi Al-Rummah or ar-Rummah (ar: وادي الرمة) is one of the Arabian Peninsula's longest river valleys, at a length of almost . Now mostly dry and partly blocked by encroaching sand dunes, the wadi arises near Medina at Jibāl al Abyaḑ ( ...

and its extension Wadi Al-Batin, was identified by

Farouk El-Baz Farouk El-Baz ( arz, فاروق الباز, ''Pronunciation'': ) (born January 2, 1938) is an Egyptian American space scientist and geologist, who worked with NASA in the scientific exploration of the Moon and the planning of the Apollo program. ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and named the 'Kuwait River.' This tracks northeast across the Saudi desert for , following ''

Wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

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

The

Arabian leopard The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive i ...

had been sighted here. In

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

times, it was reported that Musa al-Kadhim, a descendant of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

, encountered a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

in the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

north of

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

Hamadryas baboon The hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'' ) is a species of baboon within the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern region of the Arabian Peninsula. These re ...

s can be seen near settlements, like those of

Al Hada Al-Hadā ( ar, ٱلْهَدَا, lit=The Tranquility) mountain resort city is a city in Makkah Province, in western Saudi Arabia near Ta'if. Having many five star hotels and theme Parks, it is attractive for tourists.National Geospatial-Intellige ...

and Al-Shafa near

Ta'if Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...

Mining

This region includes the district of '' Mahd adh-Dhahab'' ("Cradle of the Gold"), between

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

and Medina. It is the only known Arabian source for workable quantities of gold.

Gallery

File:ذو عين 2.jpg, Dhu 'Ain in the area of Al-Bahah File:Baharoad.jpg, A road in the mountains between

Al Bahah Al Bahah ( ar, ٱلْبَاحَة, ') is a city in the Hejazi area of western Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Al Bahah Region, and is one of the Kingdom's prime tourist attractions. It enjoys a pleasant climate and is surrounded by more than ...

and Al-Mikhwah File:Jabal-e-Rehmat (Mount Arafat).jpg, Pilgrims supplicating on the Mount of Mercy in Arafat during '' Ḥajj'' (the Greater

Islamic Pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

) File:HAC 2010 MEKKE NUR DAGINA BAKIS - panoramio (1).jpg, ''

Jabal al-Nour Jabal an-Nour ( ar, جَبَل ٱلنُّوْر, Jabal an-Nūr, lit=Mountain of the Light or 'Hill of the Illumination') is a mountain near Mecca in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. The mountain houses the grotto or cave of Hira' ( ar, غَار ...

'' ("Mount of Light") near Makkah, associated with Muhammad File:جبل أحد.jpg,

Mount Uhud Mount Uhud ( ar, جَبَل أُحُد, Jabal Uḥud) is a mountain north of Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is high and 7.5 km long. It was the site of the second battle between Muslim and unbelievers. The Battle of Uhud was fought on 19 March, 625 ...

in the area of

h File:Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih)-114607.jpg, Structures carved into rock at ''

Mada'in Saleh Hegra ( grc, Ἕγρα), known to Muslims as Al-Hijr (), also known as Mada’in Salih ( ar, مَدَائِن صَالِح, madāʼin Ṣāliḥ, lit=Cities of Salih), is an archaeological site located in the area of Al-'Ula within Medina Provin ...

'' ("Cities of Saleh") near Al-'Ula

References

External links

Hijaz Mountains
(

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)
Lightning Clouds on Makkah-Madinah Al Hijaz Mountains Highway.10.04.2012

Hijaz mountains – Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering
{{Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula Mountain ranges of Saudi Arabia Hejaz