Jubbah ( ar, جبة) or Jubbat Ha'il ( ar, جبة حائل, ''Jubbah of Ha'il'') is a city in Ha'il Region,

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 ...

, north-west of the city of Ha'il. The city lies on the old caravan road between Najd and the eastern

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. Although completely surrounded by the vast Nefud Desert, Jubbah is known for its abundant agriculture and plentiful water and has a population of 20,000. Jubbah lies on an ancient lake bed (

paleolake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

) that measures at least 20 km by 4 km with its full extent concealed beneath wind-swept sand on its northern, southern and eastern boundaries. The exposed part of the paleolake lies downwind of the mountain of Jebel Umm Sanman to the west, which has diverted the westerly flow of sand around it, leaving a sand-free depression that filled with water during past humid periods. Several archaeological sites of human settlement from the Middle Paleolithic period were found around the margin of the paleolake. Stone artifacts found at these sites are pertinent to ongoing debates about the timing, nature and routes of Late Pleistocene human migrations. Jubbah is surrounded by large sandstone outcrops that are filled with ancient

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

and inscriptions on the rock face. Especially at Jebel Umm Sanman, which is designated a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

along with other locations of Rock Art in the Ha'il Region. Some of these rock carvings show men wearing headgear, birds, monkeys,

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...

s, and two animals pulling a wheeled cart. Jubbah was visited by

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

orientalist and explorer Georg August Wallin in 1845. Wallin described spacious mud houses, each house having an attached grove and a water well, where camels were used to pull the water. The town had 170 houses, all of them from Al Ramal clan of the

Shammar The tribe of Shammar ( ar, شَمَّر, Šammar) is a tribal Arab Qahtan confederation, descended from the Yemeni tribe of Tayy as they originated in Yemen before migrating into present day Saudi Arabia, It is the biggest branch of Tayy tribe. I ...

tribe. They looked pale and skinny, and lived a similar life to

Bedouins The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...

, although they were settled in permanent houses. The town was frequented by many bedouins especially during the

date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...

season (although Wallin thought their dates were not as good as those in Al Jawf and

Tayma Tayma (Taymanitic: , vocalized as: ; ar, تيماء, translit=Taymāʾ) or Tema Teman/Tyeman (Habakkuk 3:3) is a large oasis with a long history of settlement, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia at the point where the trade route between Me ...

), but also for its fertile grazing lands.

References

Populated places in Ha'il Province {{SaudiArabia-geo-stub