Wind and sand create majestic dunes that are constant but ever-changing in Rub Al Khali. They move across the deserts, sing to the wind and inspire the creativity. Shaped by the wind and colored by minerals and lately crude oil, an expanse of sensuous sand dunes appears in the cradle of Rub Al Khali as if a creative artist is lovingly at work. Some dunes form star and crescent shapes, some march forward, some ‘smoke’ in the wind and others sing and dance. The dune-sea is as evocative, splendid, spellbinding and exciting as it changes the very perception of any man about nature, if he or she steps into the Rub Al Khali.
Taking up a fifth of the Arabian Peninsula, the Rub Al Khali (literally, “quarter of emptiness”), or the Sands for short, is the world’s largest sand sea. At more than 650,000  square kilometers, it takes in substantial portions of Saudi Arabia, as well as parts of Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates to create an arid wilderness larger than France, Belgium and Holland combined.
 It holds roughly half as much sand as the Sahara, which is 15 times the Empty Quarter’s size but composed mostly of graveled plains and rocky outcrops. Sand and only sand for thousands of kilometers extending over four nations, Rub A Khali or the Empty Quarter is the world’s largest sand desert. Uninhabited one may think but the Bedu tribes have survived on the edge since before recorded time.
 Sand dunes reach as high as 250 meters, while billions of glittering stars light up its night sky – a feat hikers and campers, locals and expats, don’t like to miss. Formidable conditions – extremely high temperature and dry as a bone – have kept travelers and settlers far away. But, the lakes of the Rub Al Khali, that existed long ago, may be called nature’s ultimate mirage. That they once slaked the thirst of man and beast - including hippopotamus, water buffalo and long-horned cattle - seems certain. This is proved by the archeologists. The long-ago presence of hippos is attested by finds of their fossilized teeth, so pristine they might have been lost just yesterday. In fact, evidence suggests that the lakes were home to a variety of flora and fauna. Fossil remains indicate the presence of several animal species, such as hippopotamus, water buffalo, and long-horned cattle. The lakes also contained small snails, ostracods, and when conditions were suitable, freshwater clams.
Not only this, deposits of calcium carbonate and opal phytoliths indicate the presence of plants and algae in ancient days. There is also evidence of human activity dating from 3,000 to 2,000 years ago, including chipped flint tools, but no actual human remains have been found in Rub Al Khali so far. The fossilized bones of water buffalo and long-horned cattle, as well as of wild asses, wild goats or sheep, oryx, gazelle, and possibly camels and hartebeest, have all also been found in the petrified lake mud.
Clam shells are in evidence, too, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest modern coast. Chipped-stone tools are scattered in the vicinity. But today, giant dunes as high as 250 meters (800 feet), not pools of water, are the hallmark of the world’s largest continuous body of sand. To say this place was once luscious green, with lakes and ponds and springs, chirping birds, grazing deer, sleeping water buffaloes, and of course devouring humans would be an unaccepted history, a madman’s dream, and a creative myth. Yet it’s all true – facts are stranger than fiction.
Much has been written about this Quarter by experts have conflicting opinions about what remains are found or will be discovered now on. Archeologists and geologists have found remains of thousands of lakes in two periods: between 37,000 and 17,000 years ago and between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago. The mission, the hard work, and the use of technology by scientists to uncover details have all been documented in chronology.
Moreover, the people who inhabited a part of the area need more focus. Who were they and what happened to them? The National Geographic reports: “In 1932 Bertram Thomas recorded Bedouin tales of a fabled trading city that disappeared beneath the sands of the Empty Quarter, beginning a love affair between Western explorers and the ancient city of Ubar. According to myth, Ubar was a sumptuously rich city, grown fat from the frankincense trade. Said to have been destroyed as punishment for its inhabitants’ impiety, the city remained elusive for centuries. The question is as how much of a myth are these stories of Muslim Bedus? The people of Aad lived in an area between Yemen and Oman. Iram “refers to the House of the kingdom of Aad” as mentioned by early scholars like Qatadah and As-Suddi. The National Geographic article continues: “It wasn’t until 1992, after decades of fruitless exploration, that scientists finally made headway. Using space-based radar imagery, they detected ancient caravan tracks that converged near modern-day Shisr in southwest Oman. Hence, there is compelling evidence to suggest that this was indeed the fabled city of Ubar or what is called the center of Rub Al Khali today. The Rub Al Khali today is the largest sand desert in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, including most of Saudi Arabia and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Geologically, the Empty Quarter is the most oil-rich site in the world. Vast oil reserves have been discovered underneath the sand dunes and forecasts of further finds have been made. Sheyba, at the northeastern edge of the Rub Al Khali, is a major Arab light crude oil-producing site in Saudi Arabia. Ghawar, the largest oil field in the world, extends southward into the northernmost parts of the Empty Quarter. Hence, Rub Al Khali is not empty today. It is a treasure house for wealth and nature, that went unnoticed by our ancestors in Saudi Arabia. Thanks to the efforts of the Saudi government that they have managed to discover the wealth that lies under the sand dunes of this beautiful desert.

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