When the word "oasis" is whispered to me, the first thing that comes to mind is the song "Wonderwall" by the British group Oasis [1]. But let's get to the oasis itself. It's interesting what ideas we in Europe or North America have about an oasis; they're just as absurd as our ideas about a South Sea island. Oases in Saudi Arabia, for example, are large areas with palm groves. They arose because water was permanently available there. Jubbah (جبة) is one of these oases. It lies about 90 km northwest of Ha'il (حائل) [2]. Surrounding the oasis is the Nefud (النفود), an extensive desert. Jubbah has a population of about 5,500 to 6,000. Around the oasis, you'll find many circles on Google Maps, for example, because they cultivate crops like alfalfa, grass, and grain there using irrigation systems. You can also see greenhouses.
Dates:
Dates:
Well:
Museum:
I remember Jubbah as a very informative visit to a date palm grove with a museum and a hand-operated well (powered by two camels). I also tried different types of dates there, including date syrup and sheep butter. I had eaten yak butter before, but never sheep butter. Why not camel butter, since camels are also milked? That question only came up later.
Links and no Annotations:
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx1Bh8ZvH84
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubbah,_Saudi_Arabia
.
No comments:
Post a Comment