The desert means the vast land with vegetation and uninhabited. But in the heart of this desert, you can see the many oases. Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia is among them.
If there is a source of fresh water somewhere in the heart of the vast desert, green plants can grow around it. As a result, this oasis can become a life-giving refuge for the Bedouins during long desert journeys.
People can build towns around this oasis, and trade and commerce can expand. One such oasis is the magnificent Al-Ahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia.
Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia
The oasis is only 60 kilometers from the shores of the Persian Gulf. Due to the oasis, the entire Al-Ahsa district has become the greenest and most fertile district in Saudi Arabia.
Where most oasis has a size ranging from a few thousand square meters to a few hectares, al-Ahsa covers an area of about 75 square kilometers.
Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia, located 360 kilometers from the capital Riyadh, is located in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
The administrative area of this oasis takes its name as the oasis – Mohafazat Al-Ahsa, or Al-Ahsa Governor’s Office.
The word ‘ahsa’ is the plural of the Arabic word ‘hasa’. The word smile refers to a special kind of geo-natural phenomenon.
Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia has a vast expanse alone and about 2.5 to 3 million date palms. These date palms created an exceptional beauty in the heart of this Arabian desert.
In the heart of the vast desert, hard, impermeable rock layers can form for millions of years.
It lies deep in the crust of the earth, and it has a layer of ordinary sand on its surface.
When it rains in these places, rainwater penetrates the upper sand layer and accumulates below. As the lower rock layer is impermeable, this stored water does not lose in deep.
Again, since there is a layer of sand on top, it does not become dry in the sun. As a result, huge reservoirs took formation between the two.
This water can be removed by placing wells in other places. The relationship between human civilization and the source of potable water is inseparable.
Due to the plenty of fresh water in the interior of the desert, Al-Ahsa has also been home to several human traces from prehistoric times.
There is no doubt that Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia is one of the oldest settlements on the Arabian Peninsula. There is evidence that this region had a connection with the ancient Levant.
It also had a connection with the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. long before the advent of Islam. Due to enough fresh water, an agrarian society developed its settlements in the vicinity of Al-Ahsa.
People of the region learned to produce various crops by digging canals and providing irrigation. The archaeological evidence suggests it.
Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia is the only place in the Arabian Peninsula where rice was grown. From ancient times the merchants used Al-Ahsa as a stopover.
This land was a regular route for caravans carrying various goods, including pepper and incense. As a result, the city of Al-Ahsa began to prosper.
Apart from farming, the people here were skilled in various handicrafts, including weaving and sewing. Al-Ahsa is estimated to have had a population of about 100,000 around 1000 AD.
It was the ninth-largest city in the world at that time. When water sources are found somewhere in the heart of the desert, plants start growing there.
At first, of course, there is only water. But when the birds feel the presence of water while flying in the distant sky, they come down to the oasis.
And through the birds, various seeds spread around the water source. As the soil is fertile, plants grow from those seeds, and the oasis becomes a green forest.
Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia also has a vast forest cover of at least 10,000 hectares. Besides 25 to 30 lakh date palm trees in these forests, there are various varieties of grain and fruit trees.
Al-Ahsa’s date orchards produce at least 5 tons of dates a day. Al-Ahsa is famous as the birthplace of some of the most delicious varieties of dates, including Khalas dates.
The people of Al-Ahsa depend on its many natural springs for agriculture. There are at least 65 such fountains in Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia.
These are not only freshwater springs but also include warm water springs. Some of which sometimes reach temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius.
The most famous of these is the Ainzum spring. Its warm water is rich in sulfur. People believe it to be able to cure various diseases.
Al-Ahsa’s groundwater is 500 to 600 feet deep. They flow about 40-50 meters above the surface in some places, and water is extractable by the motor.
The largest springs in Ahsar can carry an average of 20,000 gallons of water per minute. All the fountains work as a container of one and a half million gallons of water per minute.
The water rises to the surface and creates springs and lakes in many places. It is not only these lakes that get water from the surrounding springs. These attract tourists from home and abroad.
People come here to eat or bathe in the forest. They also come to enjoy the natural scenery. There are also bathrooms for women at many places near these lakes and fountains.
Not only a tourist destination, but Al-Ahsa is also one of the most important ports and commercial cities in Saudi Arabia.
The Ahsa district began to prosper after the discovery of oil in the nearby town of Dammam in the 1930s. The Al-Gawar oil field, the world’s largest oil field, is located in the Ahsa district.
Authority extracts about four and a quarter-million barrels of oil per day from this oil field. Located on the shores of the Persian Gulf, al-Ahsa has long remained acquainted as the “gateway to Arabia.”
In the early days of Islam, every caravan of pilgrims from the southeastern regions of Arabia used to pass through Al-Ahsa towards Mecca.
It was the main transit between travel to Yemen and Iraq for a long time. The area is still one of the main routes from Saudi Arabia to neighboring UAE, Qatar, and Oman.
Conclusion
Al Ahsa Oasis Saudi Arabia is famous not only as an oasis but also as a symbol of the ancient city. Much of its rich historical and archeological remains are still intact.
Ancient mosques, forts, wells, canals, and irrigation systems in various parts of the oasis-centric cities. It still bears witness to its thousands of years of history, culture, and civilization.
In 2018, UNESCO recognized Al-Ahsa as a World Heritage Site. According to the UNESCO website, al-Ahsa is an exceptional example of nature’s interaction with humans.