My name is Ali bin Saleh, and I am of the Rashidi tribe of Bedouins. For countless

centuries my ancestors, like those of the Murra tribe, traveled the Rub’ Al Khali. The

desert was our home. The tribes would cover hundreds of miles in search of new watering

holes for their camels and goats. The Rub’ Al Khali is vast, covering more than 650,000

square kilometers with sand dunes that rise 100 meters and some much more. The desert

lies mostly in southeastern Saudi Arabia and takes up one-fourth of that country, but it

also extends into portions of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

Today I live in Oman in the town of Shisr. Everything is different now for my family and

me. For all of history my people lived in small, black, goat hair tents, and now we live in

houses and apartments. We always rode camels, and now we drive cars and all-terrain

vehicles. In the past Bedouin tribes earned their living from goat herding, traveling the

desert from oasis to oasis. Now we have settled in villages and towns and work for the

government or for oil or construction companies.

These changes have come fairly recently, mostly because of the discovery of oil in the

Rub’ Al Khali. The Al-Ghawar Oil Field, discovered in 1948, is one of the world’s largest

and more deposits have since been found. Workers are needed so the government has built

houses, villages, and schools to attract Bedouins and others. The jobs are good and pay

well so many Bedouins have come and settled.

However, it is because of another discovery that my family and I live in Shisr. In 1992 a

team of American archaeologists discovered the ancient city of Ubar in the nearby desert

buried under ten meters of sand. It was actually located from space using radar imaging by

the ill-fated space shuttle Challenger. I work with the archaeologists, who first found a

large fortress built in the 1st century BC. The building, erected near a large oasis, is

believed to be part of the city of Ubar.

Ubar was a major Arabian trading center. It produced and traded frankincense, a sweet smelling incense that was as valuable as gold. Frankincense was used for fragrance,

medicine, and embalming. Archaeologists believe that the residents of Ubar traded with

people from distant lands since numerous artifacts from other areas have been uncovered.

We have found pieces of Chinese porcelain, Islamic jewelry, and many kinds of coins. More

than 4000 treasures have already been unearthed.

My job is fascinating and I am happy to live in Shisr, but not all Bedouins have adjusted

as well. Many old-timers still go out into the desert each morning to spend the day with

their camels. Even the young Bedouins understand how the old men feel. The call of the

desert is strong for all of us.

Many of our women have also had a difficult time adjusting to the changes. They try to

maintain at least some of the old lifestyle. They still gather and drink coffee and chat as

they weave baskets or wool fabric. In the old days they were much busier than they are

now. They looked after the family and always had food and coffee ready for the men or any

passing visitors. They also cared for the goats which they sold at Friday markets along

with frankincense.

Bedouin life is certainly different now, but the desert itself, for the most part, remains

the same. Modern life has brought oil rigs and archaeologists to the desert but the Rub’ Al

Khali still sees no rain, the sand dunes still shift, and the palm trees still sway in the light

breezes at the oases. And the Bedouins, of course, still love the desert and long for its

beauty.