simple facts
Where is it? Juba in the Nahd desert of Saudi Arabia [28.01186939, 40.95907106]
What is in the photo? An oasis town full of crop circles along the desert mountains
Who took the photo? Unidentified astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS)
When was the photo taken? November 26, 2020
This interesting astronaut photo shows an oasis town and crop circle lurking in the shadowy tail of the “camel’s hump” mountain in the harsh desert of Saudi Arabia. This unlikely settlement lies on the bed of an ancient lake and contains rock art that is thousands of years old.
Jubah lies within a bowl-shaped depression that is the remains of an ancient lake, or lake, approximately 20 km (12.5 miles) long and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide. As a result, parts of the town sit “hundreds of feet” below the surrounding ocean of dunes, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
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At the western end of the ancient lake is a 4,144-foot (1,264-meter) mountain called Jabal Umm Shinman (meaning “Mountain with Two Camel’s Humps”) because from the ground it “resembles a camel with two humps on the ground,” according to Visit Saudi.
According to the Earth Observatory, the prevailing winds in the region blow from west to east (left to right in the image), meaning that Jabal Umm Shinman creates a “wind shadow” that protects much of Juba from sand blown through the desert.
Before the Arabian Peninsula turned into a desert, Lake Juba was one of several sources of fresh water in the region. Most of these sites had dried up by about 5,000 years ago. However, Lake Juba may have lasted longer thanks to the underground aquifer that continues to supply water to the town.
This likely made the lake a popular landmark for prehistoric humans wandering the desert long before the town was formed. If you look closely at the image, you can see a faint trail (above Juba), which, according to the Earth Observatory, likely matches the trail used by these early travelers.
These people also left their mark, carving symbols and pictures into the rocks of the hills surrounding Jabal Umm Shinman. In total, there are approximately 5,500 inscriptions and 2,000 animal depictions, including depictions of ibex, leopards, ostriches, dogs on leashes, and more than 1,000 camels.
This massive rock art dates back at least 10,000 years and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with two other archaeological sites near Shuwaymis.
Saudi Arabia is an archaeological hotspot where rock art and other Paleolithic structures are unearthed. For example, Juba is about 155 miles (250 km) northeast of the famous Al Nasra Rock. The rock is a gigantic sandstone slab covered in prehistoric carvings and mysteriously split completely into two.
Recent research into giant 8,000-year-old “kite” structures in the area suggests the carvings may be blueprints for the world’s oldest megastructures.
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