Harrat ar-Rahah Kite Chain (Tabuk Highlands)
Uwayrid-Rahah Lava Kites · Northwest Hijaz Kite Belt
Early Holocene moist phase (Neolithic)·Hijaz Neolithic lava-field hunters·🇸🇦 Tabuk Region, Harrat ar-Rahah / al-Uwayrid lava field, Saudi Arabia
About
About Harrat ar-Rahah Kite Chain (Tabuk Highlands)
Volcanic-field kites (1,100 m, 27°24′N 37°16′E) of the Harrat ar-Rahah-'Uwayrid cluster (Global Volcanism Program 27.408N 37.279E, 1700 m cluster). Unlike eastern Harrat al-Harrah kites, here basalt flow lobes create natural funnels reused; 15 kites 80-380 m with walls on 1600 m volcanic crater rims, altitude highest among Saudi kites. Walls 0.45 m basalt scoria; petroglyphs of horned bovids at kite apices suggest cult linkage. Temperature drop supports juniper pockets; hunt target ibex, not gazelle. Oxford Badia model predicts 600 km migration corridor ends here at Hijaz mountains.
Why it mattersHighest and most westerly Saudi lava kite field, ibex-specific.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ibex vs gazelle specialization
Theories
- 01Lava lobe reuse model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.7000-5200 BCE
- Period
- Early Holocene moist phase (Neolithic)
- Culture
- Hijaz Neolithic lava-field hunters
- Builders
- Harrat Rahah hunters
- Purpose
- Ibex cliff drive in lava crater
- Abandoned
- c.5200 BCE (aridification)
- Rediscovered
- 2022 satellite mapping Harrat cluster
- Excavation
- Unexcavated
2022
Harrat Rahah 15-kite satellite mapping
2023
Bovid petroglyph at apex recorded
On the ground
Structures & features
27.4100° N · 37.2800° E · 1100 m · 2 mapped features
Harrat Rahah Crater Kite 07
desert kite380-m lava-lobe wall to 22-m crater pit
27.4120° N · 37.2820° EUwayrid Bovid Apex Petroglyph Wall
desert kite80-m apex wall with horned bovid engraving
27.4080° N · 37.2780° E