Ḥarrat al-Shām
Black Desert | |
---|---|
![]() Location within the Levant of the wider volcanic province it is part of | |
Coordinates: 32°37′53″N 36°45′52″E / 32.63139°N 36.76444°E | |
Part of | Syrian Desert |
Offshore water bodies | |
Age | Oligocene, Neogene, Quaternary |
Geology | Basaltic volcanic field |
Volcanic field | Harrat Ash Shaam Volcanic Province (HASV) |
The Ḥarrat al-Shām (Arabic: حَرَّة ٱلشَّام),[1][nb 1] also known as the Black Desert,[2] is a region of rocky, basaltic desert straddling southern Syria and the northern Arabian Peninsula. It covers an area of some 40,000 km2 (15,000 sq mi)[citation needed] in the modern-day Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Vegetation is characteristically open acacia shrubland with patches of juniper at higher altitudes.[3]
The Harrat has been occupied by humans since at least the Late Epipalaeolithic period (c. 12,500–9500 BCE).[4] One of the earliest known sites is Shubayqa 1 (occupied c. 12,600–10,000 BCE),[4][5] where archaeologists have discovered the remains of the oldest known bread.[6]
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