News Archaeology

12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past

Camel engravings reveal an early human presence in a once-verdant Nefud landscape

A rock face with life-size rock art engravings of camels found in the Arabian Desert with the silhouette of a woman overlayed on the image for scale.

Engravings at Jebel Misma were made by some of the first people to enter the region more than 12,000 years ago. The engravings are highlighted in color, and the figure of a woman is superimposed at left to show their scale.

Sahout Rock Art and Archaeology Project

By Tom Metcalfe

The camels at Jebel Misma have been frozen in a march for 12,000 years.