Wadi Rum
| Wadi Rum | ||
|---|---|---|
 Wadi Rum, Lawrence Spring |
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| location | Jordan | |
| Geographical location | 29 ° 35 ′ N , 35 ° 25 ′ E | |
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| height | 800 m | |
| length | 100 km | |
The Wadi Rum ( Arabic وادي رم, DMG Wādī Ramm ; also Wadi Ram ) is the largest wadi in Jordan . Its rock walls are made of sandstone and granite . Km² as a protected area with an area of 740, it was in the 2011 World Heritage List of UNESCO added.
geography
location
Wadi Rum is located east of the city of Akaba , south of the city of Maʿan and parallel to the Arava Depression in the west . The wadi is an area about 100 km long and 60 km wide. It lies at an altitude of about 800 m , the highest elevations being the Jabal Umm ad-Dami with 1832 m and the Jabal Ram with 1754 m .
climate
Mostly it is a rock and sand desert ; other parts are a semi-desert . When rain falls, it is only between October and March, with January being the wettest with around 50 mm of precipitation. In winter, temperatures can drop to just over 0 ° C on average at night and rise to an average of 37 ° C during the day in summer.
geology
The landscape was created about 30 million years ago. Geological faults created the Great Rift Valley , which includes the Jordan Rift , the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea in addition to Wadi Rum . The red sandstone , which stands on a base made of gray basalt or granite , was ground into the now visible bizarre shapes through erosion . Particularly noteworthy are the rock bridges over the Jabal Burdah and on Jabal Kahraz , which are about 30 km north of the village of Rum.
Due to the numerous water sources, nomadic settlement was possible since the Stone Age . The rainwater that falls in winter seeps through the porous sandstone, is held up by the water-impermeable layer of granite underneath and then escapes again at various points.
population
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Several hundred Bedouins live in the village of Wadi Rum , some in tents and some in brick houses. There is a boys 'and a girls' school, a few shops and a police station.
history
Wadi Rum has been populated by many cultures since prehistoric times. They left their traces in the form of rock drawings and temples. In antiquity, the wadi was an important trade route into the Roman Empire, which may still be indicated by today's name: Rūm was the name commonly used in the Orient for the Roman Empire . Wadi Rum became internationally known through the book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by the British officer Thomas Edward Lawrence , who was stationed here during the Arab Revolt from 1917 to 1918, and later even more through the film Lawrence of Arabia . For outdoor shots, the area was the location of the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker for three weeks in February 2019 .
economy
tourism
The Wadi Rum is one of the major tourist destinations in Jordan. Spending the night under the starry sky, riding with Arabian horses and hiking and mountaineering in the massive rock formations is popular. Mountaineers are particularly drawn to its granite and sandstone formations, while hikers enjoy the silence. These tourist activities are the main source of income for the Bedouins.
Others
The landscape has served as the backdrop for several entertainment films set on Mars or another planet, including Red Planet (2000), The Martian - Save Mark Watney (2015), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Dune (2020) .
literature
- Frank Rainer Scheck: Jordan. Peoples and cultures between the Jordan and the Red Sea. 6th edition, DuMont-Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-3979-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ weather.msn.com : Ma'an weather station
- ↑ Baedeker Jordan, p. 257, ISBN 978-3-8297-1153-1
Cultural heritage: rock necropolis and ruins of Petra (1985) | Qusair ʿAmra desert castle (1985) | Umm er-Rasas archaeological site - Kastron Mefa'a (2004) | Baptism site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” - Al-Maghtas (2015) |
Cultural / Natural Heritage: Wadi Rum Protected Area (2011)