Central Riyadh

Below are some pictures in central Riyadh to give perspective.

Above is the main square known as "chop-chop square" outside the central Mosque not far from the old fort and seat of power for the tribal groups that controlled the Riyadh area. Under Sharia law sentences are carried out in public, which is often in the central area of a city like above. In this particular square there are multiple jets of water in a 15 meter square that will shot up fountains of water to wash away any blood from a public execution. If westerners happen to be in the area they are often escorted to the front of the crowd that would gather to have a very close and up front view of these events, which usually took place on Friday, the day of worship for the Muslims.




This is the central fort which is well maintained and the original seat of power for Saud family when King Abdulaziz recaptured the city and began his rise of conquest uniting most of the tribal groups on the Arabian Peninsula during a period from 1902 to 1936. Conquest took many forms: sending in his Wahabi warriors or through marriage. Given that King Abdulaziz could have upto four wives at any given time, he was able to unit the major tribal groups and use his warriors to subdue the smaller tribes. As oil revenues started to roll in during the mid to late 1930's, King Abdulaziz had the means to secure the loyalty of the tribes by offering financial support, which largely ended the raids of one tribe against another tribe to take camels, horse and other goods, which were the measure of wealth among the tribes.

King Abdulaziz is held in the highest regard and revered as the founder of the modern nation of Saudi Arabia. His picture is everywhere. His sons have succeeded him in the monarchy and head up the key administrative posts in the government while his grandsons head up the ministries posts.





Above is the old city gate, which is also in good repair and opened on special occasions. The Direh shopping area with many quaint old shops in central Riyadh and of course the gold sooq start just behind this gate along the very narrow street and even narrower side streets. As one passes by these many shops on both the left and right you would soon come to the central fort and continuing on pass more shops you come to Clock Tower and "chop-chop square".

A New Sport in Our Future

Here is an aerial view of our home, the one just above the home under construction in the middle of this picture. At this time we had not landscaping in our backyard nor a fence between our home and our neighbors home. Our home faces north and the backyard faces south. There is a large open field to the east of our home where over 350 homes are slated to be built in the next 5 years. Pictured is almost 1/3 of our ward boundary area.


These wonderful machines were buzzing around the skys in and over the sod farms to the south of our home one day when we decided to check them out. We soon were invited to take a 20-25 minute ride with an instructor and learn firsthand the joy and exhilaration these pilots feel slowly flying around Cedar Valley with its light air currents and vast sod areas on which to take off and land by permission of the owner. A group of affectionatos regularly fly nearly twice monthly in this area and come from as far away as Bountiful to the north and Provo to the south. There are so many wide open spaces, which make this area an attraction for these fryers.

A New Sport

Some people will do just about anything to enjoy a free ride on one of the ships of the desert. While out searching through the wadis for the trail to the Mountain of the Lord, Mt. Horeb, by another name, we came upon some Bedouin young men riding along with their camels. This is back in 2004.
We stopped. They offered to show us their camels and offered rides. Marie was up on this steed and Mick is in the background ready to capture pictures from a different angle. The boys enjoyed talking with us and seeing us ride their fine animals. Marie is sitting in the normal style and enjoyed all the attention from all of us in our party of 10. One by one the women in our group were up and riding about.

Where it all began in 1902

Marie is holding one of her favorite knitting magazines while wearing the traditional abaya next to the small door entrance leading into the much larger gate of the Mamlak Fort in the center of Riyadh. A spear tip is still in the door where she is pointing, the remains of a spear thrown by soon to be King Abdulazziz bin Saud who upon capturing the fort reclaimed his family's honor and led to the unification of the Arab/Bedouin tribes under one ruler. This was the beginning point of the modern country of Saudi Arabia. A museum now occupies the fort with tours offered in many languages today. A city approaching 5 million has grown up around this central feature in its history. By the way, this picture appeared in a later issue of the knitting magazine Marie is holding.

We pass by this fort each time we come to the gold sooq and the quaint older shopping area of central Riyadh. This is one of our fun areas to take new visitors and acquaintances to browse through the shops in the old quarters of Riyadh.

A Desert Update

These fine animals has strayed from their enclosure and have wandered right up to the guard railing seeking forage. Both camels have young ones and have much milk to give; some for their young and some for the camel herder to whom they belong. As you may have learned, a camel has four teets and a close look will show that their owner has tied up, basically covered up, two teets to ensure he has milk for him and his family. Milk is one of the Bedouin's staples. From it they will make a rich cheese, which add to their spares diet. I came around the bend in the main highway and stopped to take this an other pictures. What happened after I left know one knows? You don't want to hit one of these animals in your car for no only will the damage be great but you may still be required to pay the camel herder for the animal as well under local law.


On the left you will see the camel sooq which stretches on for several kilometers to the east of Riyadh, which one passes along side the main highway leading to Dammam. The local Bedouin now resorts to using his trusty little white pickup for family and to care for his animals, which provide a living for him and a continued connection to the land of his birth and his heritage. The two camels in the first picture wandered from one of these enclosures.

Above you experience real desert country where sand runs in wide swaths across the landscape for kilometers with hardly a bush let alone a tree in sight. The eastern part of Saudi Arabia has little mountainous terrain is is generally wide open rolling red sand dune country as you see in this picture along side highway M 80 heading from Riyadh to Dammam / Al Khobar on the eastern seashore adjacent to the island kingdom of Bahrain. Among the sands one can find million and million year old shark teeth from at least 4 different shark varieties. In the space of and hour, one can easily sift out 30 to 50 shark teeth, which gives you a sense of how many of these great fish of the sea swam in the waters that once covered most of this country.