7th Grade Project

Four Main Environments of the Arabian Peninsula

Desert
The desert cover about three quarters of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert contains vast seas of sand,plains, and plateaus which are a raised area of land. The environment of a desert is hot and dry. Summer temperatures can rise above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter and nighttime temperatures can drop to below freezing. The If there is rainfall it does not rain more than three to four inches and droughts can last for years. When the rain comes it usually fall violently and sometimes causing flash floods. The desert also has sandstorms with powerful winds causing blinding sandstorms. The wind sometimes can create sand dunes that can rise eight-hundred feet into the sky. To adapt to the desert people were nomads, which is a person who moves from place to place usually searching for water and vegetation. The Arab nomads were called Bedouins, they migrated through the desert raising animals such as sheep, goats, and camels. Bedouins found a place for their herds of animals to drink and eat and they set up tents. They would move when the animals had eaten most of the vegetation. Another way people had adapted to the desert is they would use camels as transportation. People would use camels because they can survive on a desert days without water, food, and they could carry heavy supplies for long distances. People would also would wear loose fitting long clothing and cotton headdresses to protect them from dust, flies, and heat. People got a lot from their herds of animal as well including milk used to drink and make food, wool used for clothing and blankets, and they traded their animal supplies with merchants from the towns.

The Oases

The desert is covered with sections of the oases which are areas where fresh water is available and they provide plant life and shade. Oases happen in areas where water has be captured under the ground. The water goes up yo the surface as a waterhole or spring. On the wet fertile land the plant life sprouts up. Oases can rang from a couple acres to a large area. For many years nomads would travel from or to oases searching for water and vegetation. The finally realized that they could grow crops so they decided to become which is permanently settled in one place. They obtained more water for their crops by digging deep wells into the ground. People who lived on oases grew many fruits like dates, peaches and grains. The date became a valuable resource because it provided food. A lot of towns developed around the oases and became trading towns. Many farmers sedentary bartered which is another word for trade. They bartered their crops for the nomads milk, meat, and camel hair.

The Coastal Plains

Arabia's coastal plain goes along the peninsula. The coatal plain goes from five-forty miles inland and ends at an area with lots of rocky cliffs. The air is moist and rain usually falls. There are lots of riverbeds that cut through and sometimes are filled with water. There are also some natural harbors. The coastal plain is suitable for farming. People would build dams, deep wells, and used the irrigation system to bring water to dry spots to grow crops. They conserved rainwater in canals and reservoirs.  Most people were farmers in the sixth century and they would grow drops like grains fruits and vegetables. They also collected fragrant tree sap to make myrrh and frankincense whick the Europeans would use as perfumes and medicines. Traders were also on the costal plains. They would send their goods by caravans to towns like Mecca or seaports. People of the costal plain traded with merchants from places like India, East Africa, and some lands along the Red Sea and the Perain Gulf. The combonation of trade and farming led to the rise of the powerful kingdoms in southern Arabia in ancient times.

The Mountains

Along the western and southern edge Indian s of the peninsula is where Arabia's largest mountain ranges run along. They  divide the coastal plain from the desert. Arabia's mountains ranges one-thousand to twelve-thousand feet high. The mountains have very different climates. Their are moist winds that come from the Ocean bring as much as twenty inches of rain each year. Dry riverbeds cut down the sides of the mountains and fill with water during rainstorms. For thousands of years people have lived in Arabia's mountains. The mountain dwellers lived in houses made of mud brick in the sixth century and people in our region still live in this dwelling today. People farmed on the steep slopes by creating terraces which are a flat strip of ground on a hillside used for growing crops. They most likely made terraces by building a low stone wall around a narrow strip of land. Terrance enlarged the space that was usable for farming. Terrace walls also conserved water by keeping the water from running off the fields. Also farmers constructed dams and irrigation systems. They stored extra water in underground storage containers, hollowed  out trees, and leather bags. Farmers in the mountains relied on many different crops like melons and pomegranates. They also grew trees to produce frankincense and myrrh. They probably used some manure and ashes from cooking fires to fertilize the soil.