>Rub' al Khali a.k.a. "The Empty Quarter"
>largest contiguous sand desert in the world
>literally 650,000 square km (250,000 sq mi) of uninterrupted sand dunes
>dunes are up to 250 metres (820 ft) in height
>desertification has increased over time
>trade caravans crossed what is now impassable wasteland as recently as 300 AD
>traces of camel tracks, unidentifiable on the ground, still appear in satellite images
This has me itching to know what kind of archaeological goodies could be hiding here. Could rumored lost cities really be covered by centuries of sand? How do we fund digs in the region?
>>391728
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_of_the_Sands
>>391728
>>traces of camel tracks, unidentifiable on the ground, still appear in satellite images
Got a pic? sounds interesting
>>391744
Perhaps not obvious to untrained eyes like ours.
>>391741
Bothers me that the most televangelists section of that sucks is poorly formatted and mostly unsourced.
Good luck, Saudi Arabia's Wahabbism makes any sort of Archaeological work a double edge sword because the government might just turn around and blow up the area.
>>391781
you can't even get a meteorite out of any of those countries with out ending up in jail.
>fly to arabian pennsula
>find meteorite in sand
>looks like just a rock to any lay person
>try to drive rock to airport and leave
>randomly get pulled over by police for not being arab.
>police see rock
>allah ahckbar! and police chimp out
>go to prison
>judge is like TAKBIR! you are stealing property of the king.
>>391794
Egypt or Israel really need to invade it.; Preferably Egypt. Too bad the royal family is protected by the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4ULRhyZtsY
Skip to 15:00 for Empty Quarter fun
>>391728
>How do we fund digs in the region?
You don't, not so long as Wahhabism is still the rule there. Any archaeological sites in that area are better off staying buried until the political climate changes for the better.
anything that is found will probably be blown up
>wah wah wahabism
many prince of house of saud is no longer example of piety anyway. They already subvert wahabism to be docile for their own purpose.
If one of them is a nerd and someone could get his patronage, all will be well.
>>391899
too bad the religious judges have just as much power as the royal family
>>391899
The House of Saud lives in fear of an uprising. All it takes is one radical imam to get a large following.
All the oil money goes to welfare programs to keep everyone calm.
>>391950
The Saudis are the radicals.
Their cult of Wahhabism are said radical imams.
What was your source of education on this subject?
>>392046
He obviously meant radical as in revolutionary. Stop playing semantics.
>>391899
Wahhabism is the worst thing to happen to Islam. Prove me wrong.
>>391806
>Egypt invading Arabia
Only an Albanian can accomplish such a feat
>Too bad the royal family is protected by the US.
How long until they run out of oil?
>>392046
>>392060
The House of Saud knows they need to reform things economically. Which means things like letting women get education, work and drive. Yet they can not move on any of that except in baby steps. Hell they some times fall backwards. They recently banned women from flying out of the country unless their husbands have given approval in some written form.
>>392064
Easy. The Caliphate (or more importantly the importance of it) is the bigger mistake.
>>392069
>run out of oil?
don't they teach you faggots basic economics in US high schools?
>>392078
They could just meet up with the US and import more relaxed imams for Southeast Asia and the US. Gradually cut imams that were tied to the regime before and such. Then again, I'm not familiar with the exact way the imams of Saudi Arabia hold power.
The House of Saud made a pact with Wahhabi movement in the 18th century, back when the House of Saud was just a noble family and the Wahhabi movement was a puritan reformist movement in Eastern Arabia.
Using the support of that movement, the Saudis were able to seize power and establish the First Saudi State, and ever since, Wahhabi Islam and its clergy has been instrumental in the royal family's claim to legitimacy.
Oh well we know for fact that humans came from my country to Saudi Arabia for awhile to then spread around the world.
Cool info we do have stems from the Nubian Complex of Arabia Felix. No human remains yet though.
>>392131
It also helps that Britian gave the Saud family control of Mecca and Medina, and therefore control of the holiest places to the Muslim world.
>>392046
Which "saudis" are you talking about? The House of Saud already afraid of any kind jihad >>391950 They sponsored ulama that condemn takfiris (Al Qaida & IS) since 80s.
Saudi government did destroy some historical site around mecca and madina, but generally apathetic about archaeologycal finds beyond two holy cities.
>>392120
>import relaxed imams from SEA
Can't do. Salafism is what gave saudis legitimacy. Relaxed SEA (sufi) ulama network that thrived in Mecca & Madina until 18th century went underground now.
>>391921
>just as much power as the royal family
yeah hell no
>>392241
That is a 10/10 qt.
>>392196
Beta Israeli
>>392367
There was an idea to codify the law in Saudi. Some see this a a cunning plan to reform the law.
The judges told 'em to sod off.
>there are people who think the fall of the House of Saud would be a good thing
If even Syria, which it's millenian-old traditions of urbanism and it's Western-influenced politics degenerated into a tribal clusterfuck of civil war once the head honcho lost his absolute power, what do you think would happen in Saudi Arabia? Do you really think a liberal democracy (or a socialist people's republic, lol) could rise from those sands?
That part of Arabia is tribal land, it has always been so. It's actually a miracle of the universe that the Saudis have held out as long as they did so. And do you think they are so strictly religious because the royal family want it? The royal family is a bunch of drug-using, whoremonging degenerates, during the 1970s they actually tried to relax it's religious enforcement, you know what happened? A bunch of fundamentalists seized Mecca.
If the House of Saud falls, what is now "Saudi Arabia" will become such a failed state that it will make Libya and Somalia look like stable countries.
>>392196
>Iran has Imams
I thought shias didn't have them
>>392196
>Wahhabis have literally never done anything wrong.
The destruction of ancient monuments.
If there are lost cities under Saudi sand then it would be better if they stayed under. They even trash Islamic holy sites there to stop people from being seduced into idolatry. Dread to think what they'd do to pre-Islamic sites.
>>392500
Syria has some unique problems, though. For one they have ethnic and religious tensions that aren't present in Saudi Arabia, as they're more or less uniformly Bedouin and Sunni. Syria has significant Kurdish, Shia, and Christian minorities. Syria also has the problem of ISIS knocking on its door, whereas Saudi Arabia are more or less safe for now thanks to the desert separating them. I'm not saying that the Saud family collapsing would be food for the country or wouldn't lead to fundamentalist revolts, but I don't think Syria is really comparable.
Also, what the fuck is with that map? Listing Portugal, Spain, France, Venice, the Papal States, and Naples as Germanic? I know they had German kings, but that doesn't make the entire country or even the entire ruling class Germanic.
Man, I didn't realize Saudi Arabia was such a powderkeg. The world kinda sucks.
The funny thing is that a lot of Saudi Arabia's oil is under the lands inhabited by the country's 10-15% Shia minority.
If the Sauds shit the bed, you can bet top dollar that Iran will make a power grab, and if they actually succeed a huge chunk of the global oil supply will be under Iranian control.
Iran would basically become a one-country OPEC and have the world by the balls.
I always wondered what happened in Yemen and Oman. I guess they all are clustered around the coast.
There probably is some insane shit hidden under the sands from when the area was fertile. How cool would it be to find a 100,000 year old city or something.
>>393906
>Oman competent government
>Yemen incompetent government & civil wars
>>392196
>Wahhabis have literally never done anything wrong.
>>391728
How is the Sahara not contiguous?
Theres all sorts of ancient pre islamic cities in there.
The Quran is full of tales of abandoned and empty cities for a reason. Arabia has a very rich early history but Saudi covers it up.
>>392060
The right minded Muslims in "Saudi Arabia" know that everything the Saudi establishment does is un-Islamic, that the "Muslim kingdom" is merely a thin veneer to deceive the (literal) peasants. Even the basic premises of Aristocracy and Monarchy are strictly haram.
There will be an uprising soon, because many citizens know that the Saudis are no good, and the Houthi's are advancing from Yemen. You don't see it on Western news, however.
>>392078
The establishment that offers luxury cars to pilots bombing Yemen doesn't seem to have much of a care for economic reform. Oil income is a given according to them.
>>392241
Saudis are the family, "their" subjects are Hejazis and Najdis.
>They sponsored ulama that condemn takfiris (Al Qaida & IS) since 80s.
There is evidence that they support Daesh in several countries around the world, but especially in Yemen where they act as the Saudi irregulars.
Wahhabism is their shared creed, they propagate exactly the same teachings as the takfiris. They are the takfiris.
>>394159
>yfw you were the takfiris all along
There are probably a bunch of Nabataean cities and Pre-Yemenite cities (or however you call the south arabian cultures) buried under there. I imagine Iram of the Pillars could actually exist.
>>394258
al qaeda might be Qutbi but daesh is wahabi m8
>>394258
>Are those your monuments? why do Americans think it's any of their business when they're destroying thousands of monuments too?
1. You're assuming I'm American
2. There's a clear difference between thousand year old structures and artefacts that are rare due to the pressure of time, and 300-year old country houses which are relatively numerous.
3. Since when do Americans destroy thousands of their own monuments? If you mean accidental destruction caused by bombings and such, that's just collateral damage. There's a difference between that and blowing up some ancient holy site just for the sake of destroying it.
>>394258
Humanity's collective cultural heritage etc.
Basically, if your culture did not build them, you have no right to destroy them. They're not "yours" simply because you happen to occupy the same geographical area as the culture that built them did. Not that it's particularly commendable to destroy your own monuments either.
>>392500
>eastern hemisphere
>includes parts of the western hemisphere
>>394258
>Are those your monuments?
Did ISIS build Palmyra?
>>393490
There are definitely religious and cultural tensions in Saudi Arabia. Shi'as are heavily repressed and there are significant cultural differences between Hedjaz and Najd.
>>391728
Most of it in Saudi land and Saudi family are Wahhabis who fucking hate history with a passion.
Keeping in mind they have no regard for Islamic history, what makes you think they will allow expeditions that dig up pre-Islamic history?
>>394274
Daesh is Qutubi too. Iran made them so they could take over the Persian gulf without anyone complaining
>>394281
>Destroying 2 thousand year old indian cities
The Saudis are just making room for renovation. Arabia has millions of monuments
>>394307
That's one of the dumbest tautologies I've ever heard.
>>392064
Not the worst thing, but definitely the most destructive ideology for Islam in the long term.
>>394407
>Daesh is Qutubi too. Iran made them so they could take over the Persian gulf without anyone complaining
>Iran support Sunni militants
>arguing with a Saudi
Just why.
>>394407
How many Saudi notes do you get for posting this tripe?
If you don't want jahannam, renounce the Saudi family. Their army is getting absolutely wrecked in Yemen and southern Hejaz.
I can post proof if you so wish.
>>394407
This has to be some major fucking b8
>>394439
Please do, I would love to see Saudis getting BTFO
>>392069
IMF says they're going bankrupt in five years - and not even from depleted reserves, just overspending and low oil prices.
>>391773
Those are probably better described as camel trails than camel tracks.
>>392120
Its the opposite. They are exporting Wahhabi imams to places like Pakistan coupled with economic aid.
>>392677
Shias has 12 Imams that are the 12 holy figure of Ali and his descendants. But it's true, in Iran clerics are not normally called Imam. The only cleric called Imam apart from the 12 is Khomeini.
>>394411
Yeah thats pretty retarded told like that, but he's right, Iran financed iraqi shias milicias, which fed sectarian war in Iraq and turned Iraqi sunnis to IS
>>392500
not it would go back to a tribal society with hopeful major reduction in world wide influence
>>394114
they have done EVERYTHING wrong they are the reason fundamentalist Islam is such a fucking problem
>>395118
>Isis and Al-Qaueda has nothing to do with Salafis.
>>392064
I would say that the Sunni/Shi'a split might edge it out in terms of long term negative effects but yeah, Wahabism sucks.
>>391849
>You don't, not so long as Wahhabism is still the rule there.
How do we wean them off it without plunging the whole peninsula into instability with regime change?
>lost cities in the Arabian desert
Sure m8. Stop reading Lovecraft.
>>394411
>Iran wouldn't support Sunni militants
They benefit from instability in that region.
What makes you think that they can't think 1cm outside the box and fund a sunni militia?
>>391728
Nathan Drake, is that you?
>>392196
>Wahhabis have literally never done anything wrong.
Mullah Muhammad Omar.
>>394035
>Oh man we better get our shit together
>Yeah man chill it'll sort itself out
>>391728
>This has me itching to know what kind of archaeological goodies could be hiding here.
Fuck that, they should just build miles upon miles of solar panels.
>>397618
>Iran benefiting from instability
>in two Shia-ruled countries
Go to bed Abdullah Abdullah you're drunk.
>>397618
Because ISIS doctrine says that shiites are the worst of all unbelievers. Their biggest enemies are shiites, or safavids as they like to call them, afterwards come the crusaders. They dont even care about Jews, or Christians if they obey their mad rule. It's just idiotic to claim that Iran supports ISIS, the same Iran that has spent a lot of money, soldiers, weapons and lives to counter ISIS in both Iraq & Syria. You're just talking bullshit. Just like most of /his/ desu.
>>392500
Yeah but if the US confiscates all the shiny military hardware on our way out the door and there's no more oil, who cares? Let the dune coons kill each other off.
>>392099
Wrong, as caliphate run off Wahhabism is worse.
a normal islamic caliphate would do wonders in uniting islamic people.
>>391728
>Find glorious artifacts of Saba empire
>Saudi Arabia gets the merit, you get stoned
>Whatever you find gets destroyed by extremists because "muh idols"
Totally worth it
>>395118
>A False creed cannot succeed
No wonder Arabs are so terrible at warfare.
>>393899
in that event the US would just turn away from Iran and to Venezuela. The rise of fracking changed how things work, rock bottom energy prices are much worse than sky high ones.
>>398463
last time I checked Iran mobilized ground forces to fight ISIS in the eastern front
I know nothing about radical Islam, gulf states, Wahhabism, Wahhabism influence on terrorists etc. but it interests me a lot, any good sources I Can use to become educated? Books?
>>399243
Imperial Life In The Emerald City is a good place to start. Doesn't focus on islam but it focuses on the deeper cultural divides between islam and the secular west.
>>399249
Thanks, I'll get around too it. Any books-relating to terrorism, Wahhabism influence, and gulf politics?
>>399269
Ghost wars is also pretty good, how the US funded mujaheddin during the soviet invasion and it ended up biting them in the ass
>>399276
whoa I was just posting this. Does anyone who is more informed than me (first and only book ive read about this sort of thing so far) know if this is a well respected book or if it is an accurate representation?
>>399276
Reading that ATM, good book.
>>393906
>Oman
>People there live in chill ibadi islam
>ibadi is probably derivative of khawarij
It's funny, once the khawarij was the extremist of their era but now sunnis gave us extremist that rivaled the khwarij (hence the term neo-khawarij for takfiris).
>>394159
>there's evidence
Unrelated but Lawrence Krauss is such a cliche, he's the "I'm the trendy intellectual that wears sneakers with a suit"
>>391728
>This has me itching to know what kind of archaeological goodies could be hiding here
Arabia is one of the richest archaeological regions in the world, largely because so much of it has been ignored
though the Saudis and Gulf governments have done a fantastic job with promoting archaeological study there, and preserving the finds
>>391781
not at all
the Saudis are spectacular with protecting finds there and actively promote people discovering new things.
>>392500
reminder that Lebanon is love, Lebanon is life.
>>391728
>rumored lost cities really be covered by centuries of sand?
pls don't
>>399435
This contradicts basically everything else said ITT.
>>398463
> Iran that has spent a lot of money, soldiers, weapons and lives to counter ISIS in both Iraq & Syria.
Mind if I ask for source to confirm?
>>391728
trust me m8, there is nuffin beneath that sand xept more sand.
>>399619
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehden_massacre
>Those in the mansion refused to surrender and a long gun battle ensued in which Samir Geagea was seriously injured and fell unconscious on the road leading to the compound. The operation was successful from a military standpoint, but when Gemayel's men entered the mansion, they unexpectedly recognised among the dead Tony Franjieh and several members of his family.[15] The Marada members were killed while trying to defend the mansion.[22] "Even the family dog did not escape the carnage of that day."[11] Tony's father Suleiman Frangieh claimed that the Phalangist gunmen forced Tony and his young wife Vera to watch the shooting of their infant daughter Jihane, then made him watch the murder of his wife, before killing him
And they say Christians in Lebanon were the civilized ones.
>>394035
>Oman has oil
>Yemen doesn't have oil
>tfw one day the sands will bury Ryiadh and Dubai, and they will become legendary cities such as Iram of the Pillars and Ormus.
>>399960
Spec Ops: The Line
>>399857
Assad's Syria and Iran were working together for years. Hezbollah is supported by Iran, and joined the fight against anti-government forces in Syria. An Iranian general was even killed in Syria by the Israelis after going near the Golan heights on some kind of inspection.
Shia militias in Iraq were led by Iranian officers, notably the retaking of Tikrit. Iran also funded and supplied Shia insurgents throughout the Iraq war and the sectarian violence that started a few years after the invasion. The current Iraqi government is Shia-dominated and heavily influenced by Iran.
I guess it's questionable how many actual soldiers they have supplied and whether it counts as "a lot", but it's pretty common knowledge that you would have to go out of your way to avoid encountering it when reading about IS, Syria, Iraq or Hezbollah
>>392153
I though they took them from the Hashemites in the 1920's ?
>>394513
What does their expenses look like? Parties every day?
>>400517
Parties every bloody day
>>394159
can't tell if autistic white person or arab.
>basic premise of monarchy are strictly haram
The Sunni idea of a caliphate is the same concept of an elective monarchy. The Shia immamate is a hereditary monarchy. Sunnis though have shown over history that they will live under the rule of a hereditary monarchy.
Also every Muslim is a takfiri to some extent get a grip.
>>392500
>implying South asian migrant workers won't create a socialist state
>>394281
>I want people to do what I say.
>>401910
Don't we all though?
>>400517
Private jets with gold plated interiors, fleets of Lamborghinis and Bentleys, collections of exotic animals, huge palaces, lavish vacations where they buy out entire five star resorts, fine dining every single meal, top-end escorts from all over the world
you get the idea
>>402418
>top-end escorts from all over the world
I read a good first hand account of one of these experiences but I can't find it anymore. But anyway:
http://www.tagthesponsor.com
>>402498
>>402418
all the actresses are fucked by petrodollars
>>401789
Jesus Christ commies are that retarded.
If they wanted to live in a communist shithole they would have stayed in Kerala.
too bad as soon as a lost city would be uncovered, the saudis will demolish it because they think it will symbolize idolatry
>>393906
>100,000 years ago
>cities
>>399435
The destroyed a centuries old fort to build this sack of shit.
Sandniggers excluding the Egyptians typically don't want to preserve shit like that.
>>399619
Lebanon is a creation of the French and the country has been trying to tear itself apart since inception.
