- Tuwaiq
Jebel Tuwaiq (pronounced "Twayg", _ar. جبل طويق) is a narrow escarpment that cuts through the plataeu of
Nejd in centralArabia , running approximately 800 km from the southern border ofAl-Qasim in the north, to the northern edge of theEmpty Quarter desert nearWadi ad-Dawasir in the south. The eastern side slopes downwards gradually, while the western side ends in an abrupt manner. The escarpment can be thought of as a narrow plataeu, though the locals refer to it as a "jebel", or "mount".Many narrow valleys ("
wadis ") run along its sides, such asWadi Hanifa , and a group of towns lie on its central section, including theSaudi capital,Riyadh . Many settlements have historically existed on either side of it as well, such as those ofSudair and Al-Washm. The Tweig escarpment is mentioned inYaqut 's 13th century geographical encyclopedia under the nameAl-'Aridh , though for the past few centuries that name has applied only to the central section of it, around Riyadh.
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