Oman has the world's highest sand dune: expert

Muscat: The world’s highest sand dune has been discovered in Oman at a height of 455 meters above sea level.

Dr. Eid Al Yahya, A Saudi anthropological researcher and TV presenter, has revealed on a discovery trip that the world’s highest sand dune is at the Dhofar Governorate at the Ramlat Jadilah desert. It breaks the previous record of a sand dune in Namibia, which was recorded 418 meters above sea level.

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Ramlat Al Jadilah is situated in Al Rub Al Khali (The Empty Quarter), the largest sand desert in the world. Al Rub Al Khali also covers parts of Saudia Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

“The journey to the sand dune took three hours, but I’ve been searching for ten years for this,” said Al-Yahya. He also expressed his admiration of the Sultanate. “This is a 7000-year-old ancient civilization, one that needs deep exploring.”

His journey also took him to historic relics and traditions, including the frankincense ‘al-luban’, and its transport from Dhofar to regional empires. “The road convoys snaked through Arabian deserts, as well as ancient Chinese, Indian, and Egypian vessels,” he explained.

Yahya expressed his intention to work on more research regarding those ancient trade routes, as well as researching ‘al-luban’ for its possible medical uses.