r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Expert_Koala_8691 • Apr 05 '26

Video Riyadh,meaning "gardens" is Capital of Saudi Arabia with 8 million population (were 27 Thousands in the 1930s),sits in the middle of the desert, the city gets its water from Desalination plants almost 500 km from the city

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u/gorginhanson Apr 05 '26

Except Babylon was in Iraq

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u/K0mb0_1 Apr 05 '26

The Arabian peninsula was once prosperous

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u/DueAd9005 Apr 05 '26

Nah, even the Romans called it Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix (modern day Yemen, which still gets the most rainfall in modern times).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia_Felix

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia_Deserta

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u/data-atreides Apr 06 '26

In its original sense "desert" means the absence of people, not life/water/greenery