Edge of the World

Northwest of Riyadh, the flat plateau of Najd ends without warning: the ground runs to a sheer edge and then falls some 300 metres to a plain that stretches to the horizon. This lookout, known as Jebel Fihrayn and popularly as the Edge of the World, is part of the Tuwaiq escarpment, a narrow limestone ridge that curves for about 800 km through central Arabia, from the southern edge of Al-Qassim to the fringes of the Empty Quarter. Its eastern side descends gently, but its western face breaks off in cliffs, and from Jebel Fihrayn the view sweeps over buttresses, side canyons and the dry bed below.

The cliffs are made of layers of Jurassic limestone laid down when this part of Arabia lay under a shallow sea, and the floor beneath them is often described as an ancient ocean bed. Fossil corals, shells and ammonites are found in the rock. The ridge was raised by movements of the Arabian plate and owes its sharp profile to harder beds that resisted erosion while softer rock wore away. The name Tuwaiq is linked to the Najdi word for a ring or bow, after the escarpment's long arc; locally the viewpoint is also called simply al-Mutall, "the overlook".

The escarpment has long shaped life in Najd. Wadi Hanifa, on whose banks Diriyah and Riyadh grew, is one of the valleys running along it, and the plain below Jebel Fihrayn is said to have carried an old caravan route crossing the peninsula. In the clear desert air the edge is at its most striking late in the day, when the low sun picks out each ledge and gully, and after dark the absence of city light leaves a sky full of stars.

Getting there

The Edge of the World lies about 59 km from Diriyah and roughly 100 km northwest of central Riyadh. The nearest airport is King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh, about 72 km away.