The mountain wall drops abruptly on the western side toward the Red Sea, leaving the narrow coastal plain of Tihamah.

The eastern slopes are not as steep, allowing rare rainfall to help create oases around the springs and wells of the few wadis.

This is a component in the research of Juris Zarins that locates the Garden of Eden at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf near Kuwait.

This tracks northeast across the Saudi desert for 600 miles (970 km), following Wadi al-Batin to the coast of the Persian Gulf.

[3][4] In ancient times, it was reported that Musa al-Kadhim, a descendant of Muhammad, encountered a lion in the wilderness north of Medina.