JAWF, AL-

town and oasis, northern Saudi Arabia. It lies at the northern edge of an-Nafud desert near the source of the Wadi as-Sirhan. Formerly considered a part of the Jabal Shammar region, the oasis now lies within the northern reaches of the Hejaz. The town is strategically located on an ancient caravan route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, and it has long been an important caravan stop between the Syrian Desert and the Arabian Peninsula. It is also an agricultural centre, producing dates, cereals, fruits, and vegetables. Pop. (1974) 60,534. also spelled Al-jauf, oasis region, western Yemen. It is bordered by the far-southwest extension of the Rub' al-Khali, the great sandy desert of the Arabian Peninsula. The Wadi al-Jawf, an intermittent stream with headwaters in the mountains of the Yemen Highlands, crosses the area; its western and southern branches are small perennial streams. Al-Jawf was the core area of one of the most ancient of the South Arabian kingdoms, the state of Ma'in (c. 1000 BC2nd century BC). From their capital, Qarnaw, the Minaeans of Ma'in ruled over large sections of the southern Arabian Peninsula. The oases of al-Jawf were a fertile and densely populated area, with many towns. After the conquest of Yemen by the 'Abbasids in the 9th century AD, however, the power centres of Yemeni civilization moved to the west, and the region was neglected. In modern times al-Jawf was one of the last areas to remain under royalist control in the Yemeni civil war of 196270. The oases, now only sparsely settled, support nomadic tribes; camel raising and the pasturing of sheep and goats are the chief economic activities. Al-Jawf was once renowned for fine purebred Arabian horses.