Photographic Memory
On the Rub’ al-Khali road
In a time before GPS, rough hewn roads in the heart of the desert gave guidance to travelers.
![On the Rub’ al-Khali road](https://www.aramcolife.com/-/media/aramco-life/publications/the-arabian-sun/articles/2020/week-49/rubalkhali_road.jpg?mw=100&hash=7196E13F829BED6AD23DE3D99796C9C5)
This is not a place in which you would want to get lost. Traveling the Rub’ al-Khali presented early surveyors and geologists with a particular set of challenges, notably the lack of distinguishable landmarks. This made night driving a specific problem. In a time before the advent of Global Positioning System technology, roads such as the one being dragged in this 1952 photo, were used less for the surface they yielded than as a reliable guide through the desert — until the next sandstorm. (Photo by T. F. Walters)