Harrat al-Sham
The Ḥarrat al-Shām, variously transcribed as Ḥarrat ash-Shāmah, or Ḥarrate-Shāmah, also known as the Black Desert, is a region of rocky, basaltic desert straddling southern Syria and the northern Arabian Peninsula. It covers an area of some in modern-day Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
The geological origin of the Harrat is a volcanic field formed by tectonic activity from the Oligocene through to the Quaternary period. It is the largest of several volcanic field on the Arabian Plate, containing more than 800 volcanic cones and around 140 dikes and ring dikes. The Jabal al-Druze, al-Safa and Dirat al-Tulul volcanic fields, among others, form the northern and Syrian part of the harrat; Al-Harrah is in the southern, Saudi Arabian, third of the field.
