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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Corey" data-source="post: 316982" data-attributes="member: 140">How do people build structures?  Sand to me would seem like a terrible foundation for any sort of permanent building.Settlements come into existence around water sources, frequently on the coast.  In Mecca, a city that is well inland, there is the Zam-Zam well.  The tale is that this well sprung forth as Hagar, Abraham’s wife, ran between two hills desperately seeking water. It has flowed ever since.  In Afghanistan there is a vast network of karez, artificial caves dug for irrigation. For thousands of years residents of Afghanistan have been digging them, both for defense and to find water.  A chronicler from the time of the Mongol invasion reports that the entire population seemed to disappear beneath the ground only to re-emerge later.  Probably, they sought refuge in the karez.  The Mongols made a point of trying to destroy the network and I understand our forces are doing the same today. Nicolas Clapp’s The Road to Ubar has some good stuff on a city in the middle of the desert.Of course, survival in the desert is based around water, but clothing tends to cover the entire body to protect it from the sun. Travel during the really hot middle part of the day is a big no-no, everybody tends to nap instead. Also, it can get very, very cold at night.  People adapt to limited water and the heat.  An old man in Saudi Arabia took me on a 45 minute walk, I was sweating like and pig and he never broke a sweat.  My wife tells me that in Afghanistan there is a people who drink hot tea during the heat of the day just because it keeps them used to the heat.  Where do people get the matrial to build permanent strctures?  How common are trees?  I plan on having some rocky and hilly areas but no huge mountions.Rock, mud-brick and animal hide.  The nomads I have seen in Palestine, and Israel use a felt-like material for their tents, but I have no idea when this material came into use.  The oasis I have seen, primarily Mecca and Medina, are surrounded by black rocky hills that were used for building materials.  But mud-brick was and in many places still is the primary building material.  A strong government can bring in stone in as well.  How common is plant life?  What type of plants would one find in a arid dessert area?Obviously, it is rare.  Acacia grows and I have seen small brown thorny plants.  Also remember that frankincense was a big export from Arabia’s southern areas, it comes from trees. Date palms were the primary crops of Mecca and Medina. What kind of animals are going to be there?  No such much monsters as typical animals.  What sort of large mammals could a dessert eco-system sustain?Scorpions, and lots of ‘em.  Lizards, too.  I have read that there are species of fox out there as well.Hope that is useful,Corey</blockquote>

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