Heart of Arabia expedition sets off across the desert towards Jeddah

A team of explorers is retracing the 1,300km trek made by British explorer Harry St John Philby in 1917

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  British explorer Mark Evans and Reem Philby are greeted at the launch of the second leg of the Heart of Arabia expedition. All photos: Ana-Maria Pavalache / Heart of Arabia expedition

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  Mr Evans, left, with Sara Philby, Mandy Oates, Michael Engelbach and his wife, Reem Philby and Sami Alotaibi in the historic At-Turaif District

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  Logistics lead Alan Morrisey, left, Mr Evans, right, with members of the Philby family and Saudi officials

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  Mr Evans is leading the team in the footsteps of Harry St John Philby, who crossed the Arabian Peninsula by foot and camel in 1917

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  Mr Evans holds up the Explorers Club flag with officials from the Saudi Ministry of Culture ahead of the second leg of the Heart of Arabia expedition

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  The team set off from the Unesco World Heritage centre of At-Turaif

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  They left Al Diriyah along the Wadi Hanifa valley

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  They will travel westward across the deserts that separate Riyadh from the Hijaz mountains and eventually to the Red Sea

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  They aim to reach the coastal city of Jeddah by January 30

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  The Jabal Tuwaiq is seen in the background as the team cross the desert

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  The team must now navigate muddy terrain because of the rain

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  The limestone ridge of Jabal Tuwaiq can be ascended by a series of winding paths

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  These paths allowed travellers to traverse the ridge while riding camels

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  Reem Philby and Mark Evans on Jabal Tuwaiq

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  Jabal Tuwaiq is a 600m-high limestone ridge that cuts through the region

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  The escarpment is usually dry and dusty, but rainy weather in winter months can cause mud and floods

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  The ridge offers spectacular views of the desert

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  Views from Jabal Tuwaiq

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  The Saudi desert in its splendour

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  The expedition brought together two wings of Philby's family for the first time

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  The trip has the support of the Royal Geographical Society and its patron Princess Anne, who officially launched the expedition in September, and Saudi Arabian authorities

The Heart of Arabia expedition began the second leg of its 1,300km trek across Saudi Arabia this week in rain that caused heavy floods across the kingdom.

British explorer Mark Evans is leading an expedition in the footsteps of Harry St John Philby, who crossed the Arabian Peninsula by foot and camel in 1917.

The team — which includes Philby’s granddaughter Reem Philby, photographer Ana-Maria Pavalache and logistics lead Alan Morrissey — completed the first leg from the port of Al Uqair to Riyadh in November.

On Monday, they set off from the Unesco World Heritage centre of At-Turaif in Al Diriyah district on the outskirts of Riyadh.

They will travel west across the vast deserts that separate Riyadh from the western Hijaz mountains and on to the Red Sea, aiming to reach the city of Jeddah by January 30.

Wet and cold weather in the desert

After a dry and windy first leg, the expedition must deal with wet weather and new terrain.

They left Al Diriyah along the Wadi Hanifa valley and reached Jabal Tuwaiq — an imposing 600-metre-high limestone ridge that cuts through the region — under blue skies.

However, rain started, and the team has had to navigate muddy terrain.

Winter rains in Saudi Arabia often cause flooding, and several people have been killed in the Makkah region this season.

Despite the risk, Mr Evans told The National the weather would not affect their plans.

Philby recorded difficult weather in his 1922 account of his trip, Heart of Arabia, and lows of 5°C.

“It was the coldest day I experienced in all my sojourn in Arabia,” Philby wrote from the same spot close to Jabal Tuwaiq, where the 2023 expedition camped on Tuesday.

Following Philby’s mission

Philby travelled to Riyadh on an official British mission, but the second leg was a journey he was not supposed to make.

In 1917, Philby was a 32-year-old civil servant stationed in Iraq, where he was employed to help the British Empire in its struggle against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Along with two other British officials, Philby was sent to Riyadh to ask if Ibn Saud would put more pressure on the Ottomans.

While British officials disputed the mission's scope, Philby considered himself as having the authority to offer Ibn Saud military and financial support for an attack on the Al Rashid family, who were allied with the Ottomans.

The first leg of his trip went to plan, and he met Ibn Saud in Riyadh on November 30, 1917.

After 10 days of negotiations, the two officials who had accompanied Philby returned to Iraq.

Philby was expected to follow, but he had other plans.

He asked for a private audience with Ibn Saud, aiming to convince the leader to allow him to continue travelling west.

According to Philby, he persuaded Ibn Saud that the trip would prove the Saudis could provide safe passage in the western deserts of his realm.

This would strengthen Ibn Saud's claim over areas contested by his rival, King Hussein, who ruled the Hijaz region.

Philby later admitted his motives “were of a mixed character, and not wholly based on the requirements of the situation”. As an avid adventurer, he wanted to join the ranks of the few Europeans to have crossed the peninsula and the trek would enhance his prestige.

Ibn Saud allowed Philby to make the journey with an escort and the team set off on December 9, 1917.

He took meticulous notes along the way that were published in his 1922 book — the inspiration for today’s expedition.

Harry St John Philby on his 1917 trek across the Arabian Peninsula, which he recorded in his 1922 book Heart of Arabia. Photo: Heart of Arabia Expedition

Philby family lines meet

The expedition launch brought together two lines of Philby's family for the first time.

Philby had two wives. He had four children with his first wife, British citizen Dora Johnson, whom he married in India in 1910.

Dora and their children settled in England after Philby travelled to Arabia, where he spent much of the rest of his life as a close friend and adviser of Ibn Saud.

In Arabia, Philby converted to Islam, taking the name Abdullah, and he married a Saudi woman called Rozy, with whom he had several children.

Saudi explorer Reem Philby is from this line of the family.

At the expedition's launch, Ms Philby met Michael Engelbach, Philby's British grandson, for the first time.

This week, Mr Engelbach and his cousin Mandy Oates made their first visit to the kingdom to see the expedition off.

“Having read many of his letters and his books giving the account of his travels and his love of Arabia, we are very excited to be finally viewing the country and the people first hand,” said Mr Engelbach.

Ms Philby described the reunion as a “special” celebration of the late explorer's “life and legacy in his second home”.

The trip has the support of the Royal Geographical Society and Saudi authorities. As well as following Philby’s footsteps, the team are collecting data for three scientific projects and aiming to encourage people to explore Saudi Arabia.

Heart of Arabia expedition stage one — in pictures:

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  The Heart of Arabia team travels across the Saudi desert on camels. All photos unless stated: Ana-Maria Pavalache / Heart of Arabia expedition

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  The team - Alan Morrissey, Reem Philby, Mark Evans and Ana-Maria Pavalache. Photo: Osama Farhan / British Embassy Riyadh

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  The team at the starting point of their expedition in Uqair, on the shores of the Gulf

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  The Heart of Arabia team at the historical fort in Uqair

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  The team are greeted with hospitality in Uqair, at the beginning of the trip

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  Alan Morrissey, Mark Evans and Reem Philby walk across the sand

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  A comparison of the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Hofuf, now and in 1917, taken by Harry St John Philby in 1917

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  The team read by torch-light at night

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  Harry St John Philby on his 1917 trek across the Arabian Peninsula, which he recorded in his 1922 book 'Heart of Arabia'

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  Mark Evans and Reem Philby ride camels on the Heart of Arabia expedition

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  Alan Morrissey, Mark Evans, and Reem Philby with one of the support vehicles for the trip, nicknamed "the beast" by Mr Morrissey

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  The team with the three support vehicles that took them south into the Empty Quarter

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  The map of the Wabar craters, known as Al Hadida or “the place of iron” to local Bedouin. Philby was the first European to visit the site during his expedition across the Empty Quarter in 1932

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  Volcanic rock at the Al Wabar craters in the Empty Quarter desert

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  The Heart of Arabia team with the flag of the Explorers Club of New York

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  The vast deserts of Saudi Arabia captured by drone

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  A sand dune in the Empty Quarter

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  A drone captures the team travelling in the Empty Quarter desert

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  The Saudi desert in Hawaya, in a photo taken by Philby from his 1932 expedition. Getty

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  The Heart of Arabia team from above in the deserts of Saudi Arabia

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  Camels ready for the final journey towards Riyadh

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  Outward Bound Oman founder and expedition leader Mark Evans with a camel in the Saudi desert

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  A comparison of Harry St John Philby's photo of "The ravine and wells of Abu Jifan", included in his book the Heart of Arabia, with the site today as seen by the expedition of the same name

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  Harry St John Philby and his companions at Wadi Al Shajara, where they stopped for a prayer on his 1917 trip to Riyadh. He included the photo in his 1922 book, The Heart of Arabia

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  The Heart of Arabia team at the spot under a tree in Wadi Al Shajara, where Philby stopped for a prayer in 1917

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  The expedition team with locals in the Saudi desert on their trip

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  The Heart of Arabia expedition team in front of the Maskmak Fort Museum in Riyadh, the destination of the first leg of their trip