Sarawat Mountains

The Sarawat Mountains (Arabic: جِبَالُ ٱلسَّرَوَاتِ, romanized: Jibāl as-Sarawāt), also known as the Sarat in the singular, is a mountain range in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, it runs parallel to the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and thus encompasses the mountains of Fayfa, Asir, Taif, and the Hijaz (which can be seen as including the Midian Mountains). In a narrow sense, the Sarawat start in Taif city in Saudi Arabia, and extend to the Gulf of Aden in the south, running along the entire western coast of Yemen and extending eastwards parallel to the Gulf of Aden.

Geology

These mountains are mainly rocky with sparse vegetation. The peaks are fairly young and jagged, with some weathering. Near the Yemeni border, the Sarawat begin to spread into individual peaks, and the Hejaz turns from a cliff to a gradual ascent from the Red Sea to the Yemeni Plateau. In Yemen, the Sarawat are divided into the western and central highlands. The western highlands receive plenty of precipitation, more than anywhere else in the peninsula, and the central highlands have the highest mountains in the peninsula. In Yemen the Haraz Mountains have few peaks topping 3,000 metres (9,800 feet), but the descents and views from the mountains are dramatic; their feet are only at 500 metres (1,600 feet) above sea level yet their peaks are at 2,800–3,300 metres (9,200–10,800 feet). The mountains over 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) are all located in Yemen.