Sweet treasures of the Al`Ula Oasis: 2.3 million date palm trees produce more than 90,000 tonnes of date fruits each year.
Al`Ula is an ancient Arabic oasis city located in Medina Province in the desert of Saudi Arabia. Situated in the Hejaz, a region that features prominently in the history of Islam as well as several pre-Islamic Semitic civilizations,
Mainly helpers are from Egypt and Pakistan, who bring in the date harvest in the Al'Ula region in the fall.
The pickers use belts and ropes to climb the palm trees, which can grow up to 20 meters high.
Packed in cartons, the fruit is prepared for onward transportation.
Pickers chop off the branches with the dates and throw them onto a tarpaulin lying under the palm trees. Here they are picked by hand.
Large tarpaulins are placed under the date trees before the dates are picked from the palms.
Egyptian Hema Abdean and a colleague take the harvested dates to the packers.
Mejhoul dates described as producing "large soft fruit, with orange-yellowish flesh, and a mildly rich and pleasing flavor".
Two date pickers on the private Zuayr date farm during a short break with tea.
Pakistani Mehran cleans his feet during his lunch break at the Zuayr date farm in Al'Ula.
Pakistani Minathkhan (38) in front of the cold store at the Zuayr date plantation in Al'Ula. This is where the picked and cleaned dates are temporarily stored for transportation.
The senior boss of the Zuayr family on his approx. 80 years old private date farm in Al'Ula. In the foreground are buckets of fermented dates in the sun.
The Saudis love fermented dates. These are packed in sheepskin tubes of approx. 19 kg each.
The boxes of dates are transported on large trailers to the factories, where they are finely packaged into the final product.
An Egyptian helper loading the trailers.
The end product: high-quality dates from the Al'Ula oasis, ready to enjoy.
Saudi Arabia: Beyond The Petrol Wealth
Marcel Mayer
Visual Storyteller / Documentary Photographer
based in Niederzissen, Germany
Public Project
Saudi Arabia: Beyond The Petrol Wealth
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