Full Name of the site: Suakin
Country: Sudan
TWHS: Yes, https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/646/
Short description: Suakin was a very important port on the Red Sea during the Middle Age and the Ottoman Empire. It contains very fine houses and Mosques, some of them are partially preserved to the 2nd floor. And in danger...
Criteria: Cultural

This one looks promising, comparable to Ghadames and Ghardaia.

Full Name of the site: Oasis de Figuig
Country: Morocco
TWHS: Yes, http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5625
Short description: Figuig is an oasis which has preserved exceptional vestiges from its history. Important architectural and archaeological sites: great walls, ramparts, watchtowers, mosques, mausoleums, irrigation canals, and rock carvings. There is also an agro-environmental heritage: water sources and stepped gardens associated with the palm grove and its irrigation system.
Criteria: Cultural

Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figuig
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_art_of_Figuig
https://www.wmf.org/project/figuig
https://www.google.fi/search?q=figuig&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1v5XpidnoAhUFyaYKHdOVDdMQ_AUoAXoECBoQAw&biw=1448&bih=919

I support this proposal. It's time to start considering our first 21st century world heritage sites. The Sydney Opera House was inscribed 37 years after its inauguration. Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which was opened in 2007 would need to wait until 2044 to follow the precedent of the Sydney Opera House inscription. However, I feel thats unnecessarily long and restrictive when determining OUV.

elsslots

I support both the nilometer and sheik zayed mosque as an outstanding modern mosque

I have chosen to group Nippur with Kish and Borsippa, as (1) they are geographically relatively close and (2) still present archeological remains of Sumeria. They are geographically more northern than the cities Uruk, Ur and Eridu (WHS Ahwar of Southern Iraq).

BUT (1) maybe they are thematically not adding anything new that is already present in the WHS "Ahwar of Southern Iraq" and (2) maybe they are too close to Babylon WHS, which is of much greater importance. On the other hand, maybe Babylon represents the ancient civilisation Babylonia more than it represents Sumer.

Full name of site: Sumerian cities of Lower Mesopotamia: Kish, Borsippa and Nippur
Country: Iraq
TWHS?: yes, partially: Nippur is a TWHS (see title)
Short description of site: (Wikipedia & Unesco) 1. Kish was an ancient tell (hill city) of Sumer in Mesopotamia. The Kish archaeological site is actually an oval area roughly 8 by 3 km (5 by 2 mi), transected by the dry former bed of the Euphrates River, encompassing around 40 mounds.
2. Borsippa: The ziggurat is today one of the most vividly identifiable surviving ones, identified in the later Talmudic and Arabic culture with the Tower of Babel. However, modern scholarship concludes that the Sumero-Akkadian builders of the Ziggurat in reality erected it as a religious edifice in honour of the local god Nabu, called the "son" of Babylon's Marduk, as would be appropriate for Babylon's lesser sister-city.
3. Nippur was among the most ancient of Sumerian cities. Nippur contains several layers of superimposed urban settlement extending from c. 5000 BCE to about 800 CE. The site encompasses a great complex of ruined mounds bisected from north to south by a deeply cut watercourse or canal, known locally as Shatt al-Nil.
Criteria: Cultural

To complete the modern arcuitecture in Arab countries, there is the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca.

While a lot of pharaonic sites are being proposed with regards to Egypt (and certainly more deserve to be listed), another major site in Egypt is the Suez Canal, which could be combined with sites associated with its construction (e.g. the cities of Ismailia and Port Said). The Suez Canal is without a doubt one of the world's most important engineering feats.

I'll second both Nippur and the Suez Canal. I also like Els' proposals for the nilometers and the Sheikh Zayed mosque, although I wonder whether the latter would have a better chance a few years down the road since it was built so recently.

I would back this one. I think Sudan certainly has the potential for a few promising nominations.


Marine sites are also missing. There currently none in the Persian Golf. My support for this one too.

Has the Arab Sites excel document been shared yet to keep track of all the proposals?

Yes, see page 2. I quoted it.

Thanks!

See https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VU3FQXYDWSL38BTu77qqGiMuNKdDVLsiZVjS730InB0/edit#gid=1839238681 (second tab, Arabia)

And https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR28L3trSCy409wGPVbEH3rn3Uv3YcrlEhy3SkmXrK_oQT1j08022XVhIDHfsLzs8PQqosyOZLnhIIi/pubhtml# for the html version

Full Name of the site: Traditional villages and 'fjords' of Musandam
Country: Oman
TWHS: No
Short description: The incredible village sights are well draped with the aquamarine water of the beach by the khor; rich in marine life which includes the friendly bottle-nose dolphins, butterfly fish, groupers and varied coral growth. The rutted stone houses made from local stones, embossed against the hilly terrain built as defence lines. (Oman Daily Observer, https://www.omanobserver.om/the-majestic-villages-of-musandam/)
Criteria: Mixed

Full Name of the site: Ras al Had Turtle Reserve and the Heritage Site of Ras al Jinz
Country: Oman
TWHS: Yes (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5840/)
Short description: Ras al Had Turtle Reserve is situated at South al Sharqiyya Governorate (East of Oman), Wilayat Sur (see the attached map) and was designated as a nature reserve on 23/4/1996. It covers an area of 120 square kilometres of beaches, coastal lands, seabed and two Khaurs or lagoons (Khaur al Hajar and Khaur Jarama). It extends for 45 km along the coast from khaur Jarama in the north to the village of Ras Ruwais in the south. It is rocky in some parts, but has several steep sandy beaches, where, at certain times of the year, thousands of Green Turtles come to nest. (from the link above)
Criteria: Mixed

Full Name of the site: Rub' al-Khali, Empty Quarter
Country: Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen
TWHS: No
Short description: The desert is 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) long, and 500 kilometres (310 miles) wide. Its surface elevation varies from 800 metres (2,600 ft) in the southwest to around sea level in the northeast. The terrain is covered with sand dunes with heights up to 250 metres (820 ft), interspersed with gravel and gypsum plains.[3][4] The sand is of a reddish-orange color due to the presence of feldspar. There are also brackish salt flats in some areas, such as the Umm al Samim area on the desert's eastern edge. Ali Al-Naimi reports that the sand dunes don't drift. He goes on to say:Sand blows off the surface, of course, but the essential shape of the dunes remains intact, probably due to the moisture leaching up into the base of the dunes from the surrounding sabkhas. (Wikipedia)
Criteria: Natural