Al-'Atk (valley)

Al-'Atk is a valley in Nadid, the northernmost of those cutting through the western wall of the Tuwayk escarpment. It is a true wadi with a strong flood whenever there is enough rain. Its head lies in the low ground west of Tuwayk near the oasis of al-Kasab, and it divides the district of Sudayt to the north from al-Mahmal to the south. It cleaves the Tuwayk escarpment by a narrow passage, and the valleys of Urat, Thadik, the main Sudayr valley, 'Ushayra and al-Hisy join it. ¹

Near the valley's end, at Rawdat al-Tanhah just west of the sands of al-Dahna, are the sweet-water wells of Hafar al-'Atk, more than a dozen in number, all lined with stone and about 40 metres deep. Each well has its own name, and the wells mark the western end of Darb al-Kunhuri, a beaten desert trail from al-Jubayl (Aynayn) on the Gulf coast. Popular tradition holds that the first wells were dug by the chiefs of the Banu Khalid. ¹

The valley lies within the range of the tribes of Subay' and al-Subul. In summer several thousand Bedouins may gather at Hafar al-'Atk. Members of these tribes pronounce the name Satts, while other Bedouins in Nadid say Catsh, linking it with 'atsha, "having many bushes and trees". The written form Batn al-'Atk occurs in al-Hamdani, and Ibn Bishr mentions al-'Atk and Hafar al-'Atk. ¹