Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Finance and National Economy & the United States Geological Survey: Geologic map of the Southern Tuwayq Quadrangle, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, lithographed map, 102 x 106mm, published Riyadh and Washington DC, 1378 A.H./1959 A.D.
This is one sheet of a series of twenty-one dual dated and bilingual maps which were issued as a joint venture between the government of Saudi Arabia and the United States Geological Survey. This venture was the first to produce a full series of geological and geographical maps of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was instrumental in its establishment as a major global force in the production of natural resources.
The overseer of the project was a veteran geologist, Glen F. Brown, who had already been to the Kingdom in the mid-1940s and had formed a very good relationship with Saudi officials. They asked for his further co-operation in 1950 and the result was the formation of a team consisting of Brown, geologists appointed by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and National Economy as well as geologists from Saudi Aramco.
The survey used the latest techniques available including aerial photography and was conducted from 1950-58. The results were seminal for the mapping of the region and to this day, this survey forms the basis of any modern maps of the Kingdom.
This particular sheet covers the Asir Quadrangle. It is the Southwestern most region of the Kingdom, detailing part of the coastline of the Red Sea and also marking the Saudi-Yemeni border which at this time is labelled as "boundary approximate". This part of the survey is credited to Glen F. Brown, the overseer of the survey and main U.S.G.S. participant and his colleague, U.S. army captain Roy O. Jackson, who would go on to take part in an important survey in Pakistan.

It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of this survey to the development of Saudi Arabia.