User blog comment:SsVivid/Height Reference Chart/@comment-4516365-20130227130434/@comment-25345260-20130301031156

Al-Kharid seems to be more like Istanbul/Constantinople to me. It was settled by Lumbridge, becoming its own, massive city. It is the one non-magic non-sea route to the rest of the Kharidian Desert, similar to how Turkey is to the Middle-East.

Many goods were traded through Turkey on their way to the West too from the East, Spices and other trading goods included.