Khemed

Khemed is a fictional country in the Arabian Peninsula invented by Hergé for the Tintin series. It appears in Land of Black Gold (1950) and The Red Sea Sharks (1958). The name means "got it!" in Marols, the Brussels Flemish dialect; the names of many people and places in the country are based on Marols phrases.

Khemed is an Arabic country near the Red Sea and in the Arabian Peninsula. Its capital is Wadesdah (derived from the Marols pronunciation of "What is that?"), although its chief economic center appears to be the port city of Khemkhâh (Marols for "I'm cold"; in English translations, the city is called Khemikhal, an obvious pun on "chemical").

Most of the country is desert. In the Tintin stories, Petra (an historic city located in Jordan) appears to be located in Khemed. This is because Hergé originally set the Land of Black Gold in the British Mandate of Palestine and Transjordan, but later created the fictional Khemed to avoid political issues. Indeed, Khemikhal was originally the Israeli port of Haifa.

Khemed is a monarchy, ruled by Emir Mohammed ben Kalish Ezab (from the Marols word kalichesap, liquorice juice), whose son Abdullah is very mischievous, most famously with his exploding cigars and cigarettes. The Emir has been threatened with usurpation on two occasions by Sheik Bab El Ehr (from the Marols word babbeleer, chatterbox); the second time Bab El Ehr was in power for six months with the aid of mercenaries and foreign aircraft.