Quest For Atlantis Of The Sands – Iram Of The Pillars – A Legendary Lost City

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Most people associate Atlantis with an underwater city or continent long gone.

However, Arabia has its legend of a lost city, the so-called "Atlantis of the Sands," which has been the source of debate among many historians, archaeologists, and explorers. The existence of this legendary place remains a controversial subject to this day.

Ubar's ruins - Image credit: 9591353082 - CC BY 2.5

Over the years, various names have been given to this lost city, the most common being Ubar, Wabar, and Iram of the Pillars.  The archaeological site is dated to a time which would make it contemporary to when the people of Ad would have lived according to the evidence provided by Quran exegetes.

According to most legends and myths, the Atlantis of the Sands is located somewhere in the Rub' al Khali desert, also known as the Empty Quarter. It covers most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, including most of Saudi Arabia and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Several explorers have tried to determine the lost city's actual location. One of them was Bertram Thomas (1892-1950). One of his Bedouin escorts told him the story of a lost city whose wicked people had attracted the wrath of God and had been destroyed.

Thomas later related the story to T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), who regarded Ubar as the "Atlantis of the Sands." Lawrence became fascinated with the lost city of the sands and kept looking for it, but he never found it. He found no trace of a lost city in the sands. Since then, many other explorers have attempted to locate the city beneath the sand.

In 1992 The New York Times published an article announcing the Atlantis of the Sands had been discovered by a Los Angeles-based team of amateur and professional archaeologists.

"Using a combination of high-tech satellite imagery and old-fashioned literary detective work, they discovered the fortress city buried under the shifting sands of a section of Oman so barren that it is known as the Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter.

 

A sketch showing what the city Iram of Pillars. Image source

Built 5,000 years ago, Ubar was a processing and shipping center for frankincense, an aromatic resin that grew in the nearby Qara Mountains. It was used in cremations and religious ceremonies, as well as in perfumes and medicines; frankincense was as valuable as gold.

Ubar's rulers became wealthy and powerful, and its residents--according to Islamic legend--so wicked and debauched that eventually, God destroyed the city, allowing it to be swallowed up by the wild desert.

Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, called it "the Atlantis of the sands" and, like the undersea Atlantis, many scholars doubted that Ubar ever existed," Los Angeles Times reports.

Researchers said they "documented how the city fell, and that it did not appear to be by divine retribution for wickedness. In building his "imitation of paradise," the legendary King Shaddad ibn 'Ad unknowingly constructed it over a large limestone cavern. Ultimately, the weight of the city caused the cavern to collapse into a massive sinkhole. It destroyed much of the town, causing the rest to be finally abandoned.

The researchers also discovered the remains of a nearby neolithic village that may date to at least 6000 B. C."

"The discoveries are expected to shed considerable light on the early history of the region, which has been shrouded in myth, said George Hedges, 39, a Los Angeles lawyer who, with 53-year-old filmmaker Nicholas Clapp was one of the leaders of the expedition. Among the region's mysteries, the findings may help resolve, for example, whether the Queen of Sheba, who would have been contemporaneous with Ubar, existed.

The researchers have already found evidence that the climate was much different then. The neolithic village was located on the banks of a river--long since dried up--and its residents farmed a substantial area.

Even in the time of Ubar, 3,000 years after the neolithic village, rainfall was more plentiful, and the well-supplied large quantities of water were enough to support not only the city but also the camel caravans that traversed the forbidding desert.

Clapp persuaded JPL scientists Charles Elachi and Ronald Blom to scan the region with a unique shuttle radar system flown on the Challenger's last successful mission. The radar could "see" through the overlying sand and loose soil to pick out subsurface geological features.

Using the imagery, the team picked out the ancient trade routes, which were packed down into hard surfaces by the passage of hundreds of thousands of camels. Junctions, where the trade routes converged or branched, seemed likely locations for the lost city.

Satellite photograph of South Arabia showing hypothetical locations of lost cities.  Derivative work, credit: Shaibalahmar - Public Domain

Armed with this information, they enlisted archeologist Juris Zarins of Southwest Missouri State University and British explorer Sir Ranulf Fiennes, who had served with the British military in the deserts of Oman and fought with the sultan's forces.

The team made a brief, preliminary expedition to Oman last summer, searching about 35 sites. They found shards of pottery and other evidence of the trade routes, but nothing to show they had definitively found the city."

Still, many feel this intriguing question remains unanswered:

"Is the city of Ubar identical to Iram of the Pillars or is the legendary lost city still buried beneath the sand?"

Over the years, various names have been given to this lost city, the most common being Ubar, Wabar, and Iram of the Pillars. According to most legends and myths, the Atlantis of the Sands is located somewhere in the Rub' al Khali desert, also known as the Empty-quarter. This covers most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, including most of Saudi Arabia and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Several explorers have tried to determine the lost city's true location. One of them was Bertram Thomas (1892-1950). One of his Bedouin escorts told him the story of a lost city whose wicked people had attracted the wrath of God and had been destroyed.

He found no trace of a lost city in the sands. Thomas later related the story to T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), who regarded Ubar as the "Atlantis of the Sands". Lawrence became fascinated with the lost city of the sands and kept looking for it, but he never found it either. Since then many other explorers attempted to locate the city buried beneath the sand.

In 1992 The New York Times published an article announcing the Atlantis of the Sands has been discovered by a Los Angeles-based team of amateur and professional archaeologists.

"Using a combination of high-tech satellite imagery and old-fashioned literary detective work, they discovered the fortress city buried under the shifting sands of a section of Oman so barren that it is known as the Rub'al Khali or Empty Quarter. When they started digging at Shis'r, near an old Arab fort, they began to uncover a large ancient structure. No one was sure what it was..."

Some explorers theorized the remains of the old fort at Shisr could be the rests of the Iram of the Pillars.

Built nearly 5,000 years ago, Ubar was a processing and shipping center for frankincense, an aromatic resin has grown in the nearby Qara Mountains. It was used in cremations and religious ceremonies, as well as in perfumes and medicines, frankincense was as valuable as gold. Ubar's rulers became wealthy and powerful,

A legend says that the city's residents became ao wicked and debauched that  God destroyed the city, allowing it to be swallowed up by the restless desert.

There is also another explanation. Researchers "documented how the city fell, and that it did not appear to be by divine retribution for wickedness. In building his "imitation of paradise," the legendary King Shaddad ibn 'Ad unknowingly constructed it over a large limestone cavern. Ultimately, the weight of the city caused the cavern to collapse in a massive sinkhole. Most of it was destroyed and the rest was abandoned.

Such discoveries possibly can shed some light on the early history of the region, which has been shrouded in myth, according to George Hedges, a Los Angeles lawyer who with 53-year-old filmmaker Nicholas Clapp was one of the leaders of the expedition. Among the mysteries of the region the findings may help resolve, for example, is whether the Queen of Sheba, who would have been contemporaneous with Ubar, really existed.

The researchers have already found evidence that the climate was much different at that time. The neolithic village was apparently located on the banks of a river--long since dried up--and its residents farmed a substantial area.

Even in the time of Ubar, 3,000 years after the neolithic village, rainfall was more plentiful and the well supplied quite large quantities of water, enough to support not only the city itself but also the camel caravans that traversed the forbidding desert.

Clapp persuaded JPL scientists Charles Elachi and Ronald Blom to scan the region with a special shuttle radar system that was flown on the last successful mission of Challenger. The radar was able to "see" through the overlying sand and loose soil to pick out subsurface geological features.

A brief, preliminary expedition to Oman did  not find much, only shards of pottery fragments, and other evidence of the trade routes. but no traces of a legendary city.

"Is the city of Ubar identical to Iram of the Pillars or is the legendary lost city still buried somewhere beneath the sand?" Nobody knows.

Updated on July 26, 2022

Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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