Once upon a time there was a city of towers in Shisr in Oman. A hole in the desert is what remains of this fabled paradise on earth.
The Lost City of Ubar, 85 kilometers north-east from Thumrayt near Muscat was discovered in 1992 by scientific methods . The legends of the lost city of Ubar has for centuries been one of the Middle East’s greatest mysteries. Bedouin tales and local fokelore is cited even today among the local population about the ancient city.
Ubar was even mentioned in the stories of " One Thousand and One Nights". Lawrence of Arabia called it "the Atlantis of the Sands". Most importantly, there is a reference to the city in the Holy Quran where, due to its imposing architecture, Ubar was referred to as Irem That Al Emad, the "city of towers".
The satellite image taken from space is further confirmation of the site of the lost city of Ubar. The radar image of the region around the site of the lost city in southern Oman was originally discovered from space in 1992. The image was acquired on orbit 65 of the NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994 by imaging . The region is of large sand dunes and rough lime stone rocks that form a rocky desert floor. The black track which runs across the middle in the picture is a wadi or dry river. The violet colour is the lime stone rocks on which the city was built. The fortress of the lost city of Ubar was near the wadi, close to the center of the image. The remains of the fortress is too small to be detected now but tracks leading to the site appear even now clearly as streaks. These tracks have been used in modern times and many were in use in ancient times as well. It wasn't a desert in the ancient times! It was a vast savanna with a lake bed more than 20 kilometres long.
It is believed that Ubar existed from about 2800 B.C. to about 200 A.D. and was a desert outpost near an Oasis , on the camel tracks where caravans were assembled for the transport of frankincense across the desert.
It is believed that Ubar existed from about 2800 B.C. to about 200 A.D. and was a desert outpost near an Oasis , on the camel tracks where caravans were assembled for the transport of frankincense across the desert.
FABLED CITY
Myths surrounding Ubar were unparalleled even by "lost city" standards. Ubar was a magnificent kingdom, immensely rich , "streets paved with gold." It was a city of tall towers whose like has not been built ever in the whole world. T.E Lawrence called it "The Atlantis of the Sands."
Myths surrounding Ubar were unparalleled even by "lost city" standards. Ubar was a magnificent kingdom, immensely rich , "streets paved with gold." It was a city of tall towers whose like has not been built ever in the whole world. T.E Lawrence called it "The Atlantis of the Sands."
Ubar was said to have become a hotbed of wickedness and its people corrupted by its riches. It is believed that like the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, it also suffered the wraths of God. It is aid to have been destroyed by the cyclonic storms that swept away the fort and sucked it into the deep hole that remains even today.Historians chronicle Ubar's destruction somewhere in the first centuary AD.
Very little is known of prehistoric times in the barren deserts of Arabia. The rock drawings in the desert suggest that the prehistoric people of the second millennium were not the Arabs from the north . In the past the descendants of the Mahra tribe inhabited these regions. They were an Australoid by genes and lived in Yemen and the Shahra of southwestern Oman, on the Dhofar highlands. They are now known as the 'lost Arabs' ( al-'Arab al-ba'ida ), and are now the tribes of 'Ad, Tamud and Gurhum. The Shahra tribe are probably descendants of the People of 'Ad. The population is now in small numbers . Their native language is very different from Arabic, something older and called the "language of the birds."
The Dhofar region is a rugged and mountainous region . The Shahra called their land Uz, after the patriarch who must have led them out of The Empty Quarter of the deserts. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job whose tomb is located just outside of Salalah in Oman.
Very little is known of prehistoric times in the barren deserts of Arabia. The rock drawings in the desert suggest that the prehistoric people of the second millennium were not the Arabs from the north . In the past the descendants of the Mahra tribe inhabited these regions. They were an Australoid by genes and lived in Yemen and the Shahra of southwestern Oman, on the Dhofar highlands. They are now known as the 'lost Arabs' ( al-'Arab al-ba'ida ), and are now the tribes of 'Ad, Tamud and Gurhum. The Shahra tribe are probably descendants of the People of 'Ad. The population is now in small numbers . Their native language is very different from Arabic, something older and called the "language of the birds."
The Dhofar region is a rugged and mountainous region . The Shahra called their land Uz, after the patriarch who must have led them out of The Empty Quarter of the deserts. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job whose tomb is located just outside of Salalah in Oman.
The 'Ad region possessed something the civilized world greatly desired and valued in those days. The Dhofar mountains had numerous groves of a smal tree, the frankincense tree whose resin was as valuable as gold in ancient times. It was used as a fragrance, for medicinal purposes and for embalming. The Sumerians were using frankincense and it is mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
The People of 'Ad tended to the frankincense groves with great care and reverence. The harves was during the month of August. As a holy tree the farmers were only allowed to wear clean clothes, they had to abstain from sex and could not touch a corpse until the harvest was completed. They would make cuts in the branches and gather the sap when it hardened into fragrant crystals. By 900 BC the trade had become a major component of the ancient world trade. Camel caravans and ships carried products throughout the known world. The People of 'Ad had to find a way around their competitors in the desert and so they redirected their trade routes directly across The Empty deserts. On that camel caravan route they built the fabled city of Ubar, around an Oasis. Traders came here with their wealth to do business and to enjoy the fabulous riches available in the city.
It became a walled city known for great wealth and it was the only source of available water before the perilous trek across the desert. The vast wealth of 'Ad was used to create a paradise in the sand with vast palm groves and orchards. It is mentioned in Claudius Ptolemy's Geographos written in the 2nd century AD as the land of the Iobaritae. To the Arab it was called Irem of the Pillars.
The story of the destruction of Ubar.
The story by the 13th century historian, Rashid al-Din, tells how the sinful Ubarites were punished :
"The God punished the people of Ubar with a great wind and a terrible noise from the clouds, which struck them dumb. And in the morning there was nothing to be seen except ruins. From then onwards Ubar belonged to evil creatures, each with a single arm, leg, and eye. And it was known that anyone who went near the ruins would be driven mad with fear."
The People of 'Ad tended to the frankincense groves with great care and reverence. The harves was during the month of August. As a holy tree the farmers were only allowed to wear clean clothes, they had to abstain from sex and could not touch a corpse until the harvest was completed. They would make cuts in the branches and gather the sap when it hardened into fragrant crystals. By 900 BC the trade had become a major component of the ancient world trade. Camel caravans and ships carried products throughout the known world. The People of 'Ad had to find a way around their competitors in the desert and so they redirected their trade routes directly across The Empty deserts. On that camel caravan route they built the fabled city of Ubar, around an Oasis. Traders came here with their wealth to do business and to enjoy the fabulous riches available in the city.
It became a walled city known for great wealth and it was the only source of available water before the perilous trek across the desert. The vast wealth of 'Ad was used to create a paradise in the sand with vast palm groves and orchards. It is mentioned in Claudius Ptolemy's Geographos written in the 2nd century AD as the land of the Iobaritae. To the Arab it was called Irem of the Pillars.
The story of the destruction of Ubar.
The story by the 13th century historian, Rashid al-Din, tells how the sinful Ubarites were punished :
"The God punished the people of Ubar with a great wind and a terrible noise from the clouds, which struck them dumb. And in the morning there was nothing to be seen except ruins. From then onwards Ubar belonged to evil creatures, each with a single arm, leg, and eye. And it was known that anyone who went near the ruins would be driven mad with fear."
NASA Imaging radar was used from the space shuttle in1992 to discover the ancient caravan routes through the desert. Images from Landsat and SPOT showed the ancient routes converging at the eastern edge of the Empty Quarter at the oasis of Ash Shisr.
Excavations at the site at Ash Shisr found conclusive evidence that Ubar had indeed been located at the oasis. The legends were correct about the destruction of Ubar. The city was located over an immense limestone cavern a natural feature of the region. Heavy flodding had dissolved it and washed away the lime stones from the underground. Perhaps an earthquake had sucked in the city along with the water in the oasis. It was swallowed up by the very earth it stood on.
Thousand And One Nights. : The story of THE CITY OF IREM.
Extract:
Abdallah ben Abou Kilabeh went in search of a camel that had strayed from him; and as he was wandering in the deserts of Yemen and Sebaa, he came upon a great city in which was a vast citadel with pavilions, which rose high into the air. he could find there inhabitants and that he might enquireabout his camel. But when he reached it he found it deserted, without a living soul in it. He alighted and stood by his she-camel and took courage and entered the city. When he came to the citadel he found it had two vast gates of large size and loftiness, inlaid jewels and jacinths, white and red and yellow and green. Entering the citadel, trembling with wonder and fright, he found it long and wide larger than any thing he had seen before. The high pavilions were built of gold and silver and inlaid with many- coloured jewels and pearls. The doors were even more of beauty and the floors were strewn with great pearls and ambergris and saffron. When he came within the city and saw no human being therein, I swooned and almost died for fear. He looked down from the towers and balconies and saw rivers running under them. The building of the city was one brick of gold and one of silver. Doubtless this was the Paradise promised for the world to come."
He returned to his own country, and he told the folks what he had seen.
It was the city called Irem of the Columns, the like of which was never made in the world,and it was Sheddad son of Aad the Great that built it. Aad the Great had two sons, Shedid and Sheddad. When the father and Shedid died, Sheddad reigned over the earth alone. He was fond of reading in old books and believed of Paradise being built on earth. And he built an imitation of paradise on earth with its pavilions and galleries and trees and fruits . Under his rule were a hundred thousand kings, each ruling over a hundred thousand captains, commanding each a hundred thousand warriors. So he called these kings and said to them, 'I find in old books a description of Paradise, as it is to be in the next world, and I desire to build its like in this world. Go build me a city of gold and silver, whose gravel shall be rubies and pearls and the columns of its vaults beryl. Fill it with palaces, set galleries and balconies, and plant its lanes and thoroughfares with trees bearing ripe fruits and make rivers to run through it in channels of gold and silver.' Take for me such of these precious things from all men's hands and let nothing escape you: be diligent and beware of disobedience.'
Then he wrote letters to all the kings of the world over the earth and it was three hundred and threescore kings and bade them gather together all of these things that were in their subjects' hands. The mines of precious stones and metals were emptied and brought. This they accomplished in the space of twenty years. Sheddad then assembled builders and men of art and labourers and handicraftsmen, who dispersed over the world and explored all the lands, till they came to a vast and fair open plain, clear of hills and mountains, with springs welling and rivers running. This is the place as the King commanded us to find. All the Kings of the earth sent heir jewels and precious stones and pearls large and small and gold and silver upon camels by land and in great ships and there came to the builders' hands of all these things so great a quantity as may neither be told or imagined.
The work building Ubar took three hundred years. Then the king said "make thereto an impregnable citadel, rising high into the air, and round it a thousand pavilions, each builded on a thousand columns of ruby and vaulted with gold. So they returned and did this in other twenty years; after which they again presented themselves before the King and informed him of the accomplishment of his will. Then he commanded his Viziers to prepare for departure to the new city . They spent twenty years preparing for departure. Sheddad set out rejoicing in the attainment of his wish and moved forward till there remained but one day's journey between him and Irem. On the last day God sent down a thunderblast from the heavens of His power, which destroyed them all with a blast, and none of them set eyes on the city.
What actually happpened?
Excavations at the site at Ash Shisr found conclusive evidence that Ubar had indeed been located at the oasis. The legends were correct about the destruction of Ubar. The city was located over an immense limestone cavern a natural feature of the region. Heavy flodding had dissolved it and washed away the lime stones from the underground. Perhaps an earthquake had sucked in the city along with the water in the oasis. It was swallowed up by the very earth it stood on.
Thousand And One Nights. : The story of THE CITY OF IREM.
Extract:
Abdallah ben Abou Kilabeh went in search of a camel that had strayed from him; and as he was wandering in the deserts of Yemen and Sebaa, he came upon a great city in which was a vast citadel with pavilions, which rose high into the air. he could find there inhabitants and that he might enquireabout his camel. But when he reached it he found it deserted, without a living soul in it. He alighted and stood by his she-camel and took courage and entered the city. When he came to the citadel he found it had two vast gates of large size and loftiness, inlaid jewels and jacinths, white and red and yellow and green. Entering the citadel, trembling with wonder and fright, he found it long and wide larger than any thing he had seen before. The high pavilions were built of gold and silver and inlaid with many- coloured jewels and pearls. The doors were even more of beauty and the floors were strewn with great pearls and ambergris and saffron. When he came within the city and saw no human being therein, I swooned and almost died for fear. He looked down from the towers and balconies and saw rivers running under them. The building of the city was one brick of gold and one of silver. Doubtless this was the Paradise promised for the world to come."
He returned to his own country, and he told the folks what he had seen.
It was the city called Irem of the Columns, the like of which was never made in the world,and it was Sheddad son of Aad the Great that built it. Aad the Great had two sons, Shedid and Sheddad. When the father and Shedid died, Sheddad reigned over the earth alone. He was fond of reading in old books and believed of Paradise being built on earth. And he built an imitation of paradise on earth with its pavilions and galleries and trees and fruits . Under his rule were a hundred thousand kings, each ruling over a hundred thousand captains, commanding each a hundred thousand warriors. So he called these kings and said to them, 'I find in old books a description of Paradise, as it is to be in the next world, and I desire to build its like in this world. Go build me a city of gold and silver, whose gravel shall be rubies and pearls and the columns of its vaults beryl. Fill it with palaces, set galleries and balconies, and plant its lanes and thoroughfares with trees bearing ripe fruits and make rivers to run through it in channels of gold and silver.' Take for me such of these precious things from all men's hands and let nothing escape you: be diligent and beware of disobedience.'
Then he wrote letters to all the kings of the world over the earth and it was three hundred and threescore kings and bade them gather together all of these things that were in their subjects' hands. The mines of precious stones and metals were emptied and brought. This they accomplished in the space of twenty years. Sheddad then assembled builders and men of art and labourers and handicraftsmen, who dispersed over the world and explored all the lands, till they came to a vast and fair open plain, clear of hills and mountains, with springs welling and rivers running. This is the place as the King commanded us to find. All the Kings of the earth sent heir jewels and precious stones and pearls large and small and gold and silver upon camels by land and in great ships and there came to the builders' hands of all these things so great a quantity as may neither be told or imagined.
The work building Ubar took three hundred years. Then the king said "make thereto an impregnable citadel, rising high into the air, and round it a thousand pavilions, each builded on a thousand columns of ruby and vaulted with gold. So they returned and did this in other twenty years; after which they again presented themselves before the King and informed him of the accomplishment of his will. Then he commanded his Viziers to prepare for departure to the new city . They spent twenty years preparing for departure. Sheddad set out rejoicing in the attainment of his wish and moved forward till there remained but one day's journey between him and Irem. On the last day God sent down a thunderblast from the heavens of His power, which destroyed them all with a blast, and none of them set eyes on the city.
What actually happpened?
Ubar was a trading outpost when the arabian desert was not in its current barrenness. It was near a water stream which is buried with desert sand now. The rocky bottom was of lime stone which melts when water remains over it during floods. The city was built on such a rocky terrain which dissolved in a flood and thunder storm. From the satellite pictures it is evident that the the walls of the settlement had been built over a huge limestone cavern that had collapsed burying the city beneath the sands. The towers guarded a water source in the surrounding 50,000 square miles qualified as the "great well of Wabar."
When the city crumbled it was the result of something like an earthquake and that the city fell into a kind of hole in the ground just behind a large hill. The path now to walk down the hill to the hole is a bit of a slop.
The Arabic word "Shisr" is the word used for such a hole.
You can drive upto this palce now and in the middle of the night when there is nothing else around you in the vastness of the desert, you can still feel the strangeness of the ancient past which is buried below your feet.
