![]() It was only the late Medieval version of The One Thousand and One Nights, in the fourteenth or 15th century, that romanticized Ubar and turned it into a city, rather than a region or a people. Ptolemy's 2nd century map of the area shows "Iobaritae". A fascinating trail through jungles, subterranean tunnels and the hottest deserts on earth finally led, in 1991, to the discovery of Ubar and the opening of. In classical texts and Arabic historical sources, Ubar refers to a region and a group of people, not to a specific town. Some confusion exists about the word "Ubar". The region became lost to modern history, and was thought to be only a figment of mythical tales. According to legends, it became fabulously wealthy from trade between the coastal regions and the population centers of the Arabic peninsula and Europe. was that Ubar perished in a sandstorm as divine punishment for wicked living. It is estimated that it lasted from about 3000 BC to the 1st century AD. CiteSeerX - Document Details (Isaac Councill, Lee Giles, Pradeep Teregowda): : The location of the legendary city of a desert which supported the ancient and lucrative frankincense trade, has been found at the edge of the Arabian Peninsulas Empty Quarter modern day Oman. There couldn’t have been more than 10 villas there in total as well as a small mosque and a tiny convenience store. Lawrence called it "the Atlantis of the sands," and like the undersea Atlantis, many scholars doubted that Ubar even existed.Ī few villas have been built since the discovery of this site in 1992. 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 restless desert. You can purchase it on either as a paperback or as a download for your Kindle.This location is recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. We encourage interested readers to check out Eric’s book. Chanda currently serves as a volunteer with Aramco Gardening as the only arborist in the country, working extensively with the trees on the Dhahran compound and xeriscaping. During that time they have traveled by car extensively throughout the region, visiting the tombs of Al Faw, Kuwait, Oman and other noteworthy places. Eric wrote his novel during his first Ramadan at Aramco and has now published it three years later.Įric has lived in the Kingdom for three years with his wife Chandra and their two children. The third part is set in present-day Saudi Arabia and concentrates on two Aramco surveyors who have been seconded to the Saudi Geological Survey Commission. Lawrence of Arabia) to portray him on a mission to locate what he referred to as “the Atlantis of the Sands” before an Ottoman military force can sack and loot the site. The second part takes advantage of a several-month gap in the biography of T. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, the city was punished and all who did not give up the false worship were destroyed along with the city. The first third of Eric’s novel concentrates on the last days of Iram, viewing events there from the perspective of the pre-Islamic prophet Hud, who warned the city of its folly in worshiping false idols. Long thought to be buried somewhere beneath the sands of Arabia-according to some in the Rub’ al Khali, according to others in any of several other places-the city has returned to life after being lost for centuries in the form of a novel by an Aramcon.Įric Stone III, currently working in the Project Management Office Department in Dhahran, recently published a fascinating historical novel titled “The Lost City of Iram.” Available today on, Eric’s story is divided into three parts, separated in time from one another, each with its own distinctive set of characters, all of whom discover various elements and solve certain mysteries related to the city. Known to Roman, Nabatean and Sabean traders in ancient times as a city of vast wealth and “towers,” Iram/Ubar is mentioned in The One Thousand and One Nights. At the center of some of its most enduring legends is the fabled city of Iram, also called Ubar, the capital of the Kingdom of Ad. and was a remote desert outpost where caravans were assembled for the transport of frankincense across the desert. Archeologists believe Ubar existed from about 2800 B.C. The Arabian Peninsula has been known as a land of many mysteries for thousands of years. The ancient city was discovered in 1992 with the aid of remote sensing data.
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