Each the Qur’an and later sources point out a mysterious metropolis known as Iram of the Pillars. Right now, it’s extra flamboyantly known as the Atlantis of the Sands. Like Atlantis, it supposedly lies submerged — on this case, beneath the Arabian Desert. However regardless of promising leads, Iram of the Pillars stays undiscovered. 

Background

The unique passage within the Qur’an reads: “Have you ever not thought of how your Lord handled ‘Aad – with Iram – who had lofty pillars, the likes of whom had by no means been created within the lands.”

Atlantis of the Sands, as depicted within the online game Uncharted 3. Picture: Uncharted 3/Naughty Canine

The thought of a deity destroying a sinful metropolis just isn’t new. The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) all embody tales of this kind. In Islam, Iram was supposedly house to the Advert folks. The town was constructed by a king named Shaddad, a descendant of the biblical determine Noah.

However this king grew grasping and opulent, forcing the prophet Hud to warn him of Allah’s dissatisfaction. King Shaddad and the Advert folks disregarded the prophet’s warning. Because of this, God buried town beneath the sands of the Empty Quarter within the Arabian Desert. The sandstorm lasted eight days.

What’s in a reputation?

Students and poets typically affiliate Iram with different names, notably Ubar and Wabar. Each names make appearances in historical and medieval scholarship, but inform the identical story of an prosperous metropolis submerged by Allah beneath the sands.

Nevertheless, some argue that Iram/Ubar/Wabar refers to an entire area, relying on one’s interpretation or translation of the Qu’ran. Credit score for its nickname, Atlantis of the Sands, goes to T.E Lawrence.

Lawrence of Arabia in 1919. Picture: Lowell Thomas

The legendary metropolis impressed the well-known Uncharted video video games and writers like H.P. Lovecraft. Most famously, One Thousand and One Nights spoke of Iram as a metropolis, mentioning King Shaddad’s greed for constructing palaces solely of gold and valuable stones.

Places and theories

The Ebla Tablets, an historical assortment of commerce inventories, ledgers, and different financial information, point out town a number of occasions. Italian archaeologist Paulo Matthiae found the tablets within the ruins of a palace in Ebla, Syria within the Seventies. The tablets date again to 2500 BC. Nevertheless, the tablets don’t point out a location.

In 1930, English explorer Bertram Thomas traveled to the Empty Quarter, also called Rub ‘al-Khali. His information informed him of a “street to Ubar…an amazing metropolis, wealthy in treasures,” and that “it now lies buried beneath the sands of the Ramlat Shu’ayt in northern Dhofar.” The expedition discovered camel tracks worn into rock that advised a potential previous commerce route. However the explorers unearthed no archaeological proof.

A subsequent search by Harry St John Philby discovered some compelling geological proof. His Bedouin guides confirmed him the Wabar meteor influence craters, which contained meteoritic iron. They informed him that God punished the Advert with fireplace from Heaven. This led him to imagine {that a} meteorite destroyed town. Sadly, he later found that this meteor struck the realm just a few a long time earlier than his go to.

In 1953, Wendell Philips adopted the traditional camel tracks found by Bertram Thomas for over 30km till they disappeared within the mountains of sand.

Radar results in some artifacts

Within the Nineties, with the help of NASA, Nicholas Clapp and his workforce bought a clearer image of the panorama utilizing radar. They noticed a limestone sinkhole at a spot known as Shisur in Dhofar, Oman. The sinkhole contained pottery, partitions, and pillars that date again to 1000 BC.

NASA launched a presumptuous assertion that the workforce had discovered the fabled misplaced metropolis. However educational reactions have been lukewarm. Whereas Shisur appears the principle contender for Iram’s location, a number of students expressed their hesitancy due to the location’s dimension. They contemplate it too small to be a metropolis.

Different theoretical places embody Alexandria and Damascus, however these prospects stay unexplored.

The Empty Quarter. Picture: Kertu/Shutterstock

Archaeologist Juris Zurins favors the idea that Iram was a area moderately than a folks or metropolis. Zurins backs up his declare with a Ptolemaic map which incorporates an space known as “Land of the Lobaritae”. He believes that this area declined due to pure disasters and poor financial situations.

The takeaway

In his ebook The Street to Ubar: Discovering the Atlantis of the Sands, Nicholas Clapp explains that some explorers set off on a wild goose chase, primarily based solely on rumors. He mentioned Bertram Thomas’s “information of Ubar got here from his not-known-for-their truthfulness Bedouin companions”. He mentions Phillp’s expeditions, the place the Bedouins promised to point out him the ruins of town. Finally, they confessed that that they had solely heard about it from their grandparents.

However did it ever exist? The guts of the matter lies in what Iram or Ubar means.

The dearth of agency proof could level to Iram not as a metropolis however as one thing else. Creator Paul Neuenkirchen means that “the title Iram might need originated from a overseas language and meant different phrases like nation, tribe, ancestor, or might have referred to tribes just like the Bedouin.”

For the reason that Qu’ran carries an array of interpretations, translations, and variations, the story might have been warped over the past thousand years. Subsequently, the confusion could stem from an historical linguistic subject. As soon as the phrase’s true which means is established, we will go about discovering no matter hides beneath the rolling sands of Arabia.