Iram of the Pillars

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Iram of the Pillars (Arabic: إرَم ذات العماد, ), also called Irem, Ubar, Wabar, or the City of a Thousand Pillars, is a lost city (or region surrounding the lost city) on the Arabian Peninsula.

Introduction

Ubar was mentioned in ancient records, in its Arabic form "Iram", and was spoken of in folk tales as a trading center of the Rub al Khali Desert in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula. It is estimated that it lasted from about 3000 B.C to the first century A.D. It became, according to legends, fabulously wealthy from trade between the coastal regions and the population centers of the Middle-East and even Europe. The city became lost to modern history, and was thought to be only a figment of mythical tales.

The Qur'an says that Iram was a city inhabited by the tribe of 'Ad:

According to the scripture, king Shaddad defied the warnings of the prophet Hud (in the Bible Eber or Heber) and God smote the city, driving it into the sands, never to be seen again. The ruins of the city lie buried somewhere in the sands of the Rub' al Khali. Iram (otherwise spelled Irem) became known to Western literature with the translation of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.

Arabic tradition holds that the tribe of 'Ad were the great-grandchildren of Noah; It is Mentioned in the Tafseer Al Qur'an " The Explanation of The Qur'an" which can be found in english or any other language.

In the 2nd century A.D. Ptolemy made a map which labeled the region with the name "Iobaritae", i.e. The Ubarites. Later legends referred to the fabulous wealth of the lost city and used the region name "Ubar" to designate it.

T. E. Lawrence was interested in Iram/Ubar, and named it "The Atlantis of the Sands".

Rediscovery of Ubar/Iram

Recent discoveries have brought Iram out of the realm of myth into history.

In the early 1980s a group of researchers interested in the history of Ubar used NASA remote sensing satellites, ground penetrating radar, Landsat program data and images taken from the Space Shuttle Challenger as well as SPOT data to identify old camel train routes and points where they converged. These roads were used as frankincense trade routes around 2800 BC to 100 BC.

One area in the Dhofar province of Oman was identified as a possible location for the lost city. A team including adventurer Ranulph Fiennes, archeologist Juris Zarins, filmmaker Nicholas Clapp, and lawyer George Hedges, scouted the area on several trips, and almost by chance, stopped at a water well called Ash Shisar . Near this oasis was located a site previously identified as the 16th century Shis'r fort. Excavations uncovered an older settlement. Evidence of wide-spread trade was found. This older fortress was found to have been built on top of a large limestone cavern which would have served as the water source for the city, making it an important oasis on the trade route. As the residents of the city consumed the water from underground, the water table fell, leaving the limestone roof and walls of the cavern dry. Without the support of the water, the cavern would have been in danger of collapse. It seems to have done so some time between 300-500 AD, destroying the city and covering over the water source. The city perished soon afterwards.

Four subsequent excavations were conducted by Dr. Juris Zarins that traced the historical presence by the people of 'Ad, assumed ancestral builders of Ubar.

In fiction

Iram, City of Lofty Pillars is a play by Kahlil Gibran.

The city is alluded to in the tales of H. P. Lovecraft as being somewhere near The Nameless City.

The legend may have inspired the story of the 'accursed sietch' of Jacurutu in Frank Herbert's novel Children of Dune.

James Rollins's recent novel Sandstorm centres around Ubar and its mysteries.

Sean McMullen's story "The Measure of Eternity" (published in Interzone 205) is set in Ubar, describing it as the wealthiest city on earth.

Ubar may also be the source for the desert city of Miraab described in "The Witchcraft of Ulua" by Clark Ashton Smith .

"Wabar" is a major part of the plot in Josephine Tey's mystery novel The Singing Sands.

In the "The Legend of the Arab Astrologer", part of Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra, Iram is mentioned as a marvellous magical urban Eden that appears to sleepers that disappears as soon as you exit the gates.

In Weaveworld, by Clive Barker, one of the antagonists visits the Empty Quarter and finds what is presumably the magically reanimated ruins of Iram.

"Irem" is the name of a song by the Italian band Green Man, from their album From Irem to Summerisle.

The Australian progressive metal band Alchemist recorded the song "Road To Ubar" on their 1997 album Spiritech.

References

External links

Entry on Irem in Dan Clore's A Necronomicon Glossary
Lost City of Arabia, Nova On-line on the discovery of Ubar
The Search for Ubar: How Remote Sensing Helped Find a Lost City, from a NASA Website
The Frankincense Route Emerges From the Desert, New York Times, April 21, 1992

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Last updated on Thursday March 06, 2008 at 20:57:54 PST (GMT -0800)
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