In February 1992, The New York Times announced a major archaeological discovery: the finding of a lost city hidden deep within the sands of Arabia.
American researchers used satellite images to locate the city and declared it to be Ubar, an ancient crossroads of the legendary Incense Route.
When the news spread worldwide, it seemed that the only dissenting voice was the Saudi press.
Today, opinions remain divided, and this “Atlantis of the Sands”, as it is often called, continues to be a subject of debate among archaeologists and enthusiasts.
Scholars, who believe the city was inhabited from around 3000 BCE to 500 CE, think that Ubar collapsed into an underground limestone cavern, but the truth is not entirely clear.
We still choose to believe that the ruins truly belong to the prosperous city mentioned in the Quran, where Ubar, referred to as Iram, was sunk beneath the earth by God because its inhabitants—who had grown excessively wealthy and lived a life of decadence—had chosen corruption and strayed from their faith. The fantastic story of Ubar reached the West through *One Thousand and One Nights*, where the tale of this flourishing city and a sultan seeking to steal its riches is told.
Where is it located?
The ruins of Ubar are located near the town of Shisr, at the edge of the Rub al Khali, the world’s second-largest desert. This vast expanse of sand is called “the Empty Quarter” because legend says it was created when Allah divided the world into four parts: one became the sky, one the earth, one the sea, and the fourth remained empty and became the Rub al Khali. At the moment, Ubar offers little to tourists aside from some ruins and a small museum. But if the allure of this lost city is irresistible to you, you can visit it starting from Salalah, about 150 km away. Once there, you can also admire the incense trees of Wadi Dowkah, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
