Насанд хүрэгчид болон судлаачид Арабын цөлөөс олон зууны турш сураггүй алга болсон Убар хотыг хайсаар ирсэн бөгөөд 1990-ээд онд Оманд олдсон олдвор уг нууцыг бүрэн тайлж чадаагүй байна.
Арабын домогт өгүүлснээр Убар нь хүangsаа, мирээ тээвэрлэсэн караванууд Газар дундын тэнгисийг зорьдог байсан чинээлэг баян бүрд байжээ. Дэлхийн хамгийн том элсэн цөл болох Руб-эль-Халид нуугдсан энэхүү хотыг олохын тулд 1931 онд Британийн судлаач Бэртрам Томас анхны хайгуулыг эхлүүлж, Бедуин хөтөчдөөс анхны мэдээллийг олж авснаар Лоуренс болон бусад алдартай судлаачид уг хотыг эрж хайх болсон юм.
1980-аад онд найруулагч Николас Клапп тэргүүтэй багийнхан NASA-гийн хиймэл дагуулын зургийг ашиглан Оманы Ширс баян бүрдийн орчмоос бэхлэлт бүхий суурин, олдвор, худгийг илрүүлжээ. 1992 онд судлаачид үүнийг Убар хот хэмээн үзсэн ч уг байршил өмнө нь газрын тосны геологичид болон Уилфред Тэсигэрт мэдэгдэж байсан төдийгүй олдсон барилга байгууламж нь 1500-аад оны үед хамаарч байгаа нь маргаан дагуулсан байна. Археологич Юрис Заринс уг газрыг хуучны худалдааны замын чухал хэсэг байсныг баталсан боловч түүхэнд дурдагдсан том хот эсвэл бүхэл бүтэн бүс нутгийг төлөөлж байгаа эсэх нь одоогоор тодорхойгүй байна.
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For nearly a century, explorers have searched the Arabian Desert for Ubar, a legendary city said to have vanished beneath the sands. A 1990s discovery in Oman appeared to reveal the lost settlement, but the mystery surrounding the so-called “Atlantis of the Sands” is far from solved.
Stories of Ubar have been passed down through Arabian folklore for generations. The city was described as a rich and powerful oasis along the ancient incense trade routes, where caravans carried valuable goods such as frankincense and myrrh across the desert toward the Mediterranean.
The legend captured the attention of explorers because it seemed to point toward a real place hidden somewhere in the Empty Quarter, the largest continuous sand desert on Earth. Finding evidence of such a settlement became a race between archaeology, technology, and one of the world’s most challenging landscapes.
A Legendary City That Drew Explorers Into The Desert
The modern search for Ubar began in 1931, when British explorer Bertram Thomas crossed the Empty Quarter during his attempt to become the first European to complete the journey. Along the way, his Bedouin guides told him about a lost city and showed him ancient tracks they believed were connected to it.
Thomas mapped these routes and later published his research in The Geographical Journal. He gave the mysterious city a name that would become famous: the “Atlantis of the Sands.” The story soon attracted some of the most well-known explorers of the 20th century. Lawrence of Arabia (Thomas Edward Lawrence), Harry St. John Philby, Wilfred Thesiger, and American explorer Wendell Phillips all searched for clues linked to the vanished settlement.
Their expeditions found traces of ancient activity in the desert, but none could prove that they had located the city described in the stories. The search continued, partly because the legend seemed to match the reality of an important trading region that once existed in southern Arabia.
NASA Data Reveals A Forgotten Ancient City
A major breakthrough came in the 1980s, when filmmaker and amateur archaeologist Nicholas Clapp gathered a team that included adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and archaeologist Juris Zarins. Using NASA satellite imagery, the group studied old caravan routes and identified a possible meeting point near Shisr, an oasis site in Oman.
Excavations revealed the remains of a fortified settlement, collapsed structures, artifacts, and a permanent well. According to The New York Times in 1992, researchers believed they had found a lost city buried in the Arabian sands and were “virtually sure” it was Ubar, the legendary trading center connected to the incense trade.
The discovery quickly became famous. It was a rare case where satellite technology appeared to help locate a place that had existed mainly through stories and historical references. Still, the evidence did not fully settle the debate.
Shisr May Be A Piece Of A Larger Ancient Puzzle
The biggest problem with identifying Shisr as Ubar is that the site was never truly lost. Wilfred Thesiger had already described the location, and oil company geologists had recorded its ruins during the 1940s.
Researchers also found that the visible fortress probably dates from the 1500s. UNESCO lists Shisr as a medieval settlement, not as a confirmed ancient city. Archaeologists did discover signs of trade, including objects from Persia, Rome, and Greece, as well as an octagonal fortress connected to the incense trade.
Those findings show that Shisr was an important stop along ancient routes, but they do not prove it was the enormous city described in legend. As explained by Juris Zarins, historical references to Ubar may have described a wider region or a group of people rather than one single city.
Speaking with PBS, he suggested that Shisr could still be connected to the Ubar story, even if it was only one part of a larger picture. The settlement may have declined as trade routes changed and groundwater became harder to access. A sinkhole found at the site may also be linked to the loss of water resources.
“We’re going to try to find precisely how well these cities stand out, if there are water sources associated with them, if the springs are perennial, and if they have these ancient trade routes running across them—because we know there were routes running across there during medieval times. Now it’s just a matter of getting out there and finding the ancient ones,” he stated.
