Many centurys ago there was a city of trade specializing in Frankincense at the end of the Empty Quarter. This city had all roads leading to it. Traders from around the Persian Empire would come to trade goods and make money. Then it all was gone, sunken into the sand and buried by time. The Quaran says that the city was corrupt, and Allah swept his hand over the city and the sands washed it away. The story of Ubar was passed down from person to person to become a legend, then a myth. In 1985, the European Space Agency was taking pictures of Europe for global mapping and looking for oil reserves and noticed lines in the terrain. They sent teams to dig, and found nothing, but ancient Roman concrete. The roads made by Rome, were still seen from space. A researcher who was looking for the mythical city asked NASA to have some pictures taken of this one area in Oman, which he suspected was the location of Ubar. When the pictures came back they revealed the scars of trails and ancient roads leading to one spot. The researcher came to Oman in 1992, and started to dig. Ubar was found. We got to go there yesterday. Off the paved road and down a dirt road we arrived at the site. A friend Mark, and two other guys, Matt and Tony, came with us to check it out. It was very, very hot, 120 degrees. I took pictures and we went down to the bottom of the sink hole, but it goes even deeper than that. The real reason the city sank, was that it was built over a water well, which led into a thin aquifer chamber. Over time the chamber just collapsed and down came the city. The people explained it as the hand of God taking vengeance for corruption, but it was more like a natural disaster. Enjoy the pictures.
1 comment:
Where's the rest of the trip?? Sure sounds like you guys had fun!! I wanna see about your trip across Egypt!
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