A film crew may have discovered the legendary "Atlantis of the Sands"

The Myth of Ubar, the Sunken City of the Arabian Peninsula

In traditional Arab folklore, the city of Ubar has held a legendary status for several centuries. Described as a prosperous, fortified metropolis built in the middle of an oasis, it served as a major stop on the trade route connecting the southern Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean Sea. Its water reservoirs fed tall towers, while numerous caravans laden with frankincense and myrrh stopped there. According to ancient tales, the city suddenly vanished, swallowed up by the sands as a result of divine punishment for the vanity and immorality of its inhabitants.

Although this story is partly a folk myth, historical evidence confirms that a thriving oasis did indeed exist in the Rub al-Khali Desert, recognized as the world’s largest contiguous sand desert. According to a report by journalist Tim Newcomb, the search for this forgotten metropolis has captivated researchers and adventurers from around the world for nearly a century, yet the mystery remains unsolved.

A Century of Expeditions and Research in the Empty Quarter

The Western world’s interest in this city, nicknamed the “Atlantis of the Sands,” intensified beginning in 1931, when British explorer Bertram Thomas set out to become the first European to cross the Quart Vide. Guided by local Bedouins, he collected oral accounts of the lost city and mapped the routes of ancient caravan trails. He published his findings in the Geographical Journal, definitively popularizing the concept of an Atlantis buried beneath the sands.

The publication of this work sparked a wave of expeditions across the region. Illustrious figures such as Thomas Edward Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, as well as the British explorers Harry St. John Philby and Wilfred Thesiger, and the American Wendell Phillips, all set out in search of the lost city. However, despite decades of intense searching amid the dunes, each of these attempts ended in failure.

The 1980s Expedition and the Rediscovery of Shisr

During the 1980s, filmmaker and amateur archaeologist Nicholas Clapp revived the search by assembling a team of experts that included adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and archaeologist Juris Zarins. Using satellite imagery provided by NASA, the group was able to identify ancient caravan routes converging on a specific site located in Shisr, in the Sultanate of Oman.

Excavations at this site have unearthed fortified structures, collapsed towers, and the remains of a permanent water well. The announcement of the discovery garnered considerable international attention. As noted in a 1992 article in The New York Times: "Guided by ancient maps and precise observations from space, archaeologists and explorers have discovered a lost city in the heart of the Arabian sands, and they are virtually certain that it is Ubar, the legendary hub of the lucrative frankincense trade thousands of years ago."

Controversies and Scientific Skepticism

Despite the initial enthusiasm, the scientific community quickly raised numerous reservations about the identification of Shisr as the mythical Ubar. In reality, the site of Shisr had never truly been lost: explorer Wilfred Thesiger had already documented its existence several decades earlier. Furthermore, as early as the 1940s, geologists working for oil companies had mapped the ruins of its fort before dismissing the hypothesis that it was the legendary metropolis.

Archaeological analyses indicate that the visible fortress was likely built in the 16th century, although Clapp’s team maintained that it was built on top of a much older settlement. Saudi officials have publicly disputed this attribution, while UNESCO classifies Shisr as a medieval settlement. To date, no evidence proves that the site was anything more than a simple fortified trading post.

New Studies and the Decline of the Caravan Routes

The research team has not, however, abandoned its theory. In a 2007 study published in Remote Sensing in Archaeology, the researchers documented the discovery of artifacts from Persia, Rome, and Greece, confirming the site’s commercial importance. They also identified a sinkhole that had engulfed the main gate, caused by the inhabitants’ excessive drawing of groundwater.

Taking a broader view of the situation, archaeologist Juris Zarins told PBS that ancient texts describe Ubar as a region or a group of people rather than a single city. With the shift of trade to maritime routes and the gradual depletion of the water table, Shisr fell into obscurity, thus laying the groundwork for the myth of Ubar. The true lost city may still lie beneath the dunes of the Rub’ al-Khali.

Source: popularmechanics.com

A film crew may have discovered the legendary "Atlantis of the Sands"