An artist’s impression of Atlantis

Map showing location of Doñana National Park

“In history, mythology often reflects reality”

The Legendary Cities of Atlantis and UbarIn history, some myths quite often reflect reality, such as the legendary lost island of Atlantis and the lost city of Ubar (AKA Atlantis of the Sands, Iram, or Wabar). Today, after extensive archeological research, it is evident that there was, in fact, an ancient city of Ubar. Historians also generally agree on the existence of Atlantis, however, the exact location is still a hotly debated topic.

The lost city of Atlantis has been the focus of fictitious myths and legends for centuries. However, recent archaeological evidence now leads many to believe that the island city may have actually once existed. The first to provide a written record of Atlantis was the Greek aristocrat, philosopher and scholar, Plato, who heard the stories from Solon, a notable Athenian politician. While in Egypt, the priests had told Solon stories of Atlantis, a powerful island empire that had sought to dominate the Mediterranean world, in around 9500 BC.According to Plato’s books, Timaeus and Critias, Atlantis was an island kingdom with land rings in circular harbours, located just beyond the Pillars of Hercules (now commonly accepted as the peaks that flank the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar). It was originally a technologically advanced, peaceful civilisation, regarded by outsiders as a utopia. However, the Atlanteans became greedy for more lands, power and

wealth, and following their defeat at the hands of the Athenians, were destroyed by Poseidon, the god of the sea. Violent earthquakes and floods lasting one day and one night submerged the city under the ocean forever.Over the centuries, many theories of the location of Atlantis have been proposed, such as the Greek islands of Crete and Thera. However, they lacked substantial evidence. In 1922, this was no exception, as archaeologist, Adolf Schulten, proposed that Atlantis was buried under the mudflats of the Doñana National Park in South Western Andalusia, Spain. Due to his lack of archaeological evidence, his theory was ignored by many until 2004, when German physicist, Rainer Kühne, matched the exact measurements and pattern

of concentric circles in a satellite photograph of the Doñana marshlands, to those Plato used to describe Atlantis. The image also showed a rectangular shape, matching the description and dimensions of Poseidon’s temple at the city. In 2011, a team led by Professor Richard Freund launched an expedition to the area, where they discovered that in ancient times, the national park was a submerged bay. However, sandbars could have created the concentric rings of Atlantis thousands of years ago.The team also discovered other evidence supporting its link to Atlantis, such as a two statuettes found at the site, which date to the same period as the fabled city. They also discovered a methane layer in the ground, which indicates fauna, flora and human activity sealed in a single layer, due to a catastrophic event. Geological

Computer graphic showing concentric rings of Atlantis that may have existed in ancient times

Stone carving of Atlantis found at Cancho Roano

An artist’s impression of Ubar

evidence indicates a long history of tsunamis hitting the coastline of the region, with the ability to tear apart the city, possibly pulling the island into the sea. Using aerial photography, the team were also able to detect evidence of walls and a deep-water port. However, due to underground bore water at the site, further excavations have proven to be difficult and expensive, and therefore the progress of ongoing investigations is extremely slow.

Some people also believe that the biblical city of Tarshish (AKA Tartessos) was another name for the city of Atlantis. Tarshish was thought to be located in southern Spain, but all records of it suddenly ceased, supporting the theory that it was Atlantis, and

indeed was lost to the sea. Both the mysterious cities were told to have access to massive resources of gold, silver or copper, and the hills just upriver from the Doñana marshlands are also mined for gold, silver and copper, and evidence of 5000 years of mining has been found. According to Plato, Atlantis was a port city, where deep water ships would come on three-year journeys, and according to the Bible, ships would also come on a three-year journey to Tarshish.200 km inland from the coast of Spain, the team discovered a series of villages, called Cancho Roano, with a culture far different from others of

the time. This suggests a cataclysmic event forced the Atlanteans to move further inland. However, due to the lack of significant residential areas, with mainly temples, it is possibly a miniature replica or ‘ritual city’ of Atlantis, used to commemorate the lost kingdom. At the entrance to Cancho Roano was a large stone stele with a carving of a man with his sword drawn, next to a series of concentric circles (symbolising Atlantis), showing one path in and out of the city, with a central shrine in the centre. An ancient Egyptian symbol used on metal work was also found, connecting Tarshish and Atlantis together, as well as reiterate the Egyptian ties to the city, as told by Solon and Plato. Another historical example of mythology reflecting reality is the legendary city of Ubar. It is located on the Arabian Peninsula, in a desert called, Rub’ al Khali, known in English as the Arabian Empty Quarter, in the state of Oman. According to legend, the land was an important trade centre on the Incense route that flourished from around 850 BC to 400 AD, founded by the people of ‘Ad. Although the city was commonly known as Ubar, historians now speculate that it is also a city referred to Iram, or Iram of the Pillars in the Qur’ an, and Ubar was the name of the region. According to the Qur’ an, the people of ‘Ad grew greedy and rebelled against Allah. As punishment, Allah wiped out the ‘Ad with a severe sandstorm, “[the] ‘Ad, … were destroyed by a furious wind, exceedingly violent; He made it rage against them seven nights and eight days in succession: so that though couldst see the people lying prostate in its [path], as they had been roots of hollow palm-trees

Map showing the proposed location of the ancient people of ‘Ad in Ubar

tumbled down. Then seest thou any of them left surviving? (Surat al-Haaqqa: 6-8.)According to myth, Ubar was a place of greed and wickedness, and the inhabitants were known to care nothing for immoral acts. Ubar was one of the oldest trading posts in the region, and the people of the land grew rich on the trade of frankincense, a resin grown only in Southern Arabia, which in the day, was as precious and valuable as gold. During the time of the ‘Ad, the area was not as dominated by desert as it is today, but was described by the Roman writer, Pliny, as very fertile and mist-covered, with forested

mountains and rivers. Pliny also recorded stories told by the local Bedouin Arabs, about Ubar’s legendary ruins and precious lost treasures, which ignited the imaginations of adventurers and archeologist for centuries.Since the 1930’s, many noted explorers and adventurers, such as Bertram Thomas, T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and Wilfred Thesiger, have attempted to find the lost city of Ubar. However, the first to succeed was a team of high-technology explorers in the 1980’s and 1990’s, lead by author, filmmaker, adventurer and amateur archaeologist, Nicholas Clapp. Clapp utilized the technology of the day by using NASA remote sensing satellites, GPR, SPOT data, Landsat program data and images taken from the Space Shuttle Challenger to identify old camel train routes and their

point of convergence to locate the legendary trading centre. The expedition team, lead by Clapp, and included Juris Zarins, Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Ronal Blom, uncovered a large octagonal fortress at Ash Shisar that dated to around 2,000 years ago. Artefacts such as Greek, Roman and Syrian pottery were found, suggesting the site had been a major centre for trade, and is probably the fabled city of Ubar, or at least a city in the region of Ubar. The city was built over a large underground limestone cave (called a sinkhole), which, although provided the inhabitants with their valuable water supply, also lead to the city’s collapse when it crumpled.

In conclusion, substantial evidence has come to light about the existence of the cities of Atlantis and Ubar, while for thousands of years they were considered pure myth. This demonstrates that there is at least some truth in most myths. Through these archeological discoveries, it is now evident that when studying history, mythology often reflects reality.

Satellite photographs showing the roads converging on the excavation site at Ubar

Bibliography – AtlantisWebsites:

Fleck, D., ‘Atlantis: A Journey by Old Cultures’, http://www.atlantia.de/atlantis_english/myth/atlantis/atlantis_spain_tartessos.htm, accessed on 7th September 2011.

Haktanir, A., ‘Lost Continent of Atlantis: Myth or Reality’, http://atlantis.haktanir.org/, accessed on 5th September, 2011.

Rincon, P., ‘Satellite images 'show Atlantis'’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3766863.stm, accessed on 5th September, 2011.

Books:

Atkinson, A. (2002) Lost Civilisations: Rediscovering Ancient Sites Through New Technology, Pavilion Books Ltd.

Cave, M. (1998) Fabulous Places of Myth: A journey to Camelot, Atlantis, Valhalla and Babel with Robert Ingpen, Lothian Books.

Phillips, G. (1998) Act of God: Tutankhamun and the Myth of Atlantis, Sidgwick & Jackson.

Wallace, H. (1999) The Mystery of Atlantis, Heinemann Library.]

Documentaries:

National Geographic Channel, Finding Atlantis, 2011.

Bibliography – UbarWebsites:

Blom R., Crippen R., Elachi C., Clapp N., Zarins J., Hedges G., ‘Space Technology And The Discovery Of The Lost City Of Ubar’, http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/27582/1/96-1629.pdf, accessed 30th August, 2011.

Maught II, T. (1992) ‘Ubar, Fabled Lost City, Found by L.A. Team’, http://articles.latimes.com/1992-02-05/news/mn-1192_1_lost-city, accessed on 30th August, 2011.

Przyborski, P., ‘Space Radar Image of Ubar Optical/Radar’, http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=555, accessed on 30th August, 2011.

Schreurs, J., ‘Ubar (Iram): The story of its discovery and importance’, http://home.kpn.nl/lilian_jan_schreurs/oman/Ubar.htm, accessed on 3rd August, 2011.

Yahya, H., ‘The People of ‘Ad and Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands’, http://www.islamicity.com/science/QuranAndScience/destruction/GeneratedFilesnoframe/ThePeopleof145AdandUbartheAtlantisoftheSands.htm, accessed on 30th August, 2011.

Zarins, J., ‘Atlantis of the Sands’, http://www.archaeology.org/9705/abstracts/ubar.html, accessed on 30th August, 2011.

Books:

Atkinson, A. (2002) Lost Civilisations: Rediscovering Ancient Sites Through New Technology, Pavilion Books Ltd.

Clapp, N. (1999) The Road to Ubar: Finding Atlantis of the Sands, Mariner Books