Lost city of Ubar
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 4:05PM Many lost cities begin as mere myth, until modern technology finds signs that they may truly have existed. One such lost city is the subject of serious debate amongst historians and archeologists and explorers: known variously as Ubar, Wabar, Iram of the Pillars and famously named Atlantis of the Sands by Lawrence of Arabia, it is located somewhere in Southern Arabia.
The city was fabulously wealthy around the 1st century AD, as it was the centre of the frankincense trade and one of the few places in a long stretch of desert where water could be found. How it came to be lost is still unknown, though historical record suggests that it may have been destroyed by the wrath of God, by a sandstorm, or when the spring above which it was built collapsed into a sinkhole. In 1992, space surveys claimed to have pinpointed its location, by identifying camel train routes visible only by satellite. Ranulph Fiennes, the British explorer, finally discovered the lost city of Ubar in Oman in 1992.