The recently found city of "Imad" or "Iram" was only mentioned in the Noble Quran:
The sections of this article are:
- The City of Imad, or Emad, or Iram.
- The Discovery by NASA.
- More evidence about the lost city.
- Other related web site.
Muslims are sometimes asked to provide historical evidence and prophecies from the Noble Quran to prove that it is indeed a Divine Book from GOD Almighty. Please visit Islam: Questions and Answers, and read the "Prophecies" section. Also, please visit Science in Islam to see some of the scientific claims and miracles that exist in the Noble Quran that were proven to be accurate by out scientific discoveries today.
Muslims do not rely on this type of information to prove Islam to non-Muslims. We mainly concentrate on teaching the Wisdom of Islam, and that is believing in the One True Living GOD Almighty. Please visit What is the Wisdom of Islam?
Anyway, let us look at what Allah Almighty said about about the city of Iram:
"Seest thou not How thy Lord dealt With the 'Ad (people) -- Of the (city of) Iram, With lofty pillars, The like of which were not produced in (all) the land? (The Noble Quran, 89:6-8)"
"Iram would seem to have been an ancient 'Ad capital, in southern Arabia. It boasted of lofty architecture ("lofty pillars"). Some Commentators understand Iram to be the name of an eponymous hero of the 'Ad, in which case the following line, "with lofty pillars", should be construed "of lofty stature". The 'Ad were a tall race.
This tract of southern Arabia was once very prosperous (Arabia Felix) and contains ruins and inscriptions. It has always been an object of great interest to the Arabs. In the time of Muawiyah (one of the Muslim leaders during and after Prophet Muhammad's life) some precious stones were found among the ruins in this locality. Quite recently, a bronze lion's head and a bronze piece of gutter with a Sabaean inscription, found in Najran, have been described in the British Museum Quarterly, Vol. XI, No. 4, Sept. 1937." [2]
Below, we will see the evidence found for the city of Imad or Iram that was only mentioned in the Noble Quran, and wasn't mentioned in the Bible:
The City of Imad, or Emad, or Iram:
The following was taken from http://www.soukofoman.com/ubaratsisr.html
Ubar is believed to have been the Omanum Emporiam, Irem (Iram) That Al Emad (Imad), Wabar, Ubar or the mythical lost city in "Arabian Nights" Omanum Emporiam was first mentioned in about 200 AD by Arabian geographers when it was described as a major market town in the "Empty Quarter" and at the crossroads for the frankincense trade. Irem That Al Emad mentioned in the Holy Quran 400 years later was a city of doom because of its sinful ways. It was believed to have been built by King Shaddad bin Ad to recreate his idea of paradise, where he gathered gold, silver, pearls, amber and other precious things to make a city of beauty.
The city was left crumbled and buried beneath the sands of the desert when God sent a great wind to destroy the corruption of wealth and delights of the flesh of the people of Ad.
Bakheet tells us that when the city crumbled it was the result of something like an earthquake and that the city fell into a kind of hole in the ground just behind a large hill, atop of which remains one of the ruins. The walk down the hill to the hole is a bit of a slope and proper shoes are recommended. As it would turn out, the Arabic word Shisr is the word used for such a hole. Hence, the town of Shisr.
Yaqut Al Hamawi, the famous Arab geographer, described Wabar as "the land which belonged to Ad in eastern parts of Yemen and which is today an untrodden waste owing to the drying up of the desert."
The discovery of the city at Shisr came as a result of scientific research and sheer accident. In the early 1990's archaeologists launched a major expedition to find the lost city. They used satellite pictures taken over the desert, revealing old caravan routes. A group of Bedouins led the archaeologists to the area at Shisr, which they thought had ruins. A settlement was discovered beneath the sands, an ancient well which supplied the settlement with water. There were remains of walls, towers and gates, which indicate an extensive town. Pottery, glass vessels and incense burners, dating back to the era between 1000 BC and the Islamic era 900-1400 AD, were also found.
Archaeologists believe Ubar was the principal centre of the north bound overland trade route to the north of the Arabian peninsula and to the Sumerian civilisation in the south of ancient Iraq. Trade and frankincense and Arabian horses flourished from Shisr. Queen Sheba is believed to have traveled to the region for supplies of frankincense and stories narrate the tales of her offerings of frankincense to King Solomon.
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To see read an interview about Ubar with an archaeologist visit this link
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ubar/zarins/index.html For more information about this archaeological find, just type the word Ubar in your address line of your browser bar and you will get a list of more links to Ubar than you know what to do with! However, given the results of our extensive searches, no other online site has pictures of Ubar like those here at The Souk of Oman.
The Discovery by NASA:
The following was taken from the official NASA web site at http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/ubar/ubar_0.html
The legend goes like this: Ubar, a rich and fabulous trading center of ancient Arabia rose out of the desert and then mysteriously vanished back into the sands. References to Ubar in the Koran, the Arabian Nights, and countless Bedouin tales told around desert campfires have captivated the imaginations of explorers and archaeologists. But all searches were fruitless and the city remained lost.
Now, centuries after Ubar's disappearance, a combination of hard work, dedicated research, and remote sensing technology has perhaps unraveled this ancient mystery.
More evidence about the lost city:
Modern archaeologists have identified ruins at Shisha, Oman as those of Irem (Iram), better known as the lost city of Ubar. This was a fortress city not of "pillars" but "towers" (which is the same word in Arabic). It served to protect the caravans traveling the frankincense route from the gum tree groves through the land of Ad into the Rub al Khali. Founded 5,000 years ago, Ubar was built around a natural cistern of water which provided a unique oasis in the Empty Quarter. 150 people lived in the fortress surrounded by perhaps 3,000 travellers encamped in black tents, resting before continuing their journeys. The city disappeared around 300 CE. According to legend, the buildings were thrown down as punishment by Allah for the wickedness of its ruler.
(From Nova, "Lost City of Arabia", 1996 WGBH)
As I mentioned above, "Iram would seem to have been an ancient
'Ad capital, in southern Arabia. It boasted of lofty architecture ("lofty
pillars"). Some Commentators understand Iram to be the name of an eponymous
hero of the 'Ad, in which case the following line, "with lofty pillars", should
be construed "of lofty stature". The 'Ad were a tall race.
This tract of southern Arabia was once very prosperous (Arabia Felix) and contains ruins and inscriptions. It has always been an object of great interest to the Arabs. In the time of Muawiyah (one of the Muslim leaders during and after Prophet Muhammad's life) some precious stones were found among the ruins in this locality. Quite recently, a bronze lion's head and a bronze piece of gutter with a Sabaean inscription, found in Najran, have been described in the British Museum Quarterly, Vol. XI, No. 4, Sept. 1937." [2]
Other related web sites:
Lost City of Arabia
http://www.al-islam.org/mot/default.asp?url=24geogrf.htm
http://www.quran.org.uk/ieb_quran_geography.htm
http://www.asiatour.com/oman/e-04dhof/eo-dho11.htm
http://www.omanet.com/dhofar.htm
Bibliography:
1- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an.
Author: Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Published by: Amana Publications, 10710 Tucker Street, Suite B, Beltsville, Maryland
20705-2223 USA.
Telephone: (301) 595-5777.
Fax: (301) 595-5888.
ISBN: 0-91597-59-0 (HC).
2- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an [1]. Foot Notes #6114, and 6115. Page 1645.
Allah, Islam, Quran, Muhammad questions and answers.