Road to Ubar Pa - Nicholas Clapp [107]
CALMN-
-ESS IS
REQUE-
-STED
FROM
ALL.
The rooms were stifling hot and not for the fastidious. We hesitated to open the windows for fear that creatures of the night might join us. Already a suction-footed lizard was adhered to a pane, watching us. Or perhaps he was more interested in the little snacks our room might offer. A creature of uncertain species strolled across our pillow, which reminded us of the enlightenment offered by a Middle Eastern hotel clerk on a previous occasion. "The reason there are bugs in the bed," he explained, "is that they're too scared to get down on the floor."
As darkness descended over the Hadramaut—the Valley of Death—we settled in for the night at the Castle of the Grave. We didn't sleep badly. Quite well, in fact.
* * *
APPENDIX 1:
Key Dates in the History of Ubar
APPENDIX 2:
A Glossary of People and Places
APPENDIX 3:
Further Reflections on al-Kisai's "The Prophet Hud"
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
* * *
Appendix 1: Key Dates in the History of Ubar
1,000,000–100,000 B.C. Homo erectus in the vicinity.
100,000–20,000 B.C. Migrating from Africa, Homo sapiens camps at Shisur spring (the nexus of what would later become Ubar). In this era, Arabia is a vast savanna.
20,000–8000 B.C. A devastating era of hyperaridity turns Arabia into an uninhabitable wasteland.
8000–2500 B.C. The rains return, and with them pastoral nomads who construct a large animal trap at Shisur. They harvest frankincense and conduct long-range trade with Mesopotamia.
2500 B.C.-present The rains retreat, initiating a new period of aridity that continues today.
c. 2000 B.C. The camel is domesticated, possibly in southern Arabia.
c. 900 B.C. Ubar's Old Town built.
c. 350 B.C. Ubar's New Town built. Trade extends to Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome. Ubar's days of glory (and perhaps inglory) follow.
c. 300–500 A.D. Ubar destroyed and abandoned.
900–1500 Ruins of Ubar reoccupied; minimal rebuilding. (Evidence of attack and burning, c. 940.)
1930 Explorer Bertram Thomas discovers "the road to Ubar." In Thomas's footsteps, expeditions seek the city in 1932, 1945 (two attempts), 1953, 1956, and, finally, 1991–92.
* * *
Appendix 2: A Glossary of People and Places
'AD The people who in antiquity harvested Arabia's finest frankincense from groves high in the Dhofar Mountains of today's Oman. Ubar was the 'Ad's city in the desert.
AIN HUMRAN A fortress of the 'Ad overlooking the Arabian Sea and controlling the maritime shipment of frankincense. In architecture and purpose, it was Ubar's sister city.
ANDHUR A colonial outpost of the Kingdom of the Hadramaut in the territory of the People of 'Ad. Along with Hanun, it was an inland collection point for frankincense.
AL-AHQAF An arc of dunes on the southern edge of the Rub' al-Khali. In legend, this is where Ubar lay buried.
DHOFAR The southern region of today's Oman, where the Dhofar Mountains rise up from the coast, providing ideal conditions for the growth of Arabia's finest frankincense.
GERRHA A city on the north side of the Rub' al-Khali. The Gerrhans were trading partners of the 'Ad.
HAGIF The 'Ad's major settlement in the Dhofar Mountains and the largest Bronze Age site in Oman.
HADRAMAUT A powerful kingdom immediately to the west of the People of'Ad. Shortly after the time of Christ, the Hadramis sought a share of the frankincense harvest and colonized 'Adite territory.
HANUN A colonial outpost of the Hadramaut in 'Adite territory. Along with Andhur, an inland collection point for frankincense.
HUD In legend, the prophet who warned the People of 'Ad of the terrible fate that would befall them if they failed to renounce their arrogant and wicked ways.
IRAM A name for Ubar in the Koran, the Arabian Nights, and many other accounts.
KHOR SULI An 'Ad port on the Arabian Sea for the shipment of frankincense. In case of attack,