The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands

The ancient city of Ubar is clouded in myth. It controlled the frankincense trade for the Arabian Peninsula and became quite a wealthy oasis. Then, as told in the Koran, it was smote from the Earth for favoring wealth over worship. The city of Ubar was gone forever. Nicholas Clapp’s The Road to Ubar weaves together history, archaeology, technology, and even a little luck to rediscover the history of the Arabian Peninsula. With the help of an archaeologist, a geologist, and a real-life adventurer, he travels through the vast Arabian Desert to take back what the desert hid for so long.

Clapp’s methodology here is quite fun. Many historical figures had traveled through this area of the Arabian Peninsula searching for archaeological show more insight, and Clapp uses both their insights and new technology to pinpoint the location of a buried city in the sands at Shisr in Oman. Unfortunately, a sinkhole has swallowed a fair chunk of the ruins, but much of the wall remained intact and his team dutifully catalogs the whole experience. After its discovery, he places the city in as much historical and mythical context as he can provide. Clapp’s team’s journey is fairly interesting and also provides a good deal of history on the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula. A very fun read. show less

Generally contains three parts: 1) Myth 2) Expedition and 3) The Rise and Fall of Ubar. Being a plot-motivated reader, I enjoyed the expedition the best. Having done a little research myself, I can appreciate the desire to document it as Clapp has done in "Myth," however I found this tedious. Unlike some other books of this type, there is are excavations and findings associated with the expedition, which made it interesting. The text includes illustrations, maps, three appendices, notes, a bibliography, and index.

Excellent resource book. Easy to read and understand.