At the beginning of 1990, there appeared press-releases in the well-known newspapers of the world declaring "Fabled Lost Arabian city Found", "Arabian city of Legend Found", "The Atlantis of the Sands, Ubar". What rendered this archaeological find more intriguing was the fact that this city is also referred to in the Qur’an. Many people who, since then, thought that ‘Ad recounted in the Qur’an were a legend or that their location could never be found, could not conceal their astonishment at this discovery. The discovery of this city, which was only mentioned in oral stories of Bedouins, awoke great interest and curiosity.
The People of ‘Ad
So far, we have seen that Ubar could possibly be the city of Iram mentioned in the Qur’an. As revealed in the Qur’an, the inhabitants of the city did not listen to the Prophet Hud (as), who had brought a message to them and who warned them, and so they perished.
The identity of ‘Ad who found the city of Iram has also created much debate. In historical records, there is no mention of a people having such a developed culture or of the civilisation they established. It might be thought quite strange that the name of such a people is not found in historical records.
On the other hand, it may not be so surprising not to come across the presence of these people in the records and archives of old civilisations. The reason for that is that these people lived in South Arabia, which was a region distant from other people living in the Mesopotamia region and the Middle East, and which only had a restricted relationship with them. It was a common situation for a state, which is scarcely known, not to be recorded in the historical records. On the other hand, it is possible to hear stories among people in the Middle East about ‘Ad.
The most important reason why ‘Ad has not been mentioned in the written records is that written communication was not common in the region at that time. Therefore, it is possible to think that ‘Ad founded a civilisation but this civilisation had not been mentioned in the historical records of those other civilisations that kept documentation. If this culture had existed a little longer, maybe much more would be known about these people today.
There is no written record of ‘Ad, but it is possible to find important information about their descendants and to have an idea about ‘Ad in the light of this information.
The People of ‘Ad
So far, we have seen that Ubar could possibly be the city of Iram mentioned in the Qur’an. As revealed in the Qur’an, the inhabitants of the city did not listen to the Prophet Hud (as), who had brought a message to them and who warned them, and so they perished.
The identity of ‘Ad who found the city of Iram has also created much debate. In historical records, there is no mention of a people having such a developed culture or of the civilisation they established. It might be thought quite strange that the name of such a people is not found in historical records.
On the other hand, it may not be so surprising not to come across the presence of these people in the records and archives of old civilisations. The reason for that is that these people lived in South Arabia, which was a region distant from other people living in the Mesopotamia region and the Middle East, and which only had a restricted relationship with them. It was a common situation for a state, which is scarcely known, not to be recorded in the historical records. On the other hand, it is possible to hear stories among people in the Middle East about ‘Ad.
The most important reason why ‘Ad has not been mentioned in the written records is that written communication was not common in the region at that time. Therefore, it is possible to think that ‘Ad founded a civilisation but this civilisation had not been mentioned in the historical records of those other civilisations that kept documentation. If this culture had existed a little longer, maybe much more would be known about these people today.
There is no written record of ‘Ad, but it is possible to find important information about their descendants and to have an idea about ‘Ad in the light of this information.
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