The Quran mentions Iram in connection with ‘imad : There are several explanations for the reference to "Iram – who had lofty pillars". Some see this as a geographic location, either a city or an area, others as the name of a tribe. Those identifying it as a city have made various suggestions as to where or what city it was, ranging from Alexandria or Damascus to a city which actually moved or a city called Ubar. As an area, it has been identified with the biblical region known as Aram. It has also been identified as a tribe, possibly the tribe of ʿĀd, with the pillars referring to tent pillars. "The identification of Wadi Rum with Iram and the tribe of ʿĀd, mentioned in the Quran, has been proposed by scholars who have translated Thamudic and Nabataean inscriptions referring to both the place Iram and the tribes of ʿĀd and Thamud by name." According to some Islamic beliefs, King Shaddad was the king of the Iram of the Pillars who defied the warnings of the prophet Hud, whereupon Allah smote the city, driving it into the sands, never to be seen again. The ruins of the city are thought to lie buried somewhere in the sands of Rub' al Khali. Iram became known to Western literature with the translation of the story "The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kilabah" in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.
Archeological research
In November 1991, the remains of a settlement were discovered in southern Oman and hypothesized to be the legendary lost city claimed to have been destroyed by God. In 1992 Ranulph Fiennes wrote a book called Atlantis of the Sands about the expedition. The term Atlantis of the Sands had originally been coined by T. E. Lawrence. Archaeologist Juris Zarins discussed Ubar in a 1996 NOVA interview: By 2007, following further research and excavation, a study authored in part by Zarins could be summarised as follows:
As far as the legend of Ubar was concerned, there was no evidence that the city had perished in a sandstorm. Much of the fortress had collapsed into a sinkhole that hosted the well, perhaps undermined by ground water being taken to irrigate the surrounding oasis.
Rather than being a city, interpretation of the evidence suggested that "Ubar" was more likely to have been a region—the “Land of the Iobaritae” identified by Ptolemy. The decline of the region was probably due to a reduction in the frankincense trade caused by the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, which did not require incense in the same quantities for its rituals. Also, it became difficult to find local labour to collect the resin. Climatic changes led to desiccation of the area, and sea transport became a more reliable way of transporting goods.
In ''Ahadith''
There are many Hadiths about Iram, with one being the story of 'Abdullah bin Qalabah, who found Iram of the Pillars while searching for his lost camel. The story has been rejected by some Islamic scholars who consider the story an Isra'iliyyatHadith. Ka’b al-Ahbar, who told the story, was Jewish before he converted to Islam, and thus he was accused by some scholars of narrating Isra'iliyyat stories.
In fiction
Video games
' explores Iram of the Pillars in the city of Ubar.
Illwinter Game Design's Dominions 5 Iram is featured as the playable nation Ubar, a precursor to Na'Ba, which represents the Nabataeans
Fallout 4 mentions Ubar and the Rub' al Khali by way of character Lorenzo Cabot.
Literature'
H. P. Lovecraft places it somewhere near "The Nameless City" in his stories. In "The Call of Cthulhu" it is the supposed base of the Cthulhu Cult. Lovecraft and other Cthulhu Mythos authors have settled on the spelling
