Evidences are there of some sort of incense production at the site. There is a square tower, the excavation of which suggests that this medieval age occupation belonged to Iron Age. вЂњTo the right of this low walling has the main gate, three quarters of which has disappeared in the central collapse.вЂќ A small central structure immediately in the front, suggests that this structure would have served as the administrative building of the fort. The pieces, according to archaeological sources, represent a rather rare example of actual chess sets known from the Middle East. The low stone walling and small rooms as well as the circular rower contained the remains of a remarkable early medieval chess set, perhaps dating to the 11th / 12th centuries AD.вЂќ Roaming around the site one sees another plaque, which suggests that вЂњthe site also has evidences of chess pieces and an administrative building. The site is protected under The Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The place is one of the lands of frankincense sites in the world heritage list. However, scholars are divided over whether this really is the site of a legendary lost city of the sands. But the subject continues to divide the scholars.ДЄ plaque at the entrance to an archaeological site at Shisr proclaims: вЂњWelcome to Ubar, the Lost City of Bedouin LegendвЂќ. Sir Ranulph Fiennes, another member of the expedition, declared that this was Omanum Emporium of PtolemyвЂ™s famous map of Arabia Felix. The conclusion they reached, based on site excavations and an inspection of satellite photos, was that this was the site of Ubar, or Iram of the Pillars, a name found in the Quran which may be a lost city, a tribe or an area. The discovery was the result of the work of a team of archaeologists led by Nicholas Clapp, who had excavated the site of a Bedouin well at Shisr. In 1992, guided by ancient maps and satellite surveys, archaeologists and explorers have discovered remains of a city deep in the sands of Arabia. Many explorers and historians were fascinated by Ubar, the fabled entrepГґt of the rich frankincense trade thousands of years ago. I was not sure about any wadi (natural canal), mentioned by my grandfather, running in our area until 1992 when a team of archaeologists and explorers did excavation and found some source of water very deep into the sand.вЂќ Mabrook Ahmed Masan who lives in one of the houses in Shisr, says вЂњI heard many stories from my grandfather, who himself used to quote his grandfather to make us believe that the statements were genuine and believable.

One such city is Atlantis of sands or Ubar believed to be located near Shisr in the Governorate of Dhofar.

Ubar lost city