The second - "Expedition" covers the original reconnaissance trip (August 1990), then the actual expedition (November 1991), discovery and archaeology (four seasons over four years). Fiennes plays an important role - both in being responsible for the technicalities of the expedition, but also in obtaining permission from the Sultan of Oman.Ĭlapp's book is rolled out in three sections - which are all roughly equal in length - the first aptly named "Myth", where he outlines his research - the stories, the history, the maps, the scholarly references. Central to this team were Nicholas Clapp and his wife Kay. He contacted NASA and convinced them to carry out some thermal imaging while the space shuttle passed overhead, and set about establishing a team - Ranulph Fiennes included, as well as a geologist from NASA, an archaeologist, a sponsorship manager and others. Having convinced himself of the possibility, he set about expanding his research. ![]() And from there, he spent years researching maps and ancient books looking for more clues. It took them ten years.Ĭlapp stumbled upon the Koranic myth of the city of Ubar - destroyed by God because the cities leaders refused to acknowledge God. It was this brief introduction to Oman that left Clapp and his wife Kay looking for a reason to get back to Oman. Here Clapp outlines a brief trip to Oman in 1980, where he and his wife were part of a team delivering oryx (Arabian antelope) to Oman to be released to re-propagate the species. Nicholas Clapp's book, is quite a different book. His book revolves significantly (and not unfairly) around his contribution to the finding of the city, and is mingled with teasers about this other significant expedition work - largely Arctic. The impression I came away with, from Fiennes' book, was the it was his expedition, and his long-standing ambition to find this city. (It was before I wrote reviews, so my comments below are based largely on memory.) ![]() Around five years ago I read Ranulph Fiennes' Atlantis of the Sands: The Search for the Lost City of Ubar, and enjoyed it such that I gave it four stars. This isn't the first book about the (re)discovery of Ubar, a city lost in the Empty Quarter, the desert of the Arabian peninsular, in modern day Oman.
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