The Lost Kingdom

By Dr. Zahi Hawass

A city in the Saudi Arabia became famous among archaeologists interested in the antiquities of the Kingdom.

It became the dream of all archaeologists to find this city, which is considered the most famous one in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Greeks and the Romans called it city "Jar" or" Jarha", while the Arabs called it Jarha or "Gara'a"

Some also call it the lost city, as it was considered one of the most important cities known in the Arabian Peninsula in the third century BC.

This city was important because it was a shipping station for goods sent to Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq) and from Asia Minor.

The famous Roman historian Strabo wrote that this city is located on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, about 80 kilometers to the west of Dilmun Island in Bahrain.

It is also said that the people of the civilization of "Garha" were very rich as a result of trade exchange between them and the kingdoms of the ancient world.

There are some who believe that the ruins of this city are still under the sands of the desert, while others believe that they have been completely destroyed.

But there is even a third opinion that they have disappeared from existence and other cities were built over the ruins of Garha.

The Roman historian Pliny pointed out that the area of that city is approximately five square miles and it has towers constructed of salt.

He believed that the people of the city were living in houses made of columns and salt walls, and they used to spray the walls with water to keep the walls together, and that is why he called it a city of White Walls.

The city was famous for its dates, incense and frankincense; so ancient historians described it as the richest cities in the Arabian Peninsula, as some of its houses were of gold, silver and ivory.

Some Western researchers unleash their imaginations and believe that if this city is discovered it will be the most important archaeological discovery of the twenty-first century.

Historians tried to explain the description left by Pini and Strabo and tried to locate the city 250 miles south of the island of Failaka along the western coast of the Persian Gulf.

Aristotle Paulus said that the merchants of Garha were transporting most of their goods on wooden rafts to Babylon, then they sail towards the mouth of the Euphrates, where they carry it by land to all parts of the island.

Will the day come when the lost kingdom will be revealed? This is the dream of all archaeologists.

This revelation may come by chance, and I always say that we do not know what secrets the sand hides.

Contributed by Ahmed Moamar