Iram

The City of The Pillars

Atlantis Giants

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iram_of_the_Pillars

https://medium.com/teatime-history/what-did-medieval-arabs-believe-about-the-pyramids-f26a427dbb08

https://www.reviewofreligions.org/28264/sands-iram-of-the-pillars-and-the-people-of-ad/

Iram of the Pillars

Iram of the Pillars (Arabic: إرَم ذَات ٱلْعِمَاد, romanized: Iram dhāt al-ʿimād; an alternative translation is Iram of the tentpoles), also called "Irum", "Irem", "Erum", or the "City of the pillars", is a lost city mentioned in the Quran.

Iram in the Quran

The Quran mentions Iram in connection with ʿimād (pillars):

89:6 Did you not see how your Lord dealt with ʿĀd—

89:7 ˹the people˺ of Iram—with ˹their˺ great stature,

89:8 unmatched in any other land;

89:9 and Thamûd who carved ˹their homes into˺ the rocks in the ˹Stone˺ Valley;

89:10 and the Pharaoh of mighty structures?

89:11 They all transgressed throughout the land,

89:12 spreading much corruption there.

89:13 So your Lord unleashed on them a scourge of punishment.

89:14 ˹For˺ your Lord is truly vigilant.

— Surah al-Fajr (6-14)

For centuries, the quest to find one of Arabia’s lost cities has attracted an eclectic band of detectives. From the famed explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker, Nicholas Clapp, to the conspicuous figure of 20th-century Arabian politics, T.E. Lawrence – known more popularly by his moniker, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ – the search for this long-lost glorious city that was spectacularly destroyed rumbles on. Lawrence referred to it as ‘The Atlantis of the Sands’, enshrining its legendary status buried deep within the deserts of Arabia.

Despite its popularity and lure for adventurers over past centuries, Iram remains relatively unknown and understudied. Its association with the fictional city of Atlantis has meant most identify Iram as part of folklore; a tale passed down from generation to generation relegated to the realm of pseudo-history.

Myths and legends have fed the Arabian soul since ancient times. They have endured for centuries and were a source of wisdom and inspiration. Arabs were fascinated by the pyramids of Giza. In his book Paths, Ibn Fadl Allah mentioned different stories about the pyramids. Some said that pyramids were built as temples to worship stars, tombs, storehouses (built by Prophet Yusuf identified with the biblical Joseph), or shelters against the Great Flood.

Al Masudi noted that the pyramids were tombs of ancient kings.

There were three main Arabic legends related to the pyramids. First, the pyramids were built by the Arab Prophet Idris, who was identified with Hermes and the biblical Enoch.

Second, the pyramids were the work of King Surid ibn Salhouk before the Great Flood. The third legend attributes the pyramids to the South Arabian hero Shaddad ibn Ad. There was a popular belief among the Yemenis and Egyptian Sheikhs that King Shaddad built the pyramids after he invaded Egypt to serve as his victory monument.

Arabian Giants

Arabic sources suggest that Shaddad descended from the ancient tribe of Himyar, which later ruled Yemen. Shaddad was the king who reigned over hundreds of the Adite tribes. They were described as a powerful nation, very tall and strong, and highly intellectual.

Shaddad moved around the known world, conquering the unconquered. In the Syrian Umayyad era, a story circulated about a group of Arabs who saw Shaddad’s tomb in Yemen. The ancient King was seen lying on a large, pure gold bed with his body well-preserved.

Past civilizations believed that the giants were a great strength and aggression race. In Arabic, giants are known as Al Jababira, meaning “tyrants”. Shaddad was described as one of the Jababirat al Ard, “Powerful Tyrants of the Earth” which does not necessarily denote his great size.

There was a popular belief among Arabs that Shaddad and his tribe Ad were skilled giants who built enormous structures. It was common for Medieval Arab and Muslim scholars to see past figures such as Prophets Adam and Musa (Moses) as giants with massive bodies. The idea of Shaddad being a Nephilim giant was mentioned in the Medieval Arabic Book of Wonders (Akhbar al Zaman).

The Lost Civilization

As Shaddad became too powerful, he conquered city after city, becoming a universal King who ruled over the world. Arabic scholars wrote that he was fascinated with obtaining knowledge. He knew stories from previous prophets about the Paradise of God. He then decided to build Heaven on Earth, a great city with advanced technology developed by Ad, incorporating occult magic and possible djins and demons.

It was described in the Arabian Nights (also known as The 1001 Nights) as a lost city made of gold and overloaded with opulence and treasures. This marvelous city was named Iram.

According to the Holy Quran, the civilization of the Ad was indeed an advanced civilization. They had strong power and built gigantic structures, hoping they could live forever. They were also given the blessings of springs, livestock, and children. When a prophet named Hud emerged from the people of Ad, he advised them to worship the one true God. But their arrogant nature led to their doom.

Ad was afflicted with drought for a long time in the book Tarikh al Anbiya by Al Khatib Al Baghdadi. They rejoiced after seeing a black cloud moving towards their metropolis, thinking that it was holding rain. The powerful cold wind, which struck them for seven days and eight nights, was a painful torment.

They were blown away, and nothing remained. Their spectacular metropolis, Iram, of lofty pillars and blissful paradises, lies undiscovered until today, submerged beneath the Arabian desert.

The blissful paradise of Iram, its spectacular engineering, and the splendor of giant architecture caused the Arabs to believe that the famous Adite builders constructed the big stones they encountered in Egypt. A Medieval Arabic account mentioned that Shaddad built the pyramids because of a dream in which he was warned of a coming disaster. This echoes the popular belief that the pyramids were built as a shelter against the Great Flood.

Shaddad and Ad were associated with other cities including Petra in Jordan and Alexandria in Egypt. The author of the Arabic book Fatih Masr (The Conquest of Egypt) mentioned that Cleopatra had assistance from Arab builders to construct monuments in Alexandria. An inscription was found on one of the pillars:

I am Shaddad ibn Ad and I am the one who erected the columns, dug the quarries, and single-handedly dammed the valley. These achievements will never die nor fade away into oblivion.

Decoding the Hieroglyphs

Arab scholars tried to decode the hieroglyphs. In the 10th century, the Iraqi Arab-Nabatean scholar Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Wahshiyya was able to at least partly decipher hieroglyphs in his book Kitab Shawq Al Mustaham fi Marefat Rumooz Al Aqlam. He was the first to state that these Egyptian symbols mean words.

Ibn Wahshiyya was able to understand some of the hieroglyphs, but he was apparently working with the concept that a known script could be used to decipher an as-yet unknown one..Ibn Al-Nadim, the son of a 10th-century Baghdadi bookseller, recorded seeing Ibn Wahshiyya’s notebooks full of symbols. Not only was Ibn Wahshiyya able to understand some of the hieroglyphs, but, as Al-Nadim pointed out, he was apparently working with the concept — later employed by Champollion — that a known script could be used to decipher an as-yet unknown one- BBC

In Modern Works

The story of Ad was mentioned in several chapters in the Holy Quran: Al Araf verses 65–72, Hud verses 50–60, Al Shuara’ verses 123–140, Fusilat verses 13–16, Al Ahqaf verse 21, Al Thariyat verse 41, Al Qamar verse 18, Al Haqq verse 6, and Al Fajr verses 7–8.

These detailed explanations attracted modern scientists, scholars, and writers.

In his book “Secret Teachings of All Ages,” Canadian lecturer and author Manly P. Hall (1901–1990) had a chapter titled Initiation of the Pyramid where he wrote:

“One Arabian historian declared that the Pyramid was built by the Egyptian sages as a refuge against the Flood, while another proclaimed it to have been the treasure house of the powerful antediluvian king Sheddad Ben Ad.”

Shaddad was a hero in H. P. Lovecraft's (1890–1937) horror book Necronomicon, also known as “Book of the Dead” intended initially to be Kitab Al Azif in Arabic, with Azif defined as that nocturnal sound (made by insects) supposed to be the howling of demons.

The story is about an ancient text compiled by a “Mad Arab,” a Yemeni man who visited Babylon, Memphis, and Arabia called Abdul Alhazred in the 8th century. He worshipped the Lovecraftian cosmic entities Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu. The text contained magical spells and incantations for summoning monsters and deities. The work is inspired by a city inhabited by a race of giants. Their home, “The Nameless City,” reflects Shaddad’s Iram.

Arabs had amazing abilities to tell stories that passed from generation to generation. Through their tales and memories, we remember events and heroes from afar. The story of Shaddad, despite being unknown to many today, has an oral history that is more than a thousand years old. It preserves the memory of a supreme King who influenced Arabia, the Levant, Persia, and North Africa. But since not much is known about Shaddad, his history remains mysterious.

For centuries, European critics and Biblical scholars denounced the existence of Ad and their people known as the Adites. No reference to Ad or Iram exists in Abrahamic tradition, unlike other prominent accounts such as Noah (as) and the flood, the Pharaoh of Moses (as) or the Kingdom of Solomon (as) which are shared across all three holy books.

Iram The City of The Pillars Atlantis Giants

Aeternam - Iram of The Pillars

Lyrics

I see you in the glance of the water

I feel you, enchanted queen of the sand

My life is a jewel for you

I lost my sight

And my speaking

Alone in the desert I'm wasted and seeking salvation

Howling into the land of dreams

The temple of sins of the ancient Djinns

Riding the horse of the Sarasins

Ascending the seas of Arabian kings

I hear you from the edge of the tower

I praise you : "Lord of Sheba'ha, appear!"

And send me to the kingdom of souls

I had lost my sight

And my speaking

Alone in the desert I'm reaching my illumination

Dies Irae - The Nameless City

Lyrics

Valley hidden in sand

The ocean of desert

In halfway between

Dream and real world

Called Ubar

Called Irem

What have you concealed?

Cyclopean city

Capital of the undead

Bodies of the higher race

Bearing within cavern

Subterranean world

Half- reptilian beings

They are waiting

And this day will come

Strangers and followers

Great pillars

Abhorrent structures

Passion and taint

Empty quarter of our world

Sordid minds of generation

From beyond

Symbol of all

What is condemned

Sulphur Aeon - The Oneironaut: Haunting Visions within the starlit Chambers of Seven Gates

Lyrics

Amidst the deserts of Roba El Khaliyeh,

Beneath the fallen towers of Irem,

In titan caverns

Underneath the desert sand

There dwelleth I'thakuah

The primordial witch.

Antediluvian

Wisdom and madness,

Maniacal rancour

Within ancient black eyes

Mock her guise,

Flee from her curse!

Oneironaut!

Kneel before the seven gates.

Choose your vessel,

The soul leaves the flesh.

Oneironaut!

Kneel before the seven gates.

Choose your vessel,

And enter the gate.

Oneironaut...

Into the heart of the maze

Along the leftmost walls

Lieth the grand starlit chamber of seven gates

A dome painted in blue, pigmented with lapis lazuli

Bejeweled constellations of stars

Among the night sky

Oneironaut!

Travel through the seven gates.

The act of lucid dreaming

Is revealed.

Oneironaut!

Traveler in time and space

Choose your vessel and

Open the gate!

The first portal

Is leading to the Plateau of Leng,

Whilst the second portal

Leads to the City of Heights...

The third portal

Opens to sunken R'lyeh...

Travel to Yuggoth

By entering the fourth...

The fifth gate

Opens to sunken Atlantis...

Enter unknown Kadath

Through the sixth gate,

And the seventh

Leads to the Temple of Albion.

Oneironaut!

Travel through the seven gates!

Oneironaut!

Enter the gate!

Pictures Videos Music and Additional Reading

Iram of the Pillars - Ancient Fantasy Music - Perfect for Focus Study and Reading

Iram, the legendary City of Pillars, unfolds in the tapestry of myth and mystique. Revered in ancient tales, it stands as a testament to opulence, shrouded in an ethereal aura of grandeur. Adorned with innumerable pillars that reached for the heavens, Iram's mythical silhouette emerges from the sands of time.

In the annals of mythological lore, Iram's origins are veiled in enigma, its existence a delicate dance between earthly wonders and divine mysteries. Whispers of its prosperity, like echoes through eternity, weave through the tales of poets and scribes, narrating a city untouched by mortal hands, where architectural marvels mirrored the celestial order.

Yet, Iram's fate, a tragic chord in the symphony of myth, tells of divine retribution. The pillars that once cradled the sky came crashing down, a haunting reminder of the ephemeral nature of earthly splendor. The city, now bathed in the soft glow of mythological twilight, beckons the imagination to wander through its labyrinthine streets, exploring the remnants of a place that once danced on the edge of reality and legend.

Idris (prophet)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_(prophet)

Idris (Arabic: إدريس, romanized: ʾIdrīs) is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Qur'an, who Muslims believe was the second prophet after Adam. He is the third prophet mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition has unanimously identified Idris with the biblical Enoch. Many Muslim scholars of the classical and medieval periods held that Idris and Hermes Trismegistus were the same person.

Surid Ibn Salhouk

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surid_Ibn_Salhouk

Sūrīd ibn Salhouk (Arabic: سوريد بن سلهوق, also known as Saurit, Saurid, and more commonly known as Surid) is a legendary king from medieval Coptic and Islamic lore who is said to have lived 300 years before the biblical flood. In legends, Surid was often conflated with or identified as the biblical prophet Enoch, the Muslim prophet Idris, and Hermes Trismegistus.

Surid, among other achievements, was often credited with building the Pyramids of Giza (structures that, in the middle ages, were believed by many to predate the biblical flood narrative). One legend in particular relates how, prior to the deluge, Surid had a terrifying dream of the world's end: In this dream, the "fixed stars had come down," and they "had grabbed the people and had hurled them between two mountains. These [then] closed over [the people] and the shining stars had become dark and gloomy."

After consulting with his trusted advisor Philemon, Surid is said to have ordered the construction of the pyramids so that they could serve as his tomb and also house all the knowledge of Egypt, ensuring its survival during the flood.

In Search of ‘The Atlantis of the Sands’: Iram of the Pillars and the People of Ad – Part I

Source: https://www.reviewofreligions.org/28264/sands-iram-of-the-pillars-and-the-people-of-ad/

Known as Iram of the Pillars, the city has captured the imagination of poets, travellers and archaeologists. Its legacy has endured even in the current day. The video game Uncharted 3 includes a dramatic reconstruction of a lavish, sprawling metropolis emerging from the desert called Iram and similarly dubbed ‘The Atlantis of the Sands’.

As with many so-called myths and parables that repeatedly appear in ancient tradition, its origins are typically rooted in truth. The passage of time and memory often distort the original version entirely out of shape, creating a sensational rendition of an account that closer resembles a fantasy trilogy.

There are numerous examples of this. King Midas from Greek mythology, said to have turned everything he touched into gold, was most likely an immensely wealthy ruler of Phrygia in the 8th century. Ferocious Viking warriors known as ‘Berserkers’ (incidentally where the word ‘berserk’ originates from) were believed to transform themselves into bestial forms, but their consumption of powerful hallucinogens and application of animal skins in battle invited such stories from a petrified opposing army.

In each instance, a factual predecessor for mythical stories can be directly traced. The insertion of extraordinary occurrences was often deliberate, a device to ensure the story survived beyond the next generation. To relate a story of a city that rose and fell is mundane. Add in mythical creatures, spectacular natural disasters, superpowers and other mysterious ingredients and your account is more likely to be taken up and passed on.

Iram and the People of Ad

The notoriety of Iram originates from one major source, the Qur’an. Some pre-Islamic poetry recounts the name, but the Qur’an was the earliest complete text to expound on the city of Iram and deliver a comprehensive account. Although the word ‘Iram’ is used only once, the city is associated with a mighty tribe known as the Ad. The following verses outline the link between Ad and Iram:

اَلَمۡ تَرَ کَیۡفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّکَ بِعَادٍ

اِرَمَ ذَاتِ الۡعِمَادِ

الَّتِیۡ لَمۡ یُخۡلَقۡ مِثۡلُہَا فِی الۡبِلَادِ

‘Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with ‘Ad—The tribe of Iram, possessor of lofty buildings, The Like of whom have not been created in these parts’

In brief, the Qur’an further outlines the following in relation to the tribe of Ad:

They built lofty buildings, assuming power unrivalled by any other civilisation in Arabia
They lived immediately after Noah (as)
They built monuments on elevated places
The land they occupied was known as ‘Ahqaf’, meaning zigzag sandhills
They were swept away by a violent wind which presided over their land for seven consecutive days, engulfing the city
The destruction left no trace of the city, except for some dwellings

Bal-Sagoth : Unfettering the Hoary Sentinels of Karnak

Lyrics

[Fragmentary delusional recollections from within the confines of Grimm's Hold Sanitarium:]

When Blackthorne returns from his expedition to Tiahuanaco and the Peruvian jungle I shall duly tell him of the catalyst which compelled me to those cursed black vaults in ancient Ur, should Hildebrandt allow me another visit.

Yes...

Giza, Karnak, Thebes...

I see them now once more!

In the grip of a waking dream, I walk those restless sands again.

Egypt... here my journey began, and here I took the first steps towards destiny and damnation.

[The events recounted here take place before "The Dreamer in the Catacombs of Ur."]

[From the expeditionary journal of Doctor Ignatius X. Stone:]

Giza, Egypt (March 17, 1890)

The heat here is damnably oppressive, and all day the omnipresent sand has been whipped up by an impudent wind, making progress all the more difficult.

At dawn, I pinpointed the location of the Great Pyramid's secret chamber which my old friend Professor Caleb Blackthorne and his benefactor Lord Blackiston had discovered several months previously, but ingress to its concealed depths was denied me by a partial collapse of the age old edifice's stone ceiling.

Excavation is evidently impossible, lest more of the mighty tomb come crashing down about us.

At any rate, Blackthorne has studied the incredible inscriptions within that hidden alcove exhaustively, and in truth my own interests lie elsewhere in this desolate sand-flayed landscape.

The traditionalists believe that, in keeping with Egyptian tenets, only mundane things such as new air shafts and ever more ornate sarcophagi are yet to be discovered deep within the tunnel networks of these cyclopean monuments.

Feh!

If only they knew the true extent of this great cosmic puzzle!

They are as fools who view a tapestry in a darkened room by the light of only one candle, seeing only small sections illuminated one by one, and refusing to recognize or connect the darkened and unseen areas to the entirety.

Working from the geometric calculations which I prepared before our arrival here, I have studied the alignment of Cheops, Chefren and Mykerinos.

It is as I suspected.

Tomorrow, I leave the imperious and hoary mausoleum of Khufu and seek answers within the Great Temple of Karnak...

Karnak, Egypt (March 18, 1890)

What oblations to the grim chthonic deities of the ancient world were once offered solemnly beneath the stygian skies of this sweltering place, I wonder?

What sublime power awaits the aspirant, the querent who dares seek answers in those shadowed places where men of lesser fortitude fear to gaze?

Blackthorne often berates me for what he calls my preoccupation with the arcane, the occult, the sinistrous lore of the chthonic... he insists no good will come of such delving into nighted realms.

Ha!

The path to elucidation is seldom devoid of thorns, the road to knowledge rarely free of perils!

I seek enlightenment and by the erudite tongue of Herodotus, I may have found it!

Ancient tradition of this land has long spoken of strange flashes of light emanating from the depths of pyramid passages and temple catacombs.

Over a thousand years ago the Arabs wrote of the transient walls and hidden chambers of these monuments; of secret doors moved by an unseen force and of implacable sentries who guarded the secrets of the temples with dour tenacity.

What I found this evening gives credence to all that and more.

Is the lore which I discovered carved into the ancient stone of Karnak's temple the next fragment of the cryptic conundrum which I have dedicated my life to solving?

The Coptic papyrus states that, upon the walls of the pyramids and the temples were inscribed the mysteries of science, astronomy, geometry and physics; inscriptions of unknown peoples and lost civilizations whose lore was carved into the stone to preserve it from the ravages of the great deluge.

The surviving knowledge of long forgotten antediluvian races!

Aye, prudent Surid, heeding the warnings of his priests, erected certain repositories of long forgotten knowledge to withstand the first great flood, and then an all-consuming fire which was prophesied would come from the sky.

Masoudi, in the tenth century, described automata; titanic guardians of stone and metal which were placed to guard the treasures and the entombed lore, and which were tasked to destroy all those deemed unworthy, all those who dared enter the chambers unbidden.

I see them!

The hoary sentinels of Karnak are unfettered!

Rising from their sandy tombs to smite the intruder, the raider and the interloper with righteous fury!

And what is this... was there once a glimmer of life within the sightless stone eyes of the Theban guardian?

Does the silent watcher of Giza even now descend from its granite dais to once more stalk the shifting sands on carven claws?

Hu!

Horem-askhet!

The alignment of Cheops, Chefren and Mykerinos revealed,

Chthonic lore concealed in Khufu's imperious mausoleum,

By the erudite tongue of Herodotus, I have found the answers,

Arcane secrets inscribed in the ancient Coptic papyrus,

The Pyramid's legacy compels me to these dark discoveries,

The Theban guardian rises from its sandy tomb to meet us,

The Silent Watcher stalks, behold the Sentinels of Karnak!

Thebes, Egypt (March 19, 1890)

Niut-Ammon!

Lucidity has reasserted its blessed hold upon me.

I understand now the true nature of that knowledge which was revealed to me deep within the shadowed confines of Karnak's timeless temple.

Telluric energy, harnessed by the ancients... triggered by lunar rays and solar radiation, channeled to impart static charges to rock strata and lines of natural power running through the earth.

Neuro-electric energy generated, developed, creating light, separating inertia from gravity!

And what more?

The fourth state of matter, forged countless millennia ago in the hearts of burning stars... fettered, channeled, for creation and destruction!

The secret of the great monuments of the ancients!

Yes, secrets... answers.

A rogue celestial body passes inside the orbit of the moon, becoming a captive of the earth's gravitational field.

The world tilts upon its axis, its revolution slows, the planet shifts farther from its parent star... one of many such cataclysms.

Asteroid strikes, floods, firestorms, the sky swathed in a veil of darkness through which the sun's light cannot pass, great ice-ages enshrouding the globe.

And what is this?

The forces of evil, of chaos... servitors of the sinister gods of the universe... manifesting upon the tellurian sphere?

What dire agents of malignity were unleashed upon mankind?

Bringers of carnage and destruction, pestilence and decay!

The Z'xulth!

Secrets once known by the forgotten peoples... ancient Atlantis... time-lost Lemuria...

Hyperborea.

Ultima-Thule, utopian Atlantis and its enduring legacy.

Fragments, memories... descendants... the Incas, the Aztecs, the Maya, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Britons, the Frisians, the ancient Sumerians.

Yes, it is clear to me, like a diamond worked to perfection in the skilled hands of a master craftsman.

The sigils and glyphs I beheld carved into the ancient stone of Karnak (which I somehow understood implicitly), the visions I experienced within the temple, it is all quite clearly compelling me to the next stage in my grand voyage of enlightenment.

According to the inscriptions, the truth, the key, awaits me within the ziggurats of ancient Sumeria.

I hear the call of the ancients, beckoning me to that aeon-veiled place across the unforgiving sands.

We shall depart at once.

I feel sure I shall find that which I seek between the two rivers, at the place of the seven cities. Yes, I shall surely meet my destiny within the mystery-haunted catacombs of ancient Ur...

From the pyramids of Egypt, to the ziggurats of Sumeria, my grand journey of enlightenment must continue. Praise the Ancients!

[The Keeper of the Ancient Lore of Ur:]

Hearken to the warnings of the Ancients... tread softly those sacred and unforgiving sands.

Do not break the seal of the seventh city!

[The Chief Cultist of Ur:]

The Gate must not be opened. You dare not awaken the Dreamer!

Cuneiform tablets bear a grim, darkly portentous warning,

Sumerian catacombs astir with vile Chthonic horrors.

The lore of Babylon inscribed in stone as old as Atlantis,

Glyphs and sigils now compel me to the ziggurats...

In a waking dream, I hear the call of the Ancients.

I shall find that which I seek between the two rivers, at the place of the seven cities... in the Catacombs of Ur!

[For the outcome of Doctor Ignatius Stone's expedition to Ur, see "The Dreamer In The Catacombs Of Ur" on the fifth Bal-Sagoth album, "Atlantis Ascendant".]