Lost City of Gerrha Still Attracts Searchers
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Author: David Tschanz
Released 19 August 2002
The mystery beckons. Clues appear then contradict each other and often
themselves. Somewhere beneath the sands of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province lie
the remains of the fabled city of Gerrha. For Rami Kamal, determining their
location has been both a dream and source of intellectual stimulation for
several years. As he explained to members at a recent meeting of the Arabian
Natural History Association, "The whereabouts of Gerrha is one of the most
important unanswered questions on the Arabian Peninsula."
Gerrha (Al Jarha’ in Arabic) was strategically situated on the trade routes
passing north from what is now Oman and through Yabrin. Well supplied with water
and food, the city became a natural magnet for caravans laden with frankincense
and myrrh form Oman, spices form India and silk from China. From Gerrha these
luxury goods of the ancient world would be transshipped by sea through the
Arabian Gulf or follow land routes to Mesopotamia and Asia Minor through modern
day Iraq or cross north through Al Jawf to Petra, Gaza and beyond.
By the late third century BC, Gerrha was the principal commercial center in
the Gulf. Its inhabitants grew fabulously wealthy from the duty (typically forty
percent) imposed on the goods passing through its streets. The desert and the
vast sand sea that surrounded it on all sides provided a natural barrier that no
conqueror could breach despite the temptation of the city's vast wealth.
The Greek geographer Strabo called it the "white-walled city" and wrote that
"the people [of Gerrha] live in houses made of salt; and … the people frequently
sprinkle the houses and thus keep the walls firm." Classical writers Polybius
and Pliny the Elder also wrote of Gerrha's affluence and her hegemony over the
region. But fame and fortune were fleeting. By the third century, commerce had
fallen as the Roman and Parthians warred and internal dissension wracked the
Empire. The Romans also re-routed all trade through Palmyra, severely
undermining a number of old trade centers, including Petra and Gerrha. In the
face of economic collapse, Gerrha was abandoned. Its location was forgotten. Its
name became the stuff of legend.
"The search for Gerrha is complicated," said Kamal, "because none of the
classical authorities can agree on where it was." Strabo, writing in 25 BC,
places it 50 miles from the sea. Pliny, a hundred years later, states that
Gerrha was 50 miles from Al Hasa and 50 miles from Bahrain. The British
historian Edward Gibbon, equates Gerrha with Qatif. Other candidates include
Gerrayah, Al Hasa and Qariyat Al-Fau.
Kamal has focused his attention and efforts in nondestructive exploring on an
area at the eastern end of Half Moon Bay. There he believes he has found the
remnant of an ancient breakwater in an area that may have served as Gerrha's
port. Further inland, fellow explorer Robert Gex, introduced him to an area of
ancient ruins not far from the mouth of an old riverbed and past old salt
deposits. Kamal points out that the locales he is presently examining are ideal
for trade with a protected port, easy access to both the sea and land routes,
plentiful potable water and agriculture. The nearby salt deposits may have been
the quarry for the salt blocks used to build the city.
The question of whether or not Kamal's site is Gerrha will require years of
archaeological investigation to answer. Still the challenge of Gerrha has taken
Kamal on a personal voyage of discovery and intellectual growth that is hard to
equal and easy to envy.
--David W. Tschanz