The Abandoned Village - Al Madam

Erie silence will welcome you as you drive over the rolling dunes into what was once a small village outside the town of Al Madam. Lying in ruins now, the village, according to locals in the vicinity, was once inhabited by Al Kutbi tribe, one of the three prominent tribes residing in and around Al Madam, a small town governed by Sharjah emirate.

Abandoned a few decades back, the village now lies half buried in sand, and nobody is precisely sure why. It could be the jinn (supernatural creatures that Arabs and Muslims believe exist in this world but not visible to human eyes; the creatures are also mentioned in the Quran) or the inhospitable desert or a combination of both, so the local legend goes.

As you walk through the village, greeted by the quietness of the atmosphere and emptiness of the houses, you might realise that this is more than just an abandoned village. Rather, with this constant feeling of the place being haunted, the village may not be abandoned after all.

Located east of the town of Al Madam, the ‘Buried Village’ as it is locally known, is just a 10-minute drive from the central square of Al Madam, in the direction of Al Ain. Surprisingly, Google Map locates the ‘Buried Village’ quite accurately, but you will need a 4WD to cover the final stretch of the route that leads to the village or a good pair of legs if you decide to walk.

Once you enter the village, which constitutes two rows of identical houses and a mosque in the far corner, the silence would startle you, immediately giving a feel that there is something unusual about this place.

Source: Gulf News