17°20'25.35"N 52°26'37.96"E
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| (original file from Open Aerial View) |
No wonder Barhout is nicknamed "Well of Hell" or "Prison of Demons". This remote, massive, dark sinkhole in Yemen is home to many curses and legends the locals fear. This has kept not only the locals from coming near it, but also explorers, transforming Barhout into one of the few unexplored places on Earth. Although that would change in 2021, when the Omani Cave Exploration Team reached the bottom and unveiled the mysteries it contained.
There are many theories of how Barhout was formed. Scientists point out that it was the usual geological process: a ceiling of a cave system collapses, leaving behind an opening in the Earth surface; but locals believe other stories. The first thoughts were based on a hadith (a text in the Quran that records Prophet Mohammed's sayings) and indicated that it was the place where the souls of the wicked people went after death, a sort of gateway to hell. Another story tells of a king who ordered to dig this hole to hide his treasure in the bottom while the majority assure it was designed to imprison evil jinn. In Islamic culture, jinn are creatures made out of smokeless fire whose purpose is to worship Allah. And like humans, they have free will, meaning they are nice or evil. Lastly, it is said that evil jinn use to live in dark places and can transform themselves into other species such as little reptiles. Barhout fits like a glove.
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| Evil Jinn (from Myth and Folklore Wiki) |
Therefore people have been scared away; and the ones that didn't listen eventually turned away due to bad smells, extreme darkness and hot weather. Yet, I spoiled previously that finally someone did indeed enter, touch the bottom and come out alive. This person is member of the OCET (Oman Cave Exploration Team) and his name is Mohammed Al-Kindi.
On a hot September day, the adventure began. Al-Kindi rappelled down the pit and came to its base without problems (unless you don't count as a problem that he had to ask for a longer rope). Here, he confirmed there were no jinn, no lost souls and no king's treasure; so he called his partners to join him. But what they did discovered is that, instead of a hell, it is a special type of micro-ecosystem. It has many fresh waterfalls all over the place and hosts some little animals such as almost transparent snakes, which look like worms at first sight. The mystery of the bad smell was also solved; the origins of it were the decomposition of the dead bodies of fallen birds. Moreover, Barhout features special rock formations such as stalactites, stalagmites and beautiful cave pearls. The "Well of Hell" isn't so bad in the end!
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| Cave pearls similar to the ones at Barhout. Some of Barhout are also colored green (from Wikimedia Commons) |
Sources and Picture Credits:
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International (Learn more)
Picture 3: Wikimedia user Christine Humphrey
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