Saturday, November 5, 2011

[Resources] Majlis al Jinn

Majlis al Jinn, the meeting place of Jinns, is a large cave complex in Oman. Known locally as Khoshilat Maqandeli, the refuge of goats, this cave was explored, photographed and mapped between 1983 and 1985 by married American couple W. Don Davison, Jr. and Cheryl S. Jones.

Davison, known as D2,  and Cheryl discovered it and mapped it as part of Oman's Public Authority for Water Resources Karst Research Program.

Don descended nearly 400 feet (120 meters) into the cave at First Drop in June of 1983. A second entrance, called Cheryl's Drop, was nearly 520 feet (158 meters) and first traversed by Cheryl in March of 1984. Cheryl's Drop is the "deepest free rappel into a cave known in Oman and the Arabian peninsula." Another opening, the Asterisk, was explored in April of 1985.

Oman has a website dedicated to Majlis al Jinn and there are many pictures of the caves available online. Here is one for example.

Sadly, Don disappeared in 1995 climbing Volcan Llullaillaco. This volcano, the second highest in the world, is located in the mountains between Chile and Argentina. Three searches found no sign of Don except evidence that he had made it to the top, as his signature in the summit log book attests.

I find it suspicious that he was climbing a volcano, since the Qur'an 15:27 says that Allah made Jinns "aforetime of essential fire." Which some have described as "smokeless flame or scorching fire." Where better for them to live, but a volcano? Perhaps they took him away.

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