In the arid wastes of eastern Yemen lies a fascinating natural wonder called the Well of Barhout. Shrouded in mystery and folklore, this large hole in the ground said to be the most hated spot on Earth to God.
Located in the eponymous valley, Barhout Well is 30 meters wide and thought to be anywhere between 100 and 250 meters deep. The depth is just pure estimation, as no one has been down to the bottom of it, and considering the chilling legends and stories surrounding it, I doubt any of the locals would attempt a decent. Not even Yemeni scientists and explorers have been able to reach the bottom, as the low oxygen and strange odors emanating from the well forced them back to the surface.
“It’s very deep — we’ve never reached the bottom of this well, as there’s little oxygen and no ventilation,” Salah Babhair, director-general of Mahra’s geological survey and mineral resources authority, told AFP. “We have gone to visit the area and entered the well, reaching more than 50-60 meters down into it. We noticed strange things inside. We also smelled something strange… It’s a mysterious situation.”
Some stories say the so called Well of Hell was created as a prison for demons, others that it’s a cursed gateway from which demons will one day crawl out and bring an end to the world. Some say that it was the Jinn who dug the deep hole for one of the kings of the Himyarites, who ruled this area in ancient times. Those are just stories, and at first glance this is just another sinkhole, the likes of which we’ve seen before. But then there’s the smell…
Those brave enough to approach or descend into the Well of Barhout reported a foul, almost unbearable smell which only fuels the supernatural stories associated with this place. One Yemeni by the name of Ammar Hashem Mohammed Osman wrote that he did his compulsory military service in a camp near the Well of Hell, and claims that the smell he experienced was the worst imaginable.
“There was an ordinary well dug to provide the military site with water. But when the pump started working for the first time to withdraw the water, a black liquid came out of the well like tar… The smell was unbearable… Bad smell like rotten eggs… I was nauseated by the severity of the smell,” Osman wrote. “I swear that I was unable to sleep from the smell of my clothes and my body odor after washing with that water.”
Osman is certain that the water well was connected to the same source that feeds the Well of Barhout, but until more research is done on the mysterious crater there is no way to know for sure. But with Yemen stuck in a devastating civil war and locals to scared to even speak about this place, let alone explore it, the Well of Hell will definitely retain its mystical aura for a while longer.
