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Bahla Fort

Bahla Fort

Overview
Bahla Fort ' onMouseout='HidePop("72562")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliterated
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...

: Qal'at Bahla') is one of four historic fortresses situated at the foot of the Djebel Akhdar
Jebel Akhdar (Oman)
Also known as the camals hideout;The Jebel Akhdar, Jabal Akhdar or Al Jabal Al Akhdar is part of the Al Hajar Mountains range in Oman, which extends about 300 km northwest to southeast, between 50-100 km inland from the Gulf of Oman coast. It is one of Oman’s most spectacular areas...

 highlands in Oman
Oman
Oman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....

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Bahla Fort ' onMouseout='HidePop("72562")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliterated
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...

: Qal'at Bahla') is one of four historic fortresses situated at the foot of the Djebel Akhdar
Jebel Akhdar (Oman)
Also known as the camals hideout;The Jebel Akhdar, Jabal Akhdar or Al Jabal Al Akhdar is part of the Al Hajar Mountains range in Oman, which extends about 300 km northwest to southeast, between 50-100 km inland from the Gulf of Oman coast. It is one of Oman’s most spectacular areas...

 highlands in Oman
Oman
Oman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....

. It was built in the 13th and 14th centuries, when the oasis
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

 of Bahla
Bahla
Bahla is a town in Ad Dakhiliyah, Oman. It is famous for its ancient fort and its pottery.The town is 40 km away from Nizwa. The old Bahla Fort with its 12 km wall is the oldest fort in Oman. The fort is believed to have been built in pre-Islamic times and is now undergoing reconstruction...

 was prosperous under the control of the Banu Nebhan tribe. The fort's ruined adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, and water, with some kind of fibrous or organic material , which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun. It is similar to cob and mudbrick. Adobe structures are extremely durable and account for some of the oldest extant...

 walls and towers rise some 165 feet above its sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow,...

 foundations. Nearby to the southwest is the Friday Mosque with a 14th-century sculpted mihrab
Mihrab
A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...

. The fort was not restored or conserved before 1987, and had fallen into a parlous state, with parts of the walls collapsing each year in the rainy season.

The fort became a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...

 World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...

 in 1987. It was included in the List of World Heritage Sites in danger from 1988. Restoration works began in the 1990s, and more than £6m were spent by the Omani government from 1993 to 1999. It remained covered with scaffolding and closed to tourists for many years. It was removed from the list of endangered sites in 2004.

The Fort at Bahla, together with the nearby forts at Izki
Izki
Izki is a town in the region Ad Dakhiliyah, in northeastern Oman. It is located at about and has a population of 35,173 ....

 and Nizwa
Nizwa
Nizwa is the largest city in the Ad Dakhiliyah Region in Oman and was the capital of Oman proper. Nizwa is about 140 km from Muscat. The population is estimated at around 70,000 people including the two areas of Burkat Al Mooz and Al Jabel Al Akhdar.Nizwa is one of the oldest cities in Oman...

, and one further north at Rustaq
Rustaq
Rustaq is a town and wilayah in the Al Batinah Region of northern Oman. The city is located at .The wilayah of Rustaq is in the Western Hajar, in the south of the Batinah. Rustaq was once the capital of Oman, during the era of Imam Nasir bin Murshid al Ya'arubi...

, were centres of Kharajite resistance to the "normalisation" of Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

 Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph...

. The town of Bahla, including the oasis
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

, suq and palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , the palm family, is a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales...

 grove, is itself surrounded by adobe walls some 12 km long. The town is well known for its pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today...

.

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