FOTW Bahrain

 Last month Heidi was in Bahrain to play in the Parabadmington World Championship. No wins, she said, but she loved the country and I loved this FOTW. It has been awhile since I received a new postcard from this collection.

 

www.postcardsmarket.com

Barhain has an area of 778.3 km², a population of 1.425.171 and its capital is Manama.
Unique:
* Garden of Eden - it's thought by some to be the Garden of Eden due to Eden's suppoded resemblance to the ancient land of Dilmun, whic many scholars accept to be the area emcompassin Bahrain;
 Famous:  
* Bahrain World Trade Center - is the 1st skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines into its design. Each turbina is 29 meters in diameter and their capacity its 675 kw of wind power production;
History: 

* Haya Bint Rashid Al. Khalifa - was the first Middle Eastern woman to take over the role of United Nations General Assembly President;

* Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo - is the first Jewish person, and third woman, to be appointed ambassador of Bahrain. She's also the first Jewish ambassador of any Middle Eastern Arab countty.

Qal’at al-Bahrain

The Qal'at al-Bahrain is the only Unesco WHS in Bahrain and this card is my 2nd from this country. It was sent by Claus.

The Qal'at al-Bahrain, also known as the Bahrain Fort and previously as the Portugal Fort (Qal'at al Portugal) is an archaeological site located in Bahrain. Archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiquaries from an artificial mound of 12 m height containing seven stratified layers, created by various occupants from 2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Kassites, Portuguese and Persians. It was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. - in: wikipedia

Qal’at al-Bahrain is a typical tell – an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata of the 300 × 600 m tell testify to continuous human presence from about 2300 BC to the 16th century AD. About 25% of the site has been excavated, revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site, a trading port, over the centuries. On the top of the 12 m mound there is the impressive Portuguese fort, which gave the whole site its name, qal’a (fort). The site was the capital of the Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilizations of the region. It contains the richest remains inventoried of this civilization, which was hitherto only known from written Sumerian references. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1192

Arad Fort - Bahrain

Today is my day off and that means i've time to scan and post cards.

I don't know how the ash cloud affected my mail but with 7 cards received so far, i can't complain, even if only one of them was sent from Europe, not counting Portugal.

This card was sent from Portugal but its a card from a new country, Bahrain. Zé, "zepombal" went on a trip to UAE, Oman and Bahrain a few weeks ago. He hosted a lottery to draw 3 cards but in the end all the participants received 1 card from his trip.

"Arad Fort is a 15th century fort in Arad, Bahrain. It was built in a typical Arab style.

Close to the Bahrain International Airport, the fort has been extensively renovated and presents a magnificent sight when it is illuminated at night.
It is believed that the fort was used by the Omanis during their brief occupation of Bahrain in 1800, and it is located adjacent to the strategic waterways between Bahrain Island and Muharraq Island.

Little is known of the fort's history, and there is no firm evidence of the precise date of construction, but comprehensive excavations have been undertaken in order to discover its past." - in: wikipedia