Bahla Fort - Oman

Every card from a new Unesco site is very much appreciated and even more when they come from not so easy to get places. This one is from Oman and it shows the historic fort of Bahla.

The card was sent by Cristina.

Bahla Fort is situated at the foot of the Djebel Akhdar highlands in Oman. It was built in the 13th and 14th centuries, when the oasis of Bahla was prosperous under the control of the Banu Nebhan tribe.

The fort's ruined adobe walls and towers rise some 165 feet above its sandstone foundations. 

 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 World Heritage Site in 1987. It was included in the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1988. Restoration works began in the 1990s, and nearly $9m 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. - in: wikipedia

Forts of Arabia

This is the 3rd card sent by Claus and it is from Oman. The 1st picture shows the Bat Tombs at Ibry and the 2nd the Mausoleum of Bibi Maryam at Qalhat.

Carlton Cards

The protohistoric site of Bat lies near a palm grove in the interior of the Sultanate of Oman. The zone encompassing the settlement and necropolises of Bat is the most complete and best-known site of the 3rd millennium BC. In a restricted, coherent space, the necropolis of Bat bears characteristic and unique witness to the evolution of funeral practices during the first Bronze Age in the Oman peninsula. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/434

Together with the neighbouring sites of Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn, it forms one of the Oman Unesco sites, on the World Heritage List since 1988.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the most important city in the Arab Gulf was Hormuz. Between 1300 and 1507 Hormuz controlled many of the towns lying on the Arabian coast, including : Qalhat.
Every year many ships sailed from Hormuz and Qalhat to India with cargoes of horses, dates, pearls and salt. They returned from India with cloth, metalwork, spices and rice, which were then used in trade with people in Persia and other parts of Arabia. Some spices were also transported to Europe. Hormuz and Qalhat became very rich through trading. in: http://www.nwnet.co.uk/qalhat/yaqub/qalhat.htm
 Reputedly devistated by an earthquake in the late 14th century and sacked by the Portuguese in 1508, the city was eventually superceded as the main port on the Omani seaboard by Muscat. By the end of the 16th century, Qalhat was an abandoned ruinfield. The only major edifice still standing at the site today is the so-called 'Mausoleum of Bibi Maryam.' Apparently dating from the early 14th century, this elegant structure incorporates features of both mausoleum and mosque and may be "one of the most beautiful mosques" described by Ibn Battuta, who visited Qalhat twicw, around the year 1320 and again in 1347. in:  http://www.clivegracey.com/gallery_197672.html
Qalhat was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on July 4, 1988.

Falaj at Salalah - Oman

The other card sent by José is this of with a falah at Salalah, Dhofar in Oman.

"Falaj (pl. aflaaj) means a system for the distribution of water and is commonly used to describe the irrigation channel system downstream of the water's source.

Some aflaaj in Oman were built more than 1,500 years ago, whilst others were built at the beginning of the 20th century. The genius of the Omani builders is evident in the way they tunnelled into the ground to a depth of dozens of metres in order to gain access to the groundwater.

There are now over 4,000 aflaaj scattered throughout the Sultanate, with the highest concentration in Sohar.
When the falaj waters reach the population, the inhabitants draw off their needs and the rest is distributed to agricultural plots according to an exact system of apportioning the hours of the day under the supervision of an elected member of the community. A proportion of the agricultural harvest is allocated as a contribution towards the upkeep of the aflaaj and irrigation ditches.
Since the 1970's the government has taken steps to maintain this precious heritage by restoring aflaaj, and making them more efficient by digging support wells and ensuring an optimum use of water by introducing modern irrigation systems." - in: http://www.omanet.om/english/tourism/eco/falaj.asp?cat=tour&subcat=ecoo1
In July 2006, five representative examples of this irrigation system were inscribed as a World Heritage Site.

Land of Frankincense - Oman

Las week i've received 1 envelope from Claus with our trade cards and 1 or 2 days later i've received this RAS card written and stamped from Oman. Another unesco surprise, and what a surprise, from him. The Land of Frankincense is a Unesco whs since 2000.

"The frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah and the remains of the caravan oasis of Shisr/Wubar and the affiliated ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed vividly illustrate the trade in frankincense that flourished in this region for many centuries, as one of the most important trading activities of the ancient and medieval world.

The group of archaeological sites in Oman represent the production and distribution of frankincense, one of the most important luxury items of trade in the Old World in antiquity." - in: www.whc.unesco.org/en/list/1010

Surprise Unesco cards

Claus surprised me again. We had a swap for 5 unesco cards but he sent 7 cards, 2 of them as extra cards.

The 1st card is from Oman, the Archaeological Sites of Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn and the 2nd from the Netherlands, D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station.

"The protohistoric site of Bat lies near a palm grove in the interior of the Sultanate of Oman. Together with the neighbouring sites, it forms the most complete collection of settlements and necropolises from the 3rd millennium B.C. in the world." - in: www.whc.unes.org/en/list/434

"The ir. D.F. Woudagemaal (ir. Wouda pumping station) in the Netherlands, is the biggest currently running steam-powered pumping station in the world. On October 7, 1920 Queen Wilhelmina opened the pumping station that is used to pump out redundant water from Friesland.

In 1967, after 47 years running on coal, the boilers were rebuilt to run on oil. Since 1998 the ir. D.F. Woudagemaal has been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list." - in: wikipedia

Grand Mosque - Oman

"The Sultanate of Oman is a 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. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the south and east, and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast". - in: wikipedia.

The construction of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat started in 1995 and was inaugurated by Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001.

The card was sent by Henry "silentcity".