360° panorama from the highest point of the immense, ruined Bahla Fort, Oman Overlooking the town.

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360° panorama of the immense, ruined Bahla Fort, with its walls and towers of mud brick on stone foundations and the adjacent Friday Mosque with its decoratively sculpted prayer niche (mihrab) dominate the surrounding mud brick settlement and palm grove. The fort and settlement, a mud-walled oasis in the Omani desert, owed its prosperity to the Banu Nebhan tribe (Nabahina), who dominated the central Omani region and made Bahla their capital from the 12th to the end of the 15th century. Bahla is an outstanding example of a fortified oasis settlement of the medieval Islamic period, exhibiting the water engineering skill of the early inhabitants for agricultural and domestic purposes. The pre-gunpowder style fort with rounded towers and castellated parapets, together with the perimeter sur of stone and mud brick technology demonstrates the status and influence of the ruling elite.

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Size: 17861px × 3223px
Location: Bahla Fort, Bahla, Oman
Photo credit: © Darren Ruane / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 360°, ancient, arab, arabia, bahla, banu, castle, east, fort, ibadism, islam, islamic, medieval, middle, mud-walled, muslim, nabahina, nebhan, oasis, oman, outdoor, panorama, power, ruined, tribe