Bahla Fort, Oman, January 6, 2023 | The only UNESCO-listed fort in Oman!

Oman is the oldest independent nation in the Arab world and has many important historic forts that date from the pre-gunpowder era in the Middle East. Bahla Fort, which stands proud over the modern city of Bahla, dates from the early Middle Ages. It is the only UNESCO World Heritage-listed fort in Oman, a testament to its unique character.
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The oasis of Bahla owes its prosperity to the Banu Nebhan, the dominant tribe in the area from the 12th to the end of the 15th century. The ruins of the immense fort, with its walls and towers of unbaked brick and its stone foundations, is a remarkable example of this type of fortification and attests to the power of the Banu Nebhan.
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 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, who dominated the central Omani region and made Bahla their capital from the 12th to the end of the 15th century. From there they established relationships with other tribal groups of the interior. Bahla was the centre of Ibadism (a branch of Islam), on which the ancient Omani Imamates were based and whose influence can be traced across Arabia, Africa and beyond.
The extensive wall with sentry walk and watchtowers enclosing the labyrinth of mud brick dwellings and cultivatable land has several gateways. The oasis is watered by the falaj system of wells and underground channels bringing groundwater from distant springs, and by management of the seasonal flow of water.
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 wall of stone and mud brick technology demonstrates the status and influence of the ruling elite.
There are three main parts inside the fort. The oldest part of the fort is Al-Qasabah from the middle ages. Bait al-Hadith, or new house, was built by the Ya’riba dynasty (1624-1743). Bait Al-Jabal was erected in the 18th century.
Bahla fort was dilapidated and decaying rapidly after each rainy season. It was put on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1988. Consolidation works to some sections of the fort including Bayt al-Jabal, the entrance hall, and north-west and south-west walls using inappropriate materials were carried out in the early 1990s, and an audience hall in the courtyard was demolished in 1992. From 1995, following training and advice on earthen structures, conservation using only earthen-based materials has included courtyard drainage, new roofs and consolidation of collapsing walls and towers including to the citadel, courtyard mosque, Bayt al-Jabal, Bayt al-Hadith and horse stalls, and capping of tops of ruined walls to impede further collapse. The sabla was reconstructed in 1999 in the courtyard of the fort.
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