Notes on the Geography of Oman: JibrinOman's grandest fort--Bahla--has been closed for years while bureaucratic wars are fought over its proper restoration. Nearby Jibrin Fort is a good alternative, however, a fortress converted into a fortress-palace about 1680 by Bilarab bin Sultan, son of Nizwa Fort's builder. Greatly enlarged 40 years later by Muhammad bin Nasir, Jibrin was superbly restored in the early 1980s from a state of near-ruin. The work was done by Oman's Ministry of National Heritage and Culture under the direction of Enrico D'Errico. Make default image size larger ![]() The design is externally simple but internally much more complex: the massive walls--more than six feet thick to withstand cannon--enclose two rectangular blocks separated by a courtyard and connected to each other by only a narrow passage. Not quite a maze, the floor plan is still very hard to figure out. ![]() One block has latticework shading clerestory windows. ![]() Topside view over the oasis and plain. ![]() Courtyard wall, seen from the roof. ![]() The same balcony, seen from the ground. ![]() Finely scalloped ogee arch over an entrance from the courtyard. ![]() Internal door. ![]() The mihrab of the mosque. No clocks, no microphones, no fluorescent tubes, no framed pictures. Listen to the silence. ![]() Upstairs living quarters. The height and clerestories help keep the place relatively cool. ![]() The thick walls help, too. Here, the sun and moon room. ![]() A clerestory window in that room. ![]() Wall above a fireplace. ![]() Ceiling support. ![]() Carved roof beam. ![]() Downstairs, water once arrived through Falaj Jibrin, which runs through the length of the fort. ![]() Another view, showing a branch channel. ![]() Doorless cupboards. ![]() Date stores. ![]() Trays. ![]() Cooking utensils. ![]() Mortars and pestles. ![]() Urn. ![]() Spandrel over the tomb of the fort's builder, Bala'rab bin Sultan (d. 1692). ![]() Barrel vault over the tomb |
* Argentina * Australia * Austria * Bangladesh * Belgium * Botswana * Brazil * Burma / Myanmar * Cambodia (Angkor) * Canada (B.C.) * China * The Czech Republic * Egypt * Fiji * France * Germany * Ghana * Greece * Guyana * Hungary * India: Themes * Northern India * Peninsular India * Indonesia * Israel * Italy * Japan * Jerusalem * Jordan * Kenya * Laos * Kosovo * Malawi * Malaysia * Mauritius * Mexico * Micronesia (Pohnpei) * Morocco * Mozambique * Namibia * The Netherlands * New Zealand * Nigeria * Norway * Oman * Pakistan * Peru * The Philippines * Poland * Portugal * Romania (Transylvania) * Senegal * Singapore * South Africa * South Korea * Spain * Sri Lanka * Sudan * Syria (Aleppo) * Tanzania * Thailand * Trinidad * Turkey (Istanbul) * Uganda * The U.A.E. (Dubai) * The United Kingdom * The Eastern United States * The Western United States * Oklahoma * Uruguay * Uzbekistan * Vietnam * The West Bank * Yemen * Zambia * Zimbabwe *