Category: colour.

Newly discovered rock art in Wadi Tanuf.

Newly discovered rock art in Wadi Tanuf.

Rock Art TanufThe above image gives some idea of the erosion these images suffer – this has lost a large portion of the rock due to weather damage over many hundreds of years.

The images below have been colour shifted so that the subject is more defined. The first two from a rock about a third of the way in and the last three near where the wadi branches in two directions.

Several other rock faces have images but they were very faint and will need technical image manipulation.

Rock Art Tanuf No1The above triangular clothed Anthromorph is almost a mirror image of one found on a rock in a wadi near Nakhal, about 50km away as the crow flies: I wonder if it was made by the same person?

Rock Art Tanuf No2

Rock Art Tanuf No3

Rock Art Tanuf No4

Rock Art Tanuf No5

Problems opening theme page: Episode 2.

I am still not able to open WordPress pages without adding (https) in front of every page: a real pain when I wish to view others sites.
My provider has not been much help as it is only WordPress  that has the problem ??!! – very strange: the only consolation is that I am not alone with this issue,  others here in Oman have the same problem and it started on the same day.  Now the worm in the back of my mind says “WordPress new edit page was started about this time ??”
The WordPress ‘Happiness Engineer “rachelmcr” has been a great help – found things in Firefox programme I didn’t know existed  🙂

Quote from: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Douglas Adams.

Replace the word Universe with computer…………

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

 Normality will resume I hope.

Cannon detail from Al hazm fort.

Wadi Bani Habib.

Village ruin Bani Habib No 2Another part  of the Wadi Bani Habib abandoned village complex – less often photographed as it is further along the ridge; it sustained less damage during the 1950’s campaign.

Although Shackleton bombers of the RAF bombed the Jebel Akhdar plateau, this bombing was largely ineffective as the RAF had orders only to bomb caves and water systems, not villages.  So although there are several caves in this area, how much damage was done by the bombers is hard to determine. The construction of this type of building needs constant maintenance otherwise it soon succumbs to storm damage; so a lot of what can be seen could be age related.

Bats !

Small Bat bahla fortOne of a very large number of small Bats in Bahla Fort.

I don’t think I mentioned Bats from last weekends visit to Bahla Fort  🙂

What with the talk of Jinns and getting a little lost; there  were a great number of bats, especially in the darker corners of the fort. A  feeling of  Transylvania about the place…..

I was determined to get a picture of one, but easier said than done ! So excuse the quality, it is a miracle of Nikon that I got one at all. The body size was about 10cm and the room needed to be dark for them to land, otherwise they were zipping round getting excited about being disturbed.

So how did I manage this image without giving them more stress?

Camera set on Auto exposure, Aperture-priority AE, 1/60 sec, f/8, ISO 200 with built-in flash set very low & using my Tokina 35-70 f2.8 lens. I stood in the room until my eyes adjusted (zone focused my lens) then waited.

Bahla fort.

Bahla Fort

I have been trying to get a visit for aeons, but always closed – beginning to think it was a conspiracy by the jinns that are said to occupy the place….

 

Bahla fort and settlement owed its prosperity to the Banu Nebhan tribe who had prominence from the 12th to the end of the 15th century and made Bahla their capital. From here they were able to 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.
The fort became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It was included on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1988 and restoration work began in the 1990s. The fort with its walls and towers of mud brick on stone foundations along with the wall enclosed oasis, is understood to be the third largest example in the world. It’s a labyrinth of floors, doors and rooms; without a guide, needs careful thought as to which way the entrance was, when time for departure. 🙂
The town is well known for its pottery and although not mentioned unless one asks, its magic, in fact its second name is “Madinat Al Sehr”(the City of Magic). All part of Oman’s unwritten history of tradition and folklore.

Cannon found at the entrance.

Cannon no4

Cannon no3

Cannon inscriptionOld !

Bahla pot maker from the early 90’s.

 

Found these – made in the very early 90’s I think (on Kodak Gold) A Potter from Bahla; I wonder what has happened to him in the intervening years?

Almost certainly taken with a Nikon AF401 and 35 to 70 mm zoom lens, shop processed.

Bahla

Bahla No2C41 negatives scanned with a Plustek 7600i and cleaned up in P/S Cs6 (they needed it !) The local shop did not take as much care as one would expect in more modern places. The negatives had faded (old chemicals used probably)  and the colour had shifted a bit.