Tower Tombs at Shir/Jaylah.
From my files: I made several visits after hearing reports by locals describing towers & later reports from a helicopter pilot who noted these strange towers while flying over the area.
See link below for a very detailed and interesting report by: Paul Yule and Gerd Weisgerber on these and other tombs in Oman. Well worth a read.
Link: Tombs in Oman.
Ruins.
A small step into history.
Made from the hill that excavation of the archæology site of Sumhuram is being carried out – first discovered by the Yorkshire born explorer James Theodore Bent when he visited the area between 1894 & 1895.
For his travels in the area, see the red line near Mirbat on the above map.
These are examples of a traditional method of sewn-boat construction (no nails) which is no longer carried out in Dhofar: the last person with this skill, died in the 1990’s, although a few still live in the Musandam. (Seminar of Arabian Studies 40)
Archæological evidence from the al-Balid site, of timbers re-used as building materials when boats were no longer sea worthy, indicate that this method of construction in Dhofar is very old.
All the materials come from the Coconut palm – wood, cordage & wadding, with a covering derived from fish oil. The tools used being saw, adze, chisel & hammer, along with a good eye for a straight line & curves – undoubtedly very accomplished carpenters.
Archæological site: opposite the Village of Manal.
There was some interest in this site around 2003 if I remember correctly; when a dig was carried out and most of the tombs were enclosed by a chain-link fence, but behind this on a tributary of the main wadi are more tombs.
I am not sure of the age: but what information I could find, listed it as an Iron-age site, although some of the tombs could be reused from an earlier date.
David A Lockwood 