Friday, April 27: This week’s A-Z challenge by Frizztext is the letter R: “introduce one photo of your own archive with a “R” keyword for example RAINY DAY or RIOTS, REVERENDS or RESTAURANTS, ROYAL WEDDINGS or ROUGH, RUSSIAN dolls, RAINBOWS or REVOLVERS etc.”
I’m featuring the RUINS I visited this weekend in Al Ayn, Oman. These 21 tombs are an amazing collection of Bronze Age necropolises, spectacularly set on a narrow ridge top with the dramatic Jebel Misht, “Comb Mountain,” in the background.
the 21 Bronze Age tombs of Al Ayn with the jagged, comb-shaped Jebel Misht behind
This is the third time I have visited these tombs; the most recent time was just last week after Oman had a week of heavy rains. That time I was unable to walk up the ridge because of a flooded wadi between me and the ridge. This time the wadi was dry, so we were able to climb up the ridge to observe the ruined tombs up close.
the beehive tombs up close & personal
Ancient ruins.....
"It makes the heart to tremble when you open an undiscovered tomb." ~ Zahi Hawass
a nomad in the land of nizwa 
very old, Bronze Age!
Yes, that’s what the books say!! I can’t even believe they’re still standing!! 🙂
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This is so cool! Now I want to experience these old ruins in person with my own eyes! Thanks for sharing.
There are so many cool ruins in Oman, Christina, and what I love most about them is that they’re just out in the wild, usually with no other tourists in sight. It’s like in England if you walk using Ordnance maps and come across Roman ruins out in some patch of woods. I love this about Oman!
Ooooh, I know exactly what you mean about ruins in the “wild” with no other tourists around. I’ve been to some very notable old ruins in places like Greece and Italy, and while they’re very powerful and impressive, they are also often so heavily touristed lessening the impact of that experience for me. I love, love being in such a powerful place like the ruins you saw and having them all to myself to explore—I’m able to get more of a feeling of time long past.
I agree Christina. Almost every “tourist trap” place I’ve been to, including the Taj Mahal, was a sort of a letdown because of the “touristy” aspect. The major exceptions for me were Petra, Jordan, the Summer Palace in Beijing and Angkor Thom. Even the Great Wall was ruined by huge crowds of tourists. I prefer to go off the beaten track!
What an amazing final resting place as well. Just one thing, how big are they?
They’re quite big, Gilly. Maybe I should post a picture with myself so you can see the size. There’re probably around twice as tall as me!
I love the quote and the photos. Reminded me of the ruins I explored while in Bahrain called the Al Bahrain Fortress – it was sweltering hot, I nearly suffered from heat stroke. But the view was magnificent. Thanks for sharing these lovely photos.
Thanks Myra! I’m sure Bahrain is like Oman in that every time you go out you’re sweltering! But it’s better than sitting inside all the time in air conditioning, where I get cabin fever! I’ll have to visit Bahrain some time while I’m in the Gulf!