Al-Baleed Archaeological Park

Al-Baleed Archaeological Park is an archaeological park located in Al Balīd (Arabic: البليد) of Salalah, Dhofar, Oman. It is a part of the Land of Frankincense in the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.[1]

Not to be confused with Zafar, Yemen.

The ruins in the park belong to the ancient city of Z̧afār (Arabic: ظفار) which also covers the adjacent area in Ar Rubāţ (Arabic: الرباط). Z̧afār, from which the Dhofar Governorate got its name,[2] acted as an important port for frankincense trade during the medieval times, after the decline of the nearby port in Khor Rori.[3] The Roman name for the city was Saffara Metropolis and it is known primarily from its placement, together with Ubar, on maps drawn by Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer and geographer. [4]

It was visited by many famous travellers, such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Ibn al-Mujawir and Zheng He.[5] The city declined in the 16th–17th centuries due to various reasons such as closures of the lagoon (Khawr al Balīd) and Portuguese/Turkish/Mamluk invasion.[3]

The site was rediscovered in 1992 by a team led by Nicholas Clapp and archaeologist Juris Zarins of Southwest Missouri State University. [6]

The park also contains the Museum of the Land of Frankincense.

References
  1. "Land of Frankincense". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2000-11-30. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  2. Costa, P.M. (1979). "The study of the city of Ẓafār (al Balīd)". Journal of Oman Studies. 5: 111–150.
  3. Zarins, Juris (2007). "Aspects of recent archaeological work at al-Balīd (Ẓafār), Sultanate of Oman". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 37: 309–324. ISSN 0308-8421.
  4. Maugh, Thomas H., II (April 21, 1992). "L.A.-Based Archeology Team Finds 2nd Arabian City : History: Saffara Metropolis, a 3,000-year-old frankincense trading center, is found in Oman". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "Al Baleed Archaeological Park Salalah - UNESCO World Heritage Site - in 2020". Beautiful Salalah. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  6. Maugh, Thomas H., II (April 21, 1992). "L.A.-Based Archeology Team Finds 2nd Arabian City : History: Saffara Metropolis, a 3,000-year-old frankincense trading center, is found in Oman". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

17°00′23″N 54°08′00″E


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