I think that a visit to the modern night market in Salalah should be of great value added to be able to see and smell the four different kinds and varying quality of Omani frankincense: Shizri, Shaabi, Nejdi and Al Hawjri - the latter supposedly being clearer, whiter and of the best quality. The peak season to visit is around April when the trees are also in bloom, but if you keep you're eyes peeled, even in December-January you're likely to find some trees in bloom so that you can see all the different stages of growth. The handful of older frankincense trees closest to the source though are usually used to demonstrate how frankincense is tapped as the frankincense trees require around 8-10 years before they reach the production phase (some 3 to 4 kg of frankincense per season per tree!). After parking your car, head down the stairs or ramp and proceed on the right where you'll notice a source of water which is used to irrigate the several frankincense trees. The component of the Frankincense Park of Wadi Dawkah is around 45 minutes away from Salalah and is more of a natural component which enables you to experience how frankincense is sourced. It just wouldn't be a wise choice to pick this site and Wadi Dawkah only as the other two would in my opinion be worthy of inscription even on their own. The site's size and remains pale in comparison with the other cultural components of this WHS but it's still a worthy addition. Recent restoration works have secured the limestone with metal pillars and concrete and information boards and a very small visitor centre try to explain the site's importance along the ancient trade routes of frankincense. The lost city was built on a large limestone cavern that due to the weight of the city and earthquakes collapsed into a sinkhole (now full of bats). In total there are some 15 stone structures remaining. The lost city of Ubar was relatively recently discovered through high-tech satellite imagery. On the way, just before arriving at the Ubar Archaeological Site, the green crop circles in the desert are worth a stopover. If you're visiting from Salalah instead of from Muscat or Duqm, there's a perfectly paved road now and it's just over an hour drive from Wadi Dawkah. Just make sure to have a spare tire and loads of water in your car just in case something goes wrong (you're likely to see camel skeletons along the way clearly showing what happens if you end up without water in the desert!). The drive with a 2WD sedan car was bumpy but perfectly doable. I consciously decided to risk the one hour long unpaved road to the Archaeological Site of Ubar as I wanted to venture as far as possible into the Empty Quarter. The first component I visited was that of Ubar after a long drive from the delisted Al Wusta Arabian Oryx Nature Reserve. All 4 locations have UNESCO markers just next to their entrances. I visited all 4 components which make up this WHS on separate days. After his death, the Xhorrām-Dīnān armies continued to exist until the 12th century.I visited this WHS in December 2020 over several days during my extended road trip in Oman and it turned out to be a real highlight of our trip which would certainly warrant a revisit to Southern Oman any time (perhaps apart from the wet Khareef season). Hāshem died eventually in a Persian fort near Kesh. Hāshem poisoned himself rather than surrender to the Abbasids, who had set fire to his house. When Hāshem's followers started raiding towns and mosques of other Muslims and looting their possessions, the Abbasids sent several commanders to crush the rebellion. Hāshem was instrumental in the formation of the Xhorrām-Dīnān armies which was lead by Pāpak Xorram-Din, a Persian uprising whose intent was to overthrow the invading Arabs. He is reputed to have engaged in magic and miracles in order to gain his followers. Hāshem was reputed to wear a veil in order to cover up his beauty, whereas his followers wore white clothes in opposition to Abbasid invaders' black. After Vehzādān's murder in 755 AD, Hashem claimed to be an incarnation of God, a role, he insisted, passed to him from Abū Muslim, who received it via ‘Alī from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He became a commander for Vehzādān Pour Vandād Hormozd (Known By The Arabs As: Abu Moslem) of Xorāsān province of Iran (Persia). Hāshem was an ethnic Persian from Merv, originally a clothes pleater. However, it is now agreed that his birthplace was in Balkh, a city close to Sogdia. Early scholars believed that he was born in Sogdia. Before he came to be known by the nickname of "al-Muqanna", he was called by his birth name, Hashim.
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