The Bahrain Fort
I was out the other day just driving and getting lost and I arrived at the Bahrain Mosque. I will just share the pictures because unlike the US museums and such there is no guided tour. It is there and you walk around and you get out of it what you will. These are some of the select pictures the full album is at my online photo album. I hope you like them as much as I liked taking them. I hope to go to the Tree of life and maybe the Riffa fort sometime this weekend.
The Bahrain Fort at Sunset.
A view of old and new.
I suppose these are some sort of store houses or barracks or something. What I was curious about was that the fort appeared to be an edifice that they just dug a hole in the ground and supported that with stones and then lived in the center of that. Like unlike European forts there was no courtyard or walls like a box like structure where the inhabitants live down inside of the fort like a kitten in a box, rather everything was elevated with high walls around it and the living and everything was the same height as the surrounding earth outside of the fort. Further down I will explain what I mean.
Trying to master the shot.
I was a bit irritated with the color balance on a bit of my pics as they were too red and that isn't something that shows up in the little 2 x 2 viewfinder.
This was a shot that I was really trying to master. I have another pic that I really like. I think that I will have to get another tripod that allows me to zero-balance my camera. I have seen them with the little antifreeze filled level indicators. You will see what I mean when I post the shot further down.
You see here where there is where I am standing and then the trench around the fort down there where those lights are. I am almost equal with the height of the wall. If I was an Artillery person I would just lob bombs right there on the top of the fort. Or better yet just isolate the fort and do whatever else it was I wanted with the surrounding area. I never understood that about ancient warfare. Why would you waste so much time and resources attacking a fort when the entire region around it is unprotected territory? That just seems dumb. I'm going to lock myself in my house, Fine I'll take all the stuff around your house and everyone else's as well and when you all starve I'll take the fort. Duh.
This shot I really worked on and thought was cool of the lookout tower.
Here is a good picture of that trench I was talking about.
I took several pictures of this window to find the one that I liked best. I will probably crop this down for something else later.
Theres that trench again.
The front of the fort kind of looks like a little man.
I thought that this came out good. I want a camera with a better lens so that I can get more detail into it.
There is that lookout tower again.
This is the one that I liked best of those archways I was talking about earlier. Now you can see why I need a leveling tripod.
I took this one for artistic relief.
I went shopping and came home and I wanted to share this, that only in the middle east can you get such tasty treats. I don't think you can get tangerine Schweppe's in the states.
That's all for this photo tour. Hopefully I will have some none photographic entries so you don't have to wait forever to download my blog.
The Bahrain Fort at Sunset.
A view of old and new.
I suppose these are some sort of store houses or barracks or something. What I was curious about was that the fort appeared to be an edifice that they just dug a hole in the ground and supported that with stones and then lived in the center of that. Like unlike European forts there was no courtyard or walls like a box like structure where the inhabitants live down inside of the fort like a kitten in a box, rather everything was elevated with high walls around it and the living and everything was the same height as the surrounding earth outside of the fort. Further down I will explain what I mean.
Trying to master the shot.
I was a bit irritated with the color balance on a bit of my pics as they were too red and that isn't something that shows up in the little 2 x 2 viewfinder.
This was a shot that I was really trying to master. I have another pic that I really like. I think that I will have to get another tripod that allows me to zero-balance my camera. I have seen them with the little antifreeze filled level indicators. You will see what I mean when I post the shot further down.
You see here where there is where I am standing and then the trench around the fort down there where those lights are. I am almost equal with the height of the wall. If I was an Artillery person I would just lob bombs right there on the top of the fort. Or better yet just isolate the fort and do whatever else it was I wanted with the surrounding area. I never understood that about ancient warfare. Why would you waste so much time and resources attacking a fort when the entire region around it is unprotected territory? That just seems dumb. I'm going to lock myself in my house, Fine I'll take all the stuff around your house and everyone else's as well and when you all starve I'll take the fort. Duh.
This shot I really worked on and thought was cool of the lookout tower.
Here is a good picture of that trench I was talking about.
I took several pictures of this window to find the one that I liked best. I will probably crop this down for something else later.
Theres that trench again.
The front of the fort kind of looks like a little man.
I thought that this came out good. I want a camera with a better lens so that I can get more detail into it.
There is that lookout tower again.
This is the one that I liked best of those archways I was talking about earlier. Now you can see why I need a leveling tripod.
I took this one for artistic relief.
I went shopping and came home and I wanted to share this, that only in the middle east can you get such tasty treats. I don't think you can get tangerine Schweppe's in the states.
That's all for this photo tour. Hopefully I will have some none photographic entries so you don't have to wait forever to download my blog.
Salaams,
ReplyDeleteFirst I really like the fort pix. One thing you have to remember is that back in the day the ground level outside the fort was much lower than today... prolly 2-3 meters, at least. Second is that the walls might have been higher... as buildings fall out of use the stones are scavenged for other buildings. Also, there were probably outlying defense fortifications that either have not been excavated or destroyed.
As for the whole hiding in the castle/fort thing... usually they were in highly defensible places or had control of some resource (like water) or travel route. It's all well and good to pillage the countryside, but how are you going to defend that territory when your enemy can outflank you from a fortified position? Also, someone else will come along and try to take over, so you might need that defensible position. And remember, almost everyone had allies... Do you want their friends coming up on ya out in the open, or behind high walls?
THANKS for the chance to work my brain a bit... I must admit large fortifications are not my speciality, so it was nice to think outside the box. Now, off to your online photo stash... mwhah hah hah!
I am loving your pics...Keep up the good work,and love reading your blogs also.... I am going to stop by your wifeys page and check out some of her blogs also...came across your site while reading another blog, I see that you offer great advice just wanted to check out your blogs...
ReplyDeleteA.
Rain I hope you enjoy the photo stash there you will get to see some pics before I blog about them. Cause sometimes I just don't have the time or make it a priority.
ReplyDeleteThanks WTR I hope that some of the things that I say can benefit you in some way.
Tangerine schweppes is here in Egypt as well....it's the best. But that's a HUGE bottle!!
ReplyDeleteNo it is actually smaller than those little half cans. It is all camera angle. Thanks for letting me know that it worked.
ReplyDelete