Bahla & Jabreen

The small town of Bahla dominated by a disproportionately large fort, is located on the edge of a flat plain, just where the foothills of the Hajar Mountains runs into the dust of the desert.

But what does Bahla mean to the locals? Historians will speak about the fort, and expats who frequent the town will name the potteries, but any Omani who does not reside there will respond with ‘jinn’, devilish spirits blamed for all sorts of evil-eye activities. Still, unless you understand Arabic, you will not comprehend how they form part and parcel of the country’s oral folklore.