Al Mudhaireb Village

We read about Al Mudhaireb Village on Oman Tripper and figured it was worth a stop after our exploration of Wadi Bani Khaled as we made our way North.  Driving toward Nizwa, it’s off the right side of the freeway at a gas station.  

The notable watch tower – Historically, each quarter of the village had its own watchtower to warn the residents from attacks from other villages/quarters, and there would have been an old quarter under or near-by to each of these watchtowers.

Another watchtower perspective

The Omani door obsession continues . . .

The intricacy does not get old!

Cool ruins, cool date trees, cool views 🙂

We never did find the museum, and it was super quiet and empty while we were there. Folks we encountered didn’t speak English or know of a museum.  We explored the ruins nevertheless and it was nice to break up the drive, but certainly not a must-do, and as we found so many ruins wherever we went, I look back and laugh at how these felt so special since they were our first ones!

A cool snippet of time . . .

Considered one of the ‘lost cities‘ of Oman, there really isn’t much information on the place and its historical role.  My  Omani friend told me that the Sheik of Ash Sharqiyah ruled from Al Mudhaireb and ultimately married his daughter to Sultan Qaboos as part of the  new ruler’s attempts to unify the country.  It was after the local government of Sharqiyah gave way to central government that the Al Mudhaireb became less relevant and started its degradation to ruins.

Al Mudhaireb is about 20 kms after Ibra and 30 kms before Bidiyah, just take the turn off the highway once you see the signpost.