The former harbour town of Qalhat

---

Only the ruins of the Bibi Mariyam mosque, which was probably built in the 14th century, still bear witness to the size of the former harbour town. The octagonal base of the collapsed dome, the outer walls of the cubic central building and wall niches with stucco work are still relatively well preserved. Otherwise, the area is a huge field of rubble. Only in a few other places are fragments of walls or cisterns still to be discovered.

Today, the ground is littered with shards and chunks of brain coral, the most commonly used building material. What actually lies beneath this gigantic pile of rubble is still largely unknown to us. For a few years now, however, a team of French archaeologists has been working intensively on excavating the most striking structures. What they have uncovered so far confirms the flowery descriptions from historical times. The large mosque near the coast was obviously very large and actually decorated with colourful tiles; there was also a large building for processing fish for export. The floor plans of the houses have now all been localised and recorded on a city map. Even the original storey height of the buildings has largely been determined. As long as the excavations on the site continue, it is generally closed to visitors, as every fragment, however seemingly worthless, could be an important piece in the archaeological puzzle.

The desolate state of Qalhat has two main causes. Towards the end of the 15th century, the city suffered a severe earthquake, which destroyed parts of the harbour and many houses. When the Portuguese general Albuquerque reached Qalhat in 1507 on his voyages of exploration and conquest, the reconstruction had not yet been fully completed, but the beauty and wealth of the city must have been impressive. Qalhat surrendered Albuquerque without a fight and was initially spared further destruction. However, the following year Albuquerque changed its mind, returned and turned the flourishing harbour metropolis, whose city walls had not yet been completely repaired by the earthquake, into a heap of rubble.