The Jebel Akhdar or Al Jabal Al Akhdar ( ar, ٱلْجَبَل ٱلْأَخْضَر, Al-Jabal Al-Akhḍar, lit=The Green Mountain), is part of

Al Hajar Mountains The Hajar Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ٱلْحَجَر, Jibāl al-Ḥajar, ''The Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') in northeastern Oman and also the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian ...

range in

Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate Ad Dakhiliyah ( ar, الداخلية, Ad-Dāḫilīyah, meaning: The Interior) is one of the Governorates of Oman, governorates (''muhafazah'') of Oman with Nizwa town as the regional center. It was previously a region (''mintaqah''). It became a ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. It rises to a height of and encompasses the Saiq Plateau at 2,000 m above sea level. Jebel Akhdar is famous for its labyrinth of

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

s and terraced orchards, where pomegranates, apricots and roses grow in abundance due to its mild Mediterranean climate.

Description

This mostly

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

mountain is one of the highest points in Oman and

eastern Arabia Eastern Arabia, historically known as al-Baḥrayn ( ar, البحرين) until the 18th century, is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain, Kuwait, Eastern Saudi Arabia, Unite ...

. Jebel Akhdar lies at the central section of Al Hajar range, located around from

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is s ...

and accessible only by four-wheel drive. The range is mostly

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

, but at higher altitudes receives around of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

annually — moist enough to allow the growth of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and support

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. It is this that gives the mountains their "green" name. An old stronghold on the inland side of the mountain is Birkat al-Mawz, or Pool of the Plantains, with a layout similar to the nearby

Jabrin Jabrin, also known as Jabreen, ( ar, جبرين) is a small town in Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate in northeastern Oman near Nizwa and the Jabal Akhdar Mountains. The town is known for its impressive castle, which was built by the Yaruba dynasty Im ...

palace The area is about a 45-minute drive from

Nizwa Nizwa ( ar, نِزْوَى, Nizwā) is the largest city in Ad Dakhiliyah Region in Oman and was the capital of Oman proper. Nizwa is about (1.5 hours) from Muscat. The population is estimated at around 72,000 people, including the two areas o ...

and is known for its traditional

rose water Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil Rose oil (rose otto, attar of rose, attar of rose ...

extraction and agricultural products including

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

s, black

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

s and

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es. It is also the site of

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current co ...

breeding for much of Oman. Agricultural production is improved by the use of

Falaj A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface, through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 BC in what is now Iran. The function is essentially the same across ...

irrigation channels and their associated terraces system devised by the local farmers, who have lived on this mountain for hundreds of years. Al Sogara is a historic village carved into the mountainside. The Jebel is mostly inhabited by the ancient

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

tribe Bani Riyam (al Riyamy). Most descendants of the tribe are now in the four nearby villages, including Nizwa, Izki and Ibra.

Ecology

Jebel Ahkdar is in the

Al Hajar montane woodlands The Al Hajar montane woodlands is a temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands ecoregion in the Al Hajar Mountains on the eastern Arabian Peninsula, which extends across portions of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Geography The ecoregion ...

ecoregion. The plant communities on the mountain vary with elevation. Shrublands and dry grasslands are found from 450 to 1,300 meters elevation. The grasses and shrubs are adapted to arid conditions, and include many drought-deciduous and succulent plants. Typical shrubs include '' Convolvulus acanthocladus, Euphorbia larica,

Grewia tenax ''Grewia tenax'', called the phalsa cherry, white crossberry, raisin bush, gangara, gangu, or kanger, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to Africa, from the Sahara to Tanzania and parts of southern Africa, the A ...

'' subsp. ''makranica, Jaubertia aucheri,

Maerua crassifolia ''Maerua crassifolia'' is a species of plant in the Capparaceae family. It is native to Africa, tropical Arabia, and Israel, but is disappearing from Egypt. Foliage from this plant is used as fodder for animals, especially camels, during the dr ...

Moringa peregrina ''Moringa peregrina'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Moringaceae that is native to Arabian Peninsula Horn of Africa and Southern Sinai, Egypt and can be found throughout Arabia, Egypt and as far north as Syria. Moringa peregrina ...

'', and ''Pseudogaillonia hymenostephana''.Kürschner H. (1998) Biogeography and Introduction to Vegetation. In: Ghazanfar S.A., Fisher M. (eds) Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula. Geobotany, vol 25. Springer, Dordrecht. Semi-evergreen woodlands of

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

ous trees are found between 1,350 and 2,350 meters elevation. Common trees and shrubs include '' Sideroxylon mascatense,

Dodonaea viscosa ''Dodonaea viscosa'', also known as the broadleaf hopbush, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Dodonaea'' (hopbush) genus that has a cosmopolitan distribution in Tropics, tropical, Subtropics, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa ...

'',

Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

(''Olea europaea''), '' Ebenus stellatus,

Grewia villosa ''Grewia villosa'' is a shrub, often scrambling and hardly exceeding 4 m in height. Leaves are fairly large, serrated and heart-shaped. It grows naturally, mainly in dry habitats. It is common in most of the semi-arid parts of Eastern Africa but ...

Juniperus seravschanica ''Juniperus seravschanica'' is a species of juniper. Common names include Pashtun juniper ( ps, اوبښته ''ōbəx̌ta'', " specieswhich sucks water"; Pashto: پښتني صنوبر). It ranges from southernmost Kazakhstan through Kyrgyzstan, ...

, Myrtus communis'', and '' Sageretia spiciflora''. Above 2300 meters elevation, open woodlands of juniper (''

'') predominate, with the shrubs ''

Cotoneaster nummularius ''Cotoneaster nummularius,'' the nummular or coinwort cotoneaster is a species of cotoneaster ''Cotoneaster'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region (temperate Asia, Europe, north Africa) ...

, Daphne mucronata,

Ephedra pachyclada Ephedra may refer to: * Ephedra (medicine), a medicinal preparation from the plant ''Ephedra sinica'' * ''Ephedra'' (plant), genus of gymnosperm shrubs See also * Ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is oft ...

Euryops arabicus ''Euryops arabicus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that grows in the form of a bush. It is found on the Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, Somalia and Djibouti. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. De ...

, Lonicera aucheri, Periploca aphylla'', and ''Sageretia spiciflora''.

History

Between 1954 and 1959, the area became a site of the

Jebel Akhdar War The Jebel Akhdar War ( ar, حرب الجبل الأخضر , Ḥarb al-Jebel el-ʾAkhḍar, lit=the Green Mountain War)

, a conflict between Omani forces loyal to the sultan of Oman (aided by British soldiers, including the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

) and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

n-backed rebel forces of the inland

Imamate of Oman The Imamate of Oman ( ar, إِمَامَة عُمَان, Imāmat ʿUmān, links=no) refers to a historical state within the ''Oman proper'' ( ar, عُمَان ٱلْوُسْطَى, ʿUmān al-Wusṭā) in the present-day Al Hajar Mountains in ...

. In August 2011,

Sultan Qaboos Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

designated Jebel Akhdar a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in a bid to conserve its unique yet fragile biodiversity. A decree issued by Sultan Qaboos established the 'Jebel Akhdar Sanctuary for Natural Sceneries.' The Minister of Environment and Climate Affairs has authority to draft guidelines regulating access and developmental activity within the reserve. Since 2011, the mountain has featured as the principal climb in the

Tour of Oman The Tour of Oman is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Oman since 2010 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was scheduled to become part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020, but both the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled d ...

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

. In the area, several important rock art sites, with figures dating back to 6000 years ago, have been discovered and studied.

References

External links

Article by Nizwa.NETOman’s Rose Water in Jebel Akhdar Oman’s 'Green Mountain' declared nature reserve
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhdar Mountains of Oman Mountain ranges of Asia Al Hajar Mountains