Could it be many places from Iraq to Afghanistan…. Not Central Asian perhaps. Can’t wait to see the answer.
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Right on the mark. Qal’at al Bahrain, with remains dating to 2500 B.C. The fortress shown is mainly 16th century Portuguese. Fabulous site. Also a fabulous national museum along the waterfront in downtown Manama, with extensive documentation of the Dilmun civilization that dominated the island more or less until the Assyrians and Greeks came along a few centuries before Christ.
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As a young sailor in the early ’80s I had the pleasure of visiting Manama during our brief breaks from patrolling the Gulf. I remember it mostly as a scene from a Pynchon book: fighting off rats with brooms on the ships quarterdeck, riding the city bus to the souk, eating chicken marsala and playing rock music on a jukebox in a small cafe, Mt buddy Scotty giving a “gag me with a spoon” button to the owner’s child, tree climbing goats, a mediocre USO band at the American Support Group, a beer or two at the fancy Sheraton, all the while Iran and Iraq were conducting raids on each other’s oil fields and Saudi Arabia was keeping a wary eye on both with the assistance of an AWACS and our naval forces.
Could it be many places from Iraq to Afghanistan…. Not Central Asian perhaps. Can’t wait to see the answer.
Right on the mark. Qal’at al Bahrain, with remains dating to 2500 B.C. The fortress shown is mainly 16th century Portuguese. Fabulous site. Also a fabulous national museum along the waterfront in downtown Manama, with extensive documentation of the Dilmun civilization that dominated the island more or less until the Assyrians and Greeks came along a few centuries before Christ.
As a young sailor in the early ’80s I had the pleasure of visiting Manama during our brief breaks from patrolling the Gulf. I remember it mostly as a scene from a Pynchon book: fighting off rats with brooms on the ships quarterdeck, riding the city bus to the souk, eating chicken marsala and playing rock music on a jukebox in a small cafe, Mt buddy Scotty giving a “gag me with a spoon” button to the owner’s child, tree climbing goats, a mediocre USO band at the American Support Group, a beer or two at the fancy Sheraton, all the while Iran and Iraq were conducting raids on each other’s oil fields and Saudi Arabia was keeping a wary eye on both with the assistance of an AWACS and our naval forces.