Abadan, Oil City Dreams , 60 years ago

Reputedly founded by a holy man, ʿAbbād, in the 8th century, Ābādān was a prosperous coastal town in the ʿAbbāsid period and was known for its salt and woven mats. But the extension of the delta of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab by silt deposition caused the coast of the Persian Gulf to gradually recede from Ābādān. By the time the town was visited by the Arab geographer Ibn Baṭṭūṭah in the 14th century, it was described as little more than a large village in a flat, salty plain.