HERITAGE, CULTURE AND THE ARTS

While Oman and its people are fully committed to the drive to progress and
development, there exists within the country a strong determination not to exchange
their long established traditions for the trappings of the modern age; efforts have
consistently been made to blend the two and get the best of both worlds.
The government policy of conserving the country’s heritage and promoting its
culture and arts is pursued through various official institutions and channels. In
addition to excavating archaeological sites, the Ministry of Heritage and Culture
maintains an inventory of the country’s
historic buildings and hosts annual art
and literary events, discussion forums
and cultural weeks at home and abroad.
Societies like the Literary Association
and the Cultural Club continue to play
a useful role.
The culture of the past can be found
in the country’s many museums that
showcase a wide range of exhibits from
ancient and more contemporary times.
Meanwhile, in modern, visitor-friendly
surroundings the continuing restoration
of Oman’s forts and castles helps project
a living history of the country alongside
its fascinating past.
As well as devising a series of
An old grave at management plans for the Land of
Samad a’Shan, Frankincense sites, the Office of the
near Mudaibi in the Adviser to His Majesty for Cultural
Sharqiyah region Affairs is working with various UNESCO
committees and collaborating with
several scientific and research institutions
and universities on programmes to
restore and maintain the Sultanate’s rich
cultural and natural heritage.
The Ministry of Tourism, which
recognizes their importance as tourist
attractions, is revamping forts and historic
sites; several of these will eventually be
converted into museums. Its renovation
programme includes the forts of Nizwa,
Khasab, al Hazm Fort, Bait al Radaida, Bait al Nu’man and Barka.

Excavations at archaeological sites

The Ministry of Heritage and Culture monitors the archaeological excavations
His Majesty taking place in the Sultanate.
● Among these is the Bausher dig – a joint AGCC initiative being carried out by
conferred two Royal
Grants on crafts experts from the antiquities departments of the AGCC states. This operation will
people in October enable one of the most important archaeological sites in Muscat to be documented
2008 and protected from the effects of urban sprawl. The project is a valuable example
of what can be achieved by constructive co-operation between the AGCC states.

OMAN 141
 The Bausher site contains several tombs originally excavated by a German The Bausher
archaeological team in the 1980s before the joint Gulf team undertook further archaeological site
explorations in 2004, which unearthed soapstone implements, earthenware pot in Muscat is being
fragments, a seal, spearheads, a pair of bronze tongs, shells and beads. documented by
antiquities experts
● A dig at the Bait al Maqham site at Bausher in Muscat revealed remains of the
from a joint AGCC
walls of a rectangular chamber believed to have served as a kitchen since the area initiative
containing earthenware fragments and a central oven containing coal.
● The Ministry also oversaw digs on a number of other sites including the Waihi al

Murr, near Tanuf, in the Dakhiliyah Region, four kilometres from Bahla Fort. This
site revealed a burial ground dating from the third millennium BC which, when
excavated, contained two separate sections. The first contained earthenware pots,
beads and fragments of soapstone vessels, while the second section housed 12
tombs containing skeletons and earthenware fragments.
● A recovery operation was carried out at an ancient site in the village of al Faiqain

in the wilayat of Manah when a water reservoir was under construction in the
vicinity. Three tombs were excavated, two of which were found to date from the
late Iron Age (300 BC), while the third dated from the late Copper Age and Early
Bronze Age (3200-2700 BC). The main finds at the site were bronze arrowheads,
soapstone vessels, earthenware cups and pottery fragments.
● Some exploratory digs were carried out in an enclosed area at the al Khawbar site

in the wilayat of Sumail, where a badly damaged tomb was unearthed containing the
remains of a skeleton and some soapstone vessels and earthenware fragments.
● Some 20 tombs in a rectangular area at the al Birain site, near Quryat in Muscat,

were found to have been badly damaged as a result of construction work in the
area. They dated from two eras - the Lizq period (1000-400 BC) and the Samad

142 OMAN
The Land of al Shaan late Iron Age period (300 BC – 793 AD). The tombs contained human
Frankincense Museum, remains, earthenware fragments, daggers, bronze lances and axes, as well as a
part of the Al Baleed number of small glass, ivory and agate beads, some soapstone implements and a
archaeological site in large bronze pin.
Dhofar
● A comprehensive survey was carried out at Seih al Makarim in Sohar, where a large

area was divided into ten sections and the contents of each recorded. The area was found
to contain around 1,000 tombs, most dating from the first millennium BC.
● A dig at Halban, Seeb, on a site dating from between 3200 and 2000 BC

consisted of a burial ground of tower and beehive tombs similar to the ones at Bat
(see below). There have been excavations in the area previously and a study made
of the life of its inhabitants during the third millennium BC. A mission from the
German Mining Museum first carried out a survey of the site’s archaeological
contents in 1993.
● The Salut archaeological site lies at the heart of what was once an ancient oasis

occupying a large area in the western part of a valley, crossed by Wadi Bahla and
Wadi Sayfam. Salut was a fortified settlement (1300-800BC) located at the foot
of the western side of the al Hajar mountains, one kilometre north of the modern
town of Bisya in Bahla. The ruins of the fortress are set on a rocky outcrop of
about 20m, some 45m above the level of the surrounding plain.
The historical importance of the site is linked with the arrival of the first Arab
tribes from Southern Arabia to the territory known as present day Oman. Its
archaeological relevance resides both in its developed fortification and monumental
architecture - the only example of the period known to exist in the Omani interior
- and in the use of the sophisticated irrigation system, known as falaj.

OMAN 143