UAE | General
Oman hopes more archaeological sites will be included in World Heritage List
Oman hopes to get its archaeological sites in the eastern region to be included in the World Heritage List, according to a top official with the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture.
- By Sunil K. Vaidya, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:00 October 14, 2003
Oman hopes to get its archaeological sites in the eastern region to be included in the World Heritage List, according to a top official with the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture.
"Work is being carried out on these sites for five years and now we feel that it is an important archaeological place and could be included in the World heritage List," Biubwa bint Ali Al Sabry, director of Archaeology Department at the ministry told Gulf News yesterday.
The Frankincense Route sites in Dhofar-Wadi Dawkah, Wubar, Khor Rori and the city of Al Baleed are already registered with Unesco's World Heritage List since 2000 and the ministry hopes that Ras Al Jinz, Ras Al Hadd and Ras Al Khabbah would also soon find a place in this list.
According to Al Sabry the joint Hadd project explores archaeological remains in Ja'lan, the easternmost province of Oman since 1985.
The expedition was initiated after a discovery of fragments of inscribed Bronze Age pottery from the Indus Valley Civilisation in Pakistan and northwestern India, on the surface of a small site at Ras Al Jinz, just behind the sand beach, which is famous for turtle nesting ground.
This is the site where expedition teams have concentrated since.
"Every year we have teams coming from France and Italy to work on the sites," said Al Sabry.
She pointed out that the Omani archaeologists work along side these European experts. "It is an invaluable experience for our Omani team members," she believes.
The central mesa in the Ras Al Jinz embayment is 270 metres long and 120 metres wide and covered with cliffs on all sides.
The fifth campaign carried out recently on this site was aimed at excavating remains of the third millennium settlement, which were uncovered during the previous expedition.
Excavations in Ras Al Hadd area have so far uncovered the well preserved remains of a small settlement daring to the first half of third millennium BC, made of mud brick square planned houses built over a solid artificial platform of beaten clay and sand surrounded by a wall of undressed stones.
"The plan of the complex is roughly circular, with an average diameter of 80 metres," said Al Sabry. She added that the radiocarbon dates and cross-cultural comparisons suggest a time span of roughly 400 years, between 3000 and 2500 BC.
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