Muscat: Oman’s National Museum was opened on Monday in Muscat under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud Al Said.
The opening of the museum coincides with the Sultanate’s 45th National Day celebrations.
Sayyid Fahd unveiled the plaque at the main entrance declaring the opening of the National Museum. Entry ticket No. 1 was issued to Sayyid Fahd.
The National Museum was established as per the Royal Decree No (62/2013) issued on November 20th, 2013 to be a significant project tasked with maintaining the holdings of Omani heritage and material and non-material collectables of all manifestations of the history, culture and arts of Oman.
It aims to preserve the components of the Omani cultural heritage through supporting research, scientific and historical studies and plans for the preventive conservation, in addition to education and community outreach, which is achieved through the Learning Centre, which provides excellent educational services for all visitors and different age groups especially for children and students, as well as through the provision of outstanding visitor services and for special groups.
Moreover, the museum hosts the first Museum Education Centre in the sultanate and the first facilities for the preventive conservation, which are designed according to the standards of the International Council of Museums.
For people with special needs, the museum is the first public building in Oman that includes advanced facilities, including the blind and persons with physical disability by using Braille in Arabic, and open display for direct interaction with its contents.
It is the first museum in the Middle East that uses Braille language in Arabic.
The construction area of the museum is 13.700 square meters of which 4,000 square metres dedicated to the 15 fixed display halls, including the Earth and Man Hall, Maritime History Hall, Hall of Arms, Hall of Civilisational Achievements, Aflaj Hall, Currency Hall, Prehistory Hall, Hall of Oman and the Outside World, Hall of Greatness of Islam, Renaissance Hall along with a hall dedicated to temporary exhibition, which has been designed in accordance with the international regulations and standards used for this kind of facilities. The museum contains more than 7,000 collectables distributed into various fixed display halls.
The museum will have its own website to allow researchers and scholars read the available research and studies in this side and get acquainted with these items. During the period from 2010 to 2014, the museum invited 30 experts and scholars from both within and outside the sultanate and it was assisted by 21 archaeological missions for the preparation and development of the contents of the museum.
