Stitched planks and carved stones: How Oman’s maritime memory lives in global cities
From the stitched planks of the Jewel of Muscat to the carved arches of Muscat Street in Singapore, Oman’s maritime legacy continues to shape shores. This story traces a complex history of trade, navigation, empire and cultural exchange and asks how that inheritance can be remembered truthfully and carried forward.
Published: 12:10 PM,Oct 04,2026 | EDITED : 04:10 PM,Oct 04,2026
The Historical Association of Oman
Human history is filled with empires that carved their names into the world through war. Civilisations expanded their borders using armies, fortresses and territorial conquest, leaving scars that endured long after their power had faded.
Oman’s relationship with the world developed differently, although not without its own complexities. From its position on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, the country looked towards the Indian Ocean not simply as a boundary, but as a route to distant societies. Merchants and navigators travelled between the Gulf, India, East Africa, Southeast Asia and China, carrying commodities, languages, religious beliefs and navigational knowledge.
Trade was central to this expansion and overtime, Oman became an imperial power known for its history of naval dominance and territorial rule. That heritage has not been left entirely to archives or academic texts. It remains visible in museums, streets, buildings and communities thousands of miles from Oman.
Two modern symbols demonstrate this particularly well: the reconstruction of a ninth-century vessel known as the Jewel of Muscat and the redevelopment of Muscat Street in Singapore. Together, they show how a shared memory of maritime commerce has been transformed into an expression of contemporary cultural diplomacy.
THE JEWEL OF MUSCAT: AFLOAT ON A SEA OF STITCHES
To understand the significance of the Jewel of Muscat, we must look back more than a millennium to the flourishing maritime trade between West Asia and China.
In 1998, fishermen discovered the remains of a ninth-century merchant vessel off Belitung Island in Indonesia. The wreck contained approximately 60,000 objects, most of them Chinese ceramics from the Tang dynasty, alongside gold and silver artefacts.
The discovery provided the first physical evidence that sewn-plank vessels from the western Indian Ocean participated directly in the maritime trade with China. Analysis suggested that the ship was most likely built in Arabia, possibly on the coast of Oman, although other Gulf ports, including Basra and Siraf, have also been considered.
The vessel’s exact origins and route cannot be established with certainty. Much of its cargo came from China, but scholars continue to debate whether it departed from Guangzhou, Yangzhou or another Chinese port before beginning its westward journey. What the wreck established beyond doubt was the extraordinary reach of maritime commerce during the ninth century.
Recognising its historical importance, the governments of Oman and Singapore launched a project to reconstruct the vessel and sail it from Muscat to Singapore.
The result was the Jewel of Muscat, an 18-metre, full-scale reconstruction based on the surviving archaeological evidence. It was not an exact copy. Significant portions of the original ship were missing, including much of the stern, while the number of masts, the rigging and other elements had to be inferred from historical texts, illustrations, ethnographic evidence and practical experimentation.
That uncertainty was part of the project’s value. The aim was not simply to produce a museum object, but to investigate how such a vessel might have been built, handled and sailed across the Indian Ocean.
Construction began at a specially established shipyard in Qantab, near Muscat. The team used timber from Africa and India, reflecting the range of materials identified in the original wreck. The hull was assembled without using metal nails to fasten the planks.
Craftsmen drilled more than 37,000 holes and used over 120 kilometres of coconut cordage to stitch the vessel together. Coconut-fibre wadding expanded when wet, tightening the seams and helping the hull remain watertight. Resin, fish oil and other traditional materials were used to seal and protect the timber, while the area below the waterline was coated with chunam, a mixture of hydrated lime and rendered goat fat.
Although traditional techniques guided the work, the project also used modern tools and testing. Most of the holes were made with electric drills, while scale models were tested at the University of Southampton to assess the hull and sails. These decisions reflected the dual nature of the undertaking: it was an experiment in historical reconstruction, but it also had to carry a crew safely to Singapore.
On February 16, 2010, the Jewel of Muscat departed from Port Sultan Qaboos under the command of the experienced Omani sailor Captain Saleh bin Said al Jabri. Its multinational crew included sailors from Oman and Singapore.
The journey covered 3,580 nautical miles and lasted 138 days, including 68 days at sea. The ship travelled through India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia before arriving in Singapore on July 3, 2010.
Its crew navigated primarily with methods documented from the ninth-century Indian Ocean world. They used the kamal — a small wooden device with a knotted cord, to determine latitude by measuring the altitude of known stars. They also observed the sun, wind direction, sea colour, birds and marine life. Modern instruments were carried to verify these traditional methods and support the crew’s safety.
The voyage was far from effortless. The sailors encountered storms and long periods without sufficient wind, and both masts cracked during a squall between India and Sri Lanka. They were replaced in Galle using newly felled teak. On some stretches, the vessel also required towing to maintain its operational schedule.
Its arrival in Singapore was nevertheless a remarkable achievement. The ship was formally presented as a state gift from Sultan Qaboos bin Said to the Government and people of Singapore. It was subsequently displayed at the Maritime Experiential Museum, which closed in 2020.
More than a demonstration of early shipbuilding, the voyage became a modern expression of friendship. It revived the memory of ancient trading routes while giving Oman and Singapore a shared cultural story that could be carried into the present.
MUSCAT STREET: OMAN IN SINGAPORE’S URBAN LANDSCAPE
The Jewel of Muscat did not arrive in a city without earlier connections to the Arab and Muslim world.
In Singapore’s historic Kampong Gelam district, a pedestrian route leading towards the golden-domed Sultan Mosque bears the name Muscat Street. The surrounding neighbourhood has long been associated with Malay and Arab communities, including influential Hadhrami merchant families who contributed to Singapore’s commercial, religious and philanthropic life.
The street’s name reflects the wider network of connections that once linked Singapore with Arab ports and trading communities. Other nearby names—including Arab Street, Baghdad Street and Bussorah Street—preserve this geographic memory within the modern city.
In 2012, Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority and Muscat Municipality collaborated on a major redesign of Muscat Street. The completed project was officially opened on 8 November that year.
At each end of the street stands an eight-metre-high granite arch decorated with Omani carvings. Granite murals and mosaic artworks introduce visitors to elements of Omani history and culture. Painted by Omani artists, the murals depict such objects and symbols as the khanjar, the dallah, an Omani fort and the Jewel of Muscat. Specially selected tiles were also imported from Oman.
The result is not a reproduction of an Omani town. Nor does it claim that Singapore’s Arab history belonged exclusively to Oman. Instead, Muscat Street functions as a contemporary interpretation of the maritime relationship between the two countries.
Here, heritage is not confined behind museum glass. It has been integrated into an active public space where residents, worshippers and visitors encounter it as part of everyday urban life.
The Jewel of Muscat and Muscat Street therefore perform complementary roles. One reconstructed a vessel and returned it to the ocean; the other placed fragments of Omani visual culture within the streetscape of a global city. Both use physical objects to make an ancient relationship visible to a modern audience.
GLOBAL ECHOES: FROM GUANGZHOU TO STONE TOWN
The Oman–Singapore connection belongs to a much wider history of movement across the Indian Ocean.
In China, Guangzhou, known to medieval Arab writers as Khanfu, was one of the principal destinations for ships and merchants arriving from West Asia. By the Tang period, maritime networks connected southern China with Southeast Asia, India and ports around the Gulf.
Suhar was among the ports participating in that commercial world. Omani navigators and merchants formed part of a cosmopolitan system that also included Arabs from elsewhere in the Gulf, Persians, Indians, Chinese and Southeast Asians. Goods passed through many hands, and ships frequently carried multinational crews.
Rather than reducing this history to one legendary voyage or a single “first” navigator, its real significance lies in the scale and continuity of the network. Long before the vocabulary of globalisation existed, people living around the Indian Ocean were already connected through commerce, migration and knowledge.
A different but equally significant legacy can be found in Zanzibar.
Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reflects the fusion of African, Arab, Indian and European influences over more than a millennium. Oman’s influence became especially prominent during the period of Omani rule, when Sultan Said bin Sultan transferred his principal seat to Zanzibar in the nineteenth century.
That era reshaped the island’s political, commercial and architectural landscape. Zanzibar became one of the principal trading ports in East Africa and provided much of the labour on its clove plantations.
Among Stone Town’s most recognisable monuments is the Beit Al Ajaib, or House of Wonders, constructed in 1883 as a ceremonial palace for Sultan Barghash bin Said. The building combined Swahili, Arab, Indian and European influences, including broad verandas supported by cast-iron columns.
Part of the structure collapsed in December 2020, and its restoration has since become an international conservation undertaking supported by Oman and monitored by UNESCO. Its story demonstrates that maritime heritage is not a fixed inheritance. It requires continuing research, honesty, investment and cooperation.
Oman’s connection with Zanzibar is therefore not a simple account of cultural influence. It is a shared history of family ties, migration, trade, power and human suffering. Its complexity is precisely what makes it significant.
THE HORIZON OF OMAN VISION 2040
The Jewel of Muscat, Muscat Street, Guangzhou and Stone Town reveal different dimensions of Oman’s maritime memory.
Some represent trade and technological ingenuity. Others speak of migration and cultural exchange. Still others reveal the ambitions and injustices of empire. Together, they demonstrate how deeply Oman was connected to the wider Indian Ocean world.
The question now is how that inheritance should inform the future.
Under Oman Vision 2040, the country is strengthening its position in logistics, maritime transport, tourism, cultural exchange and international diplomacy. Its modern ports connect markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, while its diplomatic approach has earned Oman a reputation as a trusted intermediary in regional and international disputes.
There is a compelling connection between these modern roles and Oman’s maritime geography. For centuries, the country has occupied a place between regions, languages and commercial systems. Today, that same position can support a different form of influence—one founded on connectivity, dialogue and long-term cooperation.
But heritage becomes valuable only when it is treated with accuracy. Oman’s maritime past should neither be diminished nor romanticised. It contains remarkable achievements, but also difficult histories that deserve acknowledgement.
The most enduring lesson of that past is not that Oman’s influence was always peaceful. It is that encounters across the sea created relationships whose consequences—creative and destructive—continued long after the ships had departed.
The Jewel of Muscat and Muscat Street offer a thoughtful way forward. They do not merely celebrate what once existed. They show how historical memory can be transformed into a living conversation between countries.
Across stitched planks, carved stone and distant shorelines, Oman’s maritime story continues to travel. Its greatest strength lies not in presenting that story as perfect, but in allowing it to be remembered truthfully, shared openly and carried confidently into the future.