In the course of more than 40 years, Hilal Al Rumhi was able to collect 3,000 pieces of antiques ranging from traditional weapons such as guns, swords, daggers, in addition to silverware, antiques, women’s jewelry, household tools, farming tools, and palm fronds, and some of the holdings date back to 200 years.
Al Rumhi who hails from the village of Aini in the Wilayat of Rustaq owns an invaluable treasure of collectibles. He said he has been “collecting heritage and ancient collectibles as a hobby that began in 1979, intending to preserve the heritage of ancestors and take care of the authentic Omani legacies that reflect the extent to which the Omani man relates to the environment and to show the conditions of life he lived in the past”.
He added that after he retired in 1996, he became more dedicated to his hobby of collecting antiques through buying and selling. He has a shop in Rustaq market, and he acquired most of the collectibles by wandering and visiting the markets of Nizwa, Ibri, Ibra, Al Mudhaibi, and the willayats of North Al Batinah.
He explained that he owns up to 200 rifles of various types, including the Omani Abu Ftaila, Al Masrabakh, Maghrebia, Malti, and Al Samaa. In addition to a group of swords, the oldest of which is the Yemeni sword, an authentic Omani sword dating back a thousand years and a pure silver sword, in addition to other types of swords such as Abu Masila and Abu Thalath Masilat and a group of ancient gears, some of which are made of animal skins.
He indicated that he had a group of Omani Khanjars, some of which dated back to between 150 to 200 years, in addition to 100 kilograms of ancient silver, which has become rare these days. As for coins, he has ten thousand pieces of the baisa coin, which dates back to 1292 AH, and a thousand pieces of French coins and a quantity of Ghazi coin, in addition to various types of women’s jewelry and adornment tools such as bracelets, rings, silver necklaces, antiques with beautiful inscriptions, Mandoos made of original teak wood, multi-purpose copper utensils, such as copper flasks, cooking tools, and weighing tools.
He pointed out that there are many people interested in collecting and preserving artifacts in the various wilayats of the Sultanate, explaining that he aspires to establish a heritage museum in the future. Currently, he turned one of the rooms in his house into a mini museum.
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