The 28th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair entered its third day and saw an overwhelming weekend crowd.
According to some visitors, the fair was highly successful last year, coming out of a two-year absence due to the pandemic. “It is just the beginning now but we are hopeful of the fair breaking the records in terms of the visitors.”
Amar Naimi, an Omani English language author, said, "I believe that the crowd this year is high compared to last year. As an author, this fair is a great opportunity to meet readers and publishers, market my books, and also find books that I am looking for."
GUEST OF HONOUR FOR AL DHAHIRAH
Al Dhahirah Governorate is participating as a guest of honour in a corner that introduces the governorate and its historical and cultural role. The corner includes a collection of heritage finds, a special section for oil wealth, and several ancient manuscripts and correspondence related to the governorate.
The corner displays 3D video clips of the most prominent tourist attractions in the governorate and its affiliated regions.
More than 500 metal weapons were also found in it, in addition to 82 stone and ceramic vessels, making it the largest archaeological treasure of its kind in the Middle East and one of the most important archaeological sites in the Sultanate of Oman.
CULTURE CLUB
Since its founding in 1983, the Cultural Club has played a major role in supporting the cultural scene in the Sultanate of Oman and enriching the Omani library with many publications.
The club annually organises a group of diverse programmes, activities and events in various cultural, literary and artistic fields.
The club also launched the Cultural Club Translation Award 2024 initiative.
There was a lecture by Younis bin Saif al Shahoumi, a museum interpretation specialist at the National Museum, who talked about treasures that the museum contains, namely Al Sulami Treasure, the Al Waqba Treasure, and the Al Safa Treasure, in addition to the Bat site and the important historical antiquities.
The desert in Al Dhahirah Governorate is a huge treasure of metal artifacts hidden in a ruined tomb dating back to the third millennium BC.
THE AL WAQBA TREASURE
The Al Waqba Treasure was discovered in the town of Saddamah in the village of Al Waqba and contains 409 silver dirhams dating back to the early Islamic periods. This treasure gives a comprehensive overview of the powers that controlled the Gulf region at that time, and of the coins that were circulated in the Sultanate of Oman during that period.
He also referred to the recently discovered archaeological treasure of Al Safa in the sands of the Empty Quarter, about 50 kilometres southwest of the Wilayat of Dhank, and 70 kilometres west of the Wilayat of Ibri.
It is an industrial site open to mining on an area of 8 hectares, and there is no similar site in the ancient world. It contains about 600 artifacts and 200 furnaces that were used to produce charcoal and smelt bronze.
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