Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oman legends that live on

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A country of breathtaking natural beauty, the Sultanate of Oman is a country interwoven with a kaleidoscope of history, rich culture and heritage and home to mythical characters whose stories continue to be told across the globe. As the oldest independent state in the Arab World, Oman has embraced modernisation and progress while retaining the core aspects of its culture and heritage. Along with a lot of local myths and legends, whose stories are passed down generations, the two that are known through the globe to this day is Sindbad the Sailor and the palace of Queen of Sheba.


Sindbad the Sailor


Sindbad and the tales of his many voyages continue to be told, watched or read in households everywhere to this day. The mythology of Sinbad the Sailor still retains a powerful attraction for many across the Middle East; he is a symbol of the region’s seafaring history, and tales of his exploits are retold in different forms throughout the Arab Peninsula.


The relevance of the Sinbad the Sailor mythology in contemporary Middle Eastern culture is made evident by the number of places which claim him as one of their own. One such place is Suhar in Oman, which is claimed as the ‘birthplace of Sinbad the Sailor.’


Suhar was an ancient capital of Oman and was an immensely important maritime port, from which traders embarked onwards to the Indian subcontinent and China.


Suhar still retains the epithet ‘Gateway to China’ and in recent years, as Oman’s economy has grown, it has reemerged as an important trading port for the Arab peninsula and beyond.


Suhar is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited as the mythical birthplace of Sinbad the Sailor.


Sindbad himself is clearly a mythical figure, a composite hero whose legendary adventures derive from centuries of seafaring folklore and assorted travellers’ tales derived from a wide variety of sources.


British adventurer and maritime explorer Tim Severin in 1979 wandered the West coast of India, looking for a specific kind of rope. Severin’s search for good coir rope eventually led him to the Lakshadweep Islands, along with the Indian Ocean route, advanced during the early centuries of Islam by Arab merchants.


Arab ships—loosely referred to as dhows—were stitched: the planks of their narrow, long hulls woven together by a kind of coconut husk coir.


Severin had already voyaged across the Atlantic in an open boat, approximating the journey of a sixth-century monk. Now he wanted to captain a craft from Oman to China, bringing to life the legend of Sinbad the Sailor.


Severin’s dhow was named Suhar for the Omani town where, according to some stories, Sinbad was born. Today, 200 kilometres from Muscat, in the northeastern port town of Sur where the Suhar was built, one can still see a living piece of Oman’s maritime history.


The Ancient Palace


of Queen of Sheba


Salalah might sound like a magician’s command from the Arabian Nights, but in fact, it’s a historic city in the south of Oman with a tropical climate and super beaches.


Located in the southern region of the country in the Dhofar region, the popularly known frankincense road also tells the story of an ancient civilisation. Samharam City and its reputed port which history dates back to 1000 BC constituted a link between Dhofar and other parts of the world.


Known as Khor Rori, inscriptions discovered in the region spoke of a town called Samharam, a port city for the region that was like today renowned worldwide as the main source of frankincense.


Legend states that in these ruins also stands the remains of a palace that is said to have been home to the famed Queen of Sheba. An ostentatiously wealthy monarch, she reputedly showered King Solomon with lavish gifts of frankincense.


The port was strategically built and its location paved the success of frankincense trade route from Arabia to Jerusalem to Alexandria and even to Rome. Having such a powerful kingdom and the frankincense route, the kings and queens of Sheba protect and control their incense together with Yemen who controlled the myrrh of Yemen. The frankincense routes were watered from places with zigzagging approach across Arabia as implemented by the Queen of Sheba due to the advice of King Solomon. This is to protect the frankincense routes and trades. Powerful as these trades as the bags of frankincense can reach India and even China.


Today, it’s a shadow of any former glory, ruined to little more than head height. On some roadsides are wizened frankincense trees with twisted branches. Past the imposing wall of mountains that curtains the town are green hills that look more like South Africa than Arabia, and a simple white and green tomb of that biblical prince of patience, Job.


In Salalah town centre, about 30km away, there is a small souk, a little forlorn, though the Land of Frankincense Museum pluckily reveals, with maps and wooden models, the history of the commodity that made the area rich.


TITASH CHAKRABORTY


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