Oman - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

CHAPTER ONE

LAND & PEOPLE

GEOGRAPHY

The Sultanate of Oman is located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, with coastlines on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Strategically located on the Strait of Hormuz, directly opposite Iran, it is bordered by three other Middle Eastern countries: the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the south. It covers an area of 119,500 sq. miles (approximately 309,500 sq. km) and is the second-largest Middle Eastern country after Saudi Arabia. Muscat, the capital, lies on the northeast coast. The main town in the southern Dhofar region is Salalah, also on the coast.

Oman has three distinct geographical regions—coastal plains, mountain range, and plateau—and is home to some of the most varied landscape in the Middle East. The southern coast is lush and green for most of the year, while the Wahiba Sands of the empty quarter remain hot and dry. The coastal cities enjoy both the cooler months of winter and the benefits of trade. One of Oman’s particular features is its natural attractions, such as the majestic Jebel Shams mountain range—with its highest point at 9,777 feet (2,980 meters), there is often snow on the summit.

Muscat, Oman’s capital city. Located on the Gulf of Oman, it has a population of approximately 1.6 million inhabitants.

CLIMATE

Oman has only two proper seasons: the hot, humid summer, and the cool winter. Summer starts in May and continues through to September; it is scorching, with temperatures up to 115ºF (46ºC) during the day, with the addition of humidity ranging from 60 to 80 percent, which is most keenly felt in the coastal towns. However, the southern parts of Oman are far cooler in the summer as they are affected by the monsoon, with temperatures of 84ºF (29ºC) during the day and 68ºF (20ºC) at night. Winter, from October to April, is far cooler, with temperatures of 73ºF (23ºC) during the day and 59ºF (15ºC) at night.

The Ayn Khor Falls in Salalah, southwestern Oman.

The annual rainfall in Muscat is approximately 4 inches (10 cm). The Dhofar region has a much heavier annual rainfall of 25 inches (64 cm), which occurs in the summer when the monsoons bring temperatures down and turn the area green.

Shamals (sandstorms) can occur throughout the year, with winds as strong as 30 knots, but are more frequent toward the end of the winter months. These storms can last from one to three days and tend to rage during the day and die out at nightfall. High winds cause low visibility, disrupting everything and everyone from flights out of the airport to the shipping industry and the local shopkeepers at the souq. The fine dust penetrates the smallest of cracks around doors and windows, covering everything with a powdery layer.

THE PEOPLE

Oman has a total population of 5.1 million people and a growth rate of approximately 6 percent, including foreign workers and expats. Around 80 percent of Omanis live in urban areas. As there are many different tribes in Oman, it’s difficult to give exact figures for Bedouin or desert dwellers, as they do not all take part in the national census. The Bedouin of Oman are generally nomadic–pastoral, with a minority being nomadic–agricultural. People in rural areas are usually engaged in agriculture, such as date farming and frankincense harvesting; much of the region’s pottery and handicrafts also comes from these areas.

Omani men conversing in Nizwa, northern Oman.

In addition to 2.9 million Omanis, there are approximately 2.2 million foreign workers living in Oman. Much of the workforce in industries such as construction, oil, and gas is made up of foreign workers, who tend to live in the larger cities. A large number of expatriate workers are also situated in schools and education institutions around the country.

A BRIEF HISTORY

Prehistory

The Omani people are very conscious of their national history, which they learn in school, and the history of their tribe, both of which form an important part of their individual identities.

Archeological excavations along the south-eastern fringes of the Arabian Peninsula show that human civilization in Oman is very ancient. In the twelfth millennium BCE the world was just emerging from the last Ice Age, and the area was greener and more humid than today. The earliest Omanis lived in the mountain valleys and survived by hunting gazelle, wild cattle, and other animals, which were plentiful. Their stone weapons and tools included knives, awls, and drills that were comparatively advanced and of high quality; examples have been found in Dhofar, Wadi Bahla, lzki, lbra, and along the northern Omani coasts.

The picture archeologists have drawn of Oman, prior to written records, is one of settled life in towns and villages scattered along riverbanks and in mountain valleys, where water was readily available. During that period the people built stone houses, made beautifully decorated clay utensils, as well as dishes and cups of stone and alabaster, wore woven clothes, and adorned themselves with jewelry. They traveled widely by donkey and perhaps camel, as these were domesticated at that time. The remains of ancient villages and towns show that they built roads between lbra and Buraimi and the Omani coast.

The Seafaring State of Majan

The contents of tombs discovered near Buraimi, lbra, and other sites on the Omani coast show cultural and commercial contact between Oman and Iraq, Persia, and India. By the second half of the third millennium BCE, there was extensive commercial activity between Oman and Persia, India, and Mesopotamia. Early writings from this era mention these countries, their goods, and commercial activities. They also refer repeatedly to Majan, which, say archeologists, is the country we know today as Oman, but which then also included the whole Gulf coast. Babylonian and Sumerian records mention that King Sargon of Akkad (2371–2316 BCE) prided himself on the fact that ships from Majan and Delmoon (modern-day Bahrain) came to dock in his ports and harbors. Two centuries later, Ur-Namu (2113–2096 BCE), King of Ur, claimed that he had won back the ships of Majan—probably by offering favorable commercial relations to Majan, or by improving his own ports. The Akkadian King Naram Sin (2225–2191 BCE), for unknown reasons, actually invaded and occupied Majan. However, Majan’s King Manium was treated with honor and respect, and the Sumerian town of Maniumiki was even named after him.

From these historical events and the fact that the Omanis were among the first people to sail across the warm waters of the Gulf, we can conclude that Oman’s prosperity was due mainly to its judicious use of its strategic location, within reach of India, Persia, Iraq, and Africa. Majan was also known in this period as Jabal Al Nihas (the copper mountain). Copper was one of the main commodities carried by its ships, and Oman has numerous ancient copper mines. Laboratory tests have demonstrated that old Omani copper from the Sohar Mountains contains nickel, as does the copper found in the Sumerian town of Ur in modern Iraq. Timber is also mentioned in the export records of Majan, and recent research has shown that a large area of Oman was forested.

Civilization From the First Millennium BCE

After the prosperity of the third millennium BCE, Oman’s history during the second millennium BCE is shrouded in obscurity. So far nothing significant has been found to give a clear picture of life in the region during this period. Trade between Majan, Delmoon, and Milokha (India) suddenly ceased around 2000 BCE. Delmoon itself suffered a temporary decline around 1800 BCE.

We have no information on any maritime activities, apart from some indications found in Buraimi that there were commercial relations between Loristan in Persia and Oman. By the first quarter of the first millennium BCE prosperity had returned to Oman with the rise of the Assyrian civilization. Omani merchants returned to Indian ports, and possibly also to African shores, trading in spices, perfume, and timber from Delmoon, and in copper from Majan itself. However, commerce did not completely recover until the rise of the Achaemenid dynasty in Persia and the invasion of Egypt by the Persian king Cambyses in 525 BCE. His successor, Darius the Great, captured parts of India, restoring to the Gulf the maritime trade it had lost to the Red Sea, where Phoenician commerce flourished.

In 325 BCE, Admiral Nearchus sailed with Alexander the Great from India. In his diary he wrote about a port in the Arabian Peninsula named Mekitah. This was probably Rass Musandam, whence cinnamon and other goods were shipped to Assyria. It seems that in the third century BCE a sea route was opened up between Oman and Taborban (today’s Sri Lanka), the source of cinnamon, and while there Omani merchants also traded for gold imported from the Far East.

Oman and the Early Arabs

Arabs have always inhabited Oman. The ancient tribe of Add is known to have lived in the sand dunes between Oman and Hadramaut to its west. The Greek geographer and historian Strabo (c. 63 BCE–21 CE) wrote that the Arab tribe of Thamood had also lived in this region. Other Arab tribes gave their names to Omani regions. The port city of Sohar, for example, is named after the Sohar tribe, who lived in the region of Batinah, and the name of the Obal tribe is recalled in the name of a valley that lies between Ruwaha and Rustaq. According to Arab genealogists, Sam Bin Noah ruled the region between Hijaz in northwest Arabia and Oman. His grandson, Suhail, built Sohar.

In about the eighth century BCE, Yarub Bin Qahtan, head of the Yarub tribe in southwest Arabia, extended their rule to other parts of the peninsula. He sent his brothers to govern Oman, Hadramut, and Hijaz. The great thirteenth-century historian Ibn Khaldun wrote, Yarub Bin Qahtan was one of the greatest kings on earth. It is said that he was the first to receive a royal salute from his people. He ruled over the Yemen, vanquished the people of Add and the Amaliqa of the Hijaz. He appointed his brothers governors of all these regions. Jarham ruled in Hijaz, Add Bin Qahtan in Al Shahr, Hadramut Bin Qahtan in Jibal Al Shammar and Oman Bin Qahtan in Arabia.

Yarub’s successor, Yashjib, lost his hold on Oman, but this was regained by his son, Abd