Oman in the Second Millennium BC

There are a number of sites scattered over Oman which date back to this period. These include the Mikhailif site and the Al Waset site in Batinah. Many smooth, soapstone vessels have been discovered at these areas as well as ornaments characteristic of the period, bronze spearheads, arrowheads and knives.

Oman in the First Millenium BC

The most important site dating back to the first millennium BC is located in Sohar. A settlement was unearthed there in which were found constructions below the buildings of the first century AD, indicating a flourishing settlement. The artefacts discovered show that Sohar was a significant trading centre at this time. Merchant seals were found and a type of fine terracotta earthenware, possibly imported from India. Other forms of pottery included Chinese porcelain of a type found in abundance in the first century of the Islamic Age, confirming that trade with China was flourishing then. This trade continued until the 14^th century AD.

The succession of strata at the site shows the gradual decline of trade and the subsequent stagnation of the city as a result of the overlordship of Hormuz passing to Qalhat near Sur. Thus trade and its attendant enterprise and tax revenue were relocated there.

The fortification of Sohar was raised by order of one of the princes of Hormuz with the purpose of imposing a trade blockade on the town, until it was severely reduced and the inhabitants were forced to flee. After the Portuguese had been expelled from the region, Sohar saw a trade revival and an increase in its mercantile exchanges in the Far East.

Frankincense  brought the city of Dhofar in the south of the Sultanate to worldwide prominence. Dhofar was the prime source of this exotic commodity and also of gum. Frankincense was in the forefront of commodities traded in the past, particularly once it had caught the attention of the early historians around 400 BC, such as Herodotus, Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo and Diodorus.

Field studies carried out in Dhofar indicate that frankincense was transported by land and sea across the world. The crop was collected for outward transport from Ras Fartak port (Jebel Al Qamr) to Yemen and the rest of Asia, via Aden port. The land route started to the west of Dhofar and passed through the Nejd to the south of the Arabian peninsula, then swinging north to Najran and on to Gaza. However, the most significant route was that which linked Dhofar with the east of the Arabian peninsula and continued to Sumer, in Iraq.

Ptolemy I was the first geographer to draft a map of the Dhofar district in which he identified the Salalah Plain (Khwar Rawri) as the region where frankincense was cultivated. He also highlighted an area which he named Suq al Omaniyeen (the Omani Marketplace). Other studies show that the Omanis controlled the principal districts on the south coast of the Arabian Sea. Muslim historians made reference to Ubar or Wabar, placing it in the northern part of Dhofar. Nashwan bin Said Al-Homeiri also referred to this place, but believed it to be in the territory occupied by the Aad tribe (the eastern part of Yemen). The historian Al-Tabai speaks of Ubar without specifying its whereabouts in a reference to its having been stricken with drought. At all events, there are many references indicating that the Aad clan was settled at Ubar. The Quran also records a tale of the Aad who were destroyed and buried without their domicile being known. Thus it can be concluded that Ubar was not the name of a city, but of a substantial territory, the precise location of which is a matter of debate between historians and archaeologists.

From the earliest times, Dhofar was a habitat uniquely suited to the cultivation of the frankincense bush, although it appears that the use of frankincense as a traded commodity did not occur before the Neolithic Period, some 8000 years previous. During the Islamic Era, frankincense trade traversed the routes of the Neolithic Period which were constructed by the Arabs and Romans. The frankincense route from Oman to Egypt travelled by way of the Negev and Sinai. Thus, trade may have occurred between the Arabian peninsula and Dhofar during the Neolithic Period.

Certainly, South Arabia was once endowed with many rivers and lakes and consequently, traversed by many roads, in particular across the Rub al-Khali. The evidence for this comes from vessels and implements associated with the Neolithic Period which were found along the length of the route and at various sites throughout the Arabian peninsula. Further evidence came in the form of paintings on rock faces in the west of the peninsula and in Yemen. Finds along the route to Sumer in Iraq were all characterised by the same feats of decoration.

Oman did not confine its exports to raw frankincense, or olibanum. By blending this with a form of tallow, it was possible to process it into incense for religious rites. Ivory and perfumes were also among Oman's exports during the Neolithic Period. Investigative surveys stumbled on a quantity of Sumerian tablets bearing the name bokhur (incense) and records have described bokhur as "extracted from the frankincense bush".

In conclusion, from approximately 5000 BC to around 1800 BC, Iraq's need for incense, as supplied by Dhofar, grew. Some time around 2000 BC the region probably witnessed a change of climate and the environment began to experience drought and gradual desertification. This happened around the time inhabitants began to domesticate the camel for use in the overland caravan route. Archaeological findings in the peninsula and in Egypt prove that the land trade became an established reality circa 1500 BC.

At all events, the locality known as Shasir was the Nejd/Dhofar district's principal trade centre for the northern land route which began at the start of the Neolithic Period and which appears to have been associated with trade between Dhofar and the north of the Arabian peninsula to Sumer in the south of Iraq. It is possible that the trade links between Dhofar and Sumer extended from the earliest times to trade with Gaza and Ancient Egypt.

Shasir continued to thrive after the end of the Bronze and Iron ages. Recent excavations have unearthed traces of fine buildings, suggesting a well-populated place on the trading activities of its citizens. During the Middle Ages, many sources refer to their uncommon enterprise in the export of incense, horses and gum. It is likely that Shasir retained its trading prominence up to the start of the 16^th century, when its inhabitants left and relocated in the surrounding regions.

Field surveys carried out in 1993 on the Salalah Plain discovered a similarity in the buildings excavated, particularly at the Ain Hamran site, with those of the Shasir district, sharing many identical architectural features. A large group of buildings at Balid in Salalah were also found. These studies ascribe considerable significance to this locality as a busy trading post engaged in the export and import of goods, as evidenced by the presence of a variety of coins and ceramic vessels, dating to the 14^th century AD. Archaeologists also found parallel samples in Shasir, establishing that a link existed between the region to the interior of Dhofar and the coast right up to the 15^th century.

From this brief outline, it can be seen that Oman was home to a civilisation which went back in time continuously to the pre-Islamic Age. Throughout the Islamic age itself, Oman enjoyed a cultural expansion on a par with the other Islamic lands, with which it communicated through trade and navigation.