What’s the meaning of this Dhofar cave painting?

Throughout Dhofar are hundreds of caves decorated with ancient cave paintings. Colours commonly used are black and red, but green is occasionally found. Some paintings seem like doodles; while others tell a story from long ago…

Dhofar Oman Cave Painting #01613 © Ross Hayden

Dhofar Oman Cave Painting #01627 © Ross Hayden

Dhofar Oman Cave Painting #01616 © Ross Hayden

The photographs here of this cave painting in the Dhofar Mountains in southern Arabia seem to tell a story. What it looks like is a caravan of laden camels being raided. We see men on horseback with swords and shields. There’s one man upside down falling to the ground. At the bottom of the painting is what looks like a tally – maybe they counted the cost of camels lost or men killed in the raid.

Any suggestions? Any other story this painting might tell?

Don’t count the stars: it might spell your demise!

Ahmed Al-Ma'ashani © Sandeha Lynch

“Don’t count the stars.” This is the warning traditionally issued to children in the Dhofar Mountains of southern Oman. I asked one of my students – Ahmed Al-Ma’ashani – to explain. He told me the story that he had been told by his grandparents (and maybe told to them by their grandparents).

Shehait sinkhole, Dhofar Mountains © Ross Hayden

“One day a boy was outside at night and he decided to see how many stars there were in the sky. Unfortunately, he kept counting until he counted his own star whereupon that star immediately fell to earth and destroyed him and all the inhabitants of his village.” I asked Ahmed how they knew it had happened like this when the witness to it had been killed. He said that the person who observed him counting the stars probably got so bored that he walked far from the village and was able to safely observe the arrival of the meteorite!

Shehait sinkhole, Dhofar Mountains © Ross Hayden

In any case, just behind Ahmed’s village in Shehait (on the road to Tawi Attair) is a sinkhole. It is about 100m in diameter and 40 metres deep.

A similar story is used by locals to explain the formation of the nearby sinkhole at Tawi Attair. However, unanimous scientific opinion says that both these sinkholes were formed by the action of water in the limestone and not by meteorites. Tawi Attair sinkhole is about 150 metres in diameter and is over 200 metres deep.

The above two sinkholes are very impressive. However, my favourite is Teyq, which also happens to be one of the largest sinkholes in the world. It’s about 10 km north of Tawi Attair. At first sight it doesn’t even look like a sinkhole! Technically, it is described as a collapsed sinkhole. There are two wadis (dry river valleys) which merge in the sinkhole. When it rains water flows along the wadis and then disappears into a large underground cavern. The sinkhole itself is 1.25 km long, 1 km wide and 250 metres deep, with a volume of about 300 million cubic metres.

Ain Razat

Ain Razat is the most important source of spring water in Dhofar. It used to be one of the main sources of water for Salalah. Its water as well as several smaller springs flow into a long pool on the northern side of the carpark at the foot of the jebel. Water flows along a falaj (watercourse) throughout the year, although flow is highest during the khareef. This water flows 7 km to Al-Mamurah Palace, the Sultan’s residence when in Salalah. A further 3 km further on the watercourse reaches Razat Farm.

Near the spring is a beautiful fenced garden, which belongs to the Diwan of the Royal Court and is constantly guarded. However, it is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays and every day during the khareef. The garden is a very popular place for picnics, as is the area under the trees near the pool near the spring.

There are several shallow caves in the limestone hills along the northern side of the spring and pool. Unlike the hills on the jebel side of the Razat Valley, the hills on the southern side of the pool and carpark are much more accessible, and relatively easy to climb. There are numerous animal tracks which zigzag the hillside so there are no problems in finding your way to the top. At the summit there is an uninterrupted panorama of the plain from Salalah to Taqah.

During and immediately after the khareef the whole area comes alive. Fresh growth is seen everywhere: fresh grass, trees with new leaves, and many plants and trees covered in colourful blossom. The new growth and easy availability of water attracts insects and birds – for example, the African Paradise Flycatcher, the White-Breasted White Eye, African Silverbills and Wheatears – which thrive under these conditions.

A generation or two ago, waters from Ain Razat and nearby Ain Hamran, were channelled into cultivated fields. Evidence of the irrigation systems are still visible on the plains in some areas around Wadis Razat and Hamran. There are also the remains of an occasional tower or two which were used by farmers to guard their land. Friends have told me that in the late 1930s the plains between Ain Razat and Khor Soli (near Taqa) were, in season, green with crops of millet, corn and other grains.

Undeciphered inscriptions in south Arabia…

Inscriptions in known Hadrami script have been found at Khor Rori, Hanun and Wadi Andhur. However, it wasn’t until relatively recently that further inscriptions, this time in a previously unknown script, were discovered. Since about 1988 many of these inscriptions have been documented by local historian, Ali Ahmed Al-Shahri*. He has documented more than 250 sites containing  this language. The texts are painted on the walls of caves in the Dhofar mountains or pecked onto rocks further north in the Nejd. While the language remains undeciphered it is clearly related to the South Semitic script.

Some think that this undeciphered script is the written form of the language that is spoken in the Dhofar Mountains to this day – Shehri, more commonly known as Jibbali.

© Ross Hayden. Cave painting in Wadi Darbat.

As well as the inscriptions, there are many cave paintings of domesticated animals (camels, cows, goats, horses) as well as wild animals (ibex, wolves, leopards, foxes).

© Ross Hayden. Cave painting in Wadi Darbat.

Al-Shahri reached the following conclusions about the incidence of inscriptions and drawings in Dhofar: the largest number of inscriptions and drawings were found in areas distant from well-worn mountain passes and routes taken by caravans. The inscriptions were, in fact, mostly found in areas heavily used by herders and their animals. Inscriptions and drawings were only found in caves which would have been suitable for human habitation. Often the subject of the drawings varies with locality – for example, ibex in the high dry plateaux; palm trees and boats near the coastal plains. However, the techniques, style of inscriptions and drawings, and the materials used are very similar wherever they occur throughout the region.

* Al-Shahri, A. A. (1991). Recent Epigraphic Discoveries in Dhofar. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 21, 173-191.

Nawal Said Atiq

THE BRIDE

Nawal Said Atiq is a very talented Dhofari artist who has won many local and international awards. Here is an example of one her paintings…

More of her paintings may be seen under Art of Dhofar.

Arched Window (Dhofar, Oman)

© Ross Hayden. Arched Arabian Window

This photo was taken in an abandoned villa in the picturesque coastal town of Mirbat.

An old prayer mat is hanging on a peg on the right, and a half coconut shell used for washing or drinking is up-ended on the shelf, both nostalgic reminders of the way things were.

Ali Ahmed Al-Shahri

© Ross Hayden. Ali Ahmed Al-Shahri

Ali Ahmed is well-known, especially in Oman, as an author, researcher, and archaeologist.

He is particularly known for his systematic and tireless recording of ancient paintings and inscriptions found on walls of caves, on rocks or other places in the Dhofar region of southern Oman.

Since the late 1980s he has discovered paintings and inscriptions in over 250 locations in Dhofar. He has photographed these and recorded their location for posterity.

Additionally, he has written two voluminous books and several scholarly articles on his findings, including other aspects of Dhofari customs and culture.

Kaffirs Rock (Ras Nus)

© Ross Hayden. Kaffirs Rock, Hadbeen, Dhofar, Oman

Local Dhofaris tell the story of shipwrecked European sailors who, many years ago, took refuge atop this large rock shaped like a stack of pancakes. Because their clothes were in tatters after their swim ashore, a local man thought from their white appearance that they were jinn and ran away! Even today it is a very well-known traveller’s landmark. [Note: kaffir = unbeliever = European; jinn = spirits]

Image is Rights Managed and available for licensing through GulfImages.

Arched Window (Dhofar, Oman)

© Ross Hayden. Arched Window - Dhofar, Oman

This photo was taken in an abandoned villa in the picturesque coastal town of Mirbat.

An old prayer mat is hanging on a peg on the right, and a half coconut shell used for washing or drinking is up-ended on the shelf, both nostalgic reminders of the way things were.

Port Salalah from Donkey’s Head (Dhofar, Oman)

Travelling west from Port Salalah along the cliff top you come to this amazing vantage point – about 500 metres short of Donkey’s Head. Here you can look back towards Port Salalah – about 6 km in a direct line – but in the foreground you can see a sheer cliff where I parked my Jeep Cherokee. I guess it’s at least 100 metres down to the surface of the Arabian Sea. Down in the small bay is a small open fishing boat.

Image is Rights Managed and available for licensing through GulfImages.