Category Archives: Features of Interest in Dhofar
A Tale of Two Tails
Cave painting depicting camels and other animals (Wadi Darbat)
Off to the caves we go, we go
Not a care in the world do we have, we have
Following a map to the caves, oh
Oh, following a map to the caves!
These are the caves with camels, with camels
Drawn all over their walls, their walls
Figures on camels and camels and figures
Drawn all over the walls.
Walking thru the grass, the grass
Occasionally swishing it with m’ cane, m’ cane
Deep in talk talk talk
With Ibrahim following behind.
Wadi Darbat during khareef (monsoon)
Looking straight ahead
Not focussing on anything in particular
Suddenly see the end of a long black thing
Crossing my path just in front of my foot.
Look to what is in front of it -
See an equally black much longer
Connected bit
With a black head attached!
I stop and back up in alarm.
It stops and rears up in alarm,
Then proceeds on its way
Heading for the nearest bushes.
A little later, walking back
From the caves to the car
Again thru longish grass
Again thru longish grass.
Think we should head
For the well-worn cow-track
- safer than walking thru the grass
Start to think of snakes again!
Then… “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH”,
Scream I to Ibrahim.
He thinks I am teasing about snakes
But NO WAY! NOT! IT’S FOR REAL!!!!!!!!!
There in front is a bronzy-black, threatening head
Hood spread wide,
Head swaying from side to side
Ready to strike something, someone, ME — dead!!!!!!!
My scream wakes me up.
I hover in indecision for a moment.
Will my movement cause it to strike?
We have to get out of here ASAP or else!!!
It’s much more heavily armed than me
I only have a light walking cane
Speed and experience are on its side
In-built speakers blare, “GET OUT OF HERE!!!”
Extremely hastily I run backwards
My eyes still staring
Straight in front of me
At the waving snake.
I know it’s time
For me to leave the scene
- voluntarily
Not taken from it in a body-bag!
Wadi Darbat through vine-wrapped forest
At a safe distance I stop
I must get a photo this time
Whipping out my camera
Gingerly I race after the retreating cobra.
But all too quickly it vanishes
Into the thicker grass
I’m too scared (wise?)
To follow any further.
So, exhilarated and cautioned
By our exciting experiences
We very quickly find
The well-beaten cow-track, cow-track.
Then slowly we wander
Our way back to the car
Every few minutes telling each other
Some new facet of feelings and fears
On the snaky experiences
Punctuated by bismillahs,
Salamaats and other protective
Or thankful utterances!
Talk too of throwing a party
Killing a cow or two
To show our thankfulness
For being spared to live another day or two? or three?
Pass a few men drinking tea
Alongside their pickup
Under the shade of a tree
And recount our story to them, to them
“Why didn’t you kill it?”,
One big brave-looking fellow asks.
“It’s head was as big as yours!”,
Ibrahim replies.
His brave heart falters
His big mouth wavers
With an at-the-ready reply
Then snaps shut! Khlas!
Heading for home by car
Others also have the chance
To hear of our little adventure:
Again, more salamaats are freely dispensed.
Finally I drop off Ibrahim
Safely at his home
Then safely deliver myself home
Al-hamdulilah salamaat! Salamaat!
P. R. Hayden, Salalah © 1998
Dhofar Frankincense Trade
Dhofar in southern Oman has had a long association with the frankincense trade. The most active period was from the first century BC to the fourth century.
Frankincense trees (Dhofar)
AD. During this period the Roman Empire had a great demand for the precious gum. Classical authors say that there was a gold drain on their economy in the eastern empire such was the demand for it. Strabo says that sometimes there were caravans of 2000 camels at one time although it is not known whether such large caravans travelled from Dhofar or from present-day Yemen (1).
Wendell Phillips wrote about frankincense in the 1950s and 60s: ”The ancient kings of Hadramaut had to secure Andhur Oasis to control the vital frankincense trade; the fortress on the ridge was designed to accomplish this objective. Even today (1960) camel trails can be seen leading out to the north-west in the direction of Shisr; another route leads west-south-west to the post of Hanun, where the frankincense collection centre described above was partially cleared… Mirbat is only 40 miles due south of Andhur Oasis, but a direct route is rendered impossible by the precipitous southern face of the intervening Jabal Samhan…” (2). Some Mahra interviewed by him stated that it took 3 or 4 days’ camel journey to reach Salalah from Andhur.
I dispute Philips saying that there was no direct route down Jebel Samhan to Mirbat. In 1999 three Dhofari friends and I walked along the top of the escarpment east of Mirbat until we reached Wadi Kharis (about 1700 m.). This deep valley runs north south and eventually leads to Wadi Andhur 40 km to the north. However, we descended the cliff face along an old narrow camel track and came out at Sawb on the plains near Jufa. This is one of the few places where it’s possible to come down the cliff between Mirbat and Hadbeen.
Traditional Dhofari culture - burning frankincense
Frankincense was exported from ports along the Dhofar coast up until the 1950s. Of course frankincense is still exported today although in much smaller quantities. Frankincense harvested from the eastern Dhofar mountains — that is the mountains above Mirbat, also known as Solot — was transported by camel to Mirbat and further to the north-east, Hasik. In December 1894 Theodore Bent and his travelling party journeyed from Mirbat to Al-Haffa by baggala – an Arab sailing ship – which was carrying a ‘large cargo’ of frankincense for Bombay. The 40 mile journey from Mirbat to Al-Haffa took them two days because of opposing winds. However Bent comments that one of the songs the sailors sang was about frankincense (3).
References
(1) Nigel Broom, “Frankincense and Myrrh”.
(2) Wendell Phillips, “Unknown Oman”, p.201
(3) Theodore Bent, “Exploration of the Frankincense country of southern Arabia” (1900), p.233
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…
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- Dhofar Oman Cave Painting #01613 © Ross Hayden
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- Dhofar Oman Cave Painting #01627 © Ross Hayden
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- 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?
The Lost Symbol
1600 years ago a terracotta cup inscribed with six symmetrical symbols was buried in a fort in southern Arabia. What did those symbols represent and what was the cup used for?
A team of archaeologists headed by Dr Juris Zarins unearthed it from a buried fort, which was once an integral part of the ancient frankincense trade. Fort Hamran, as it is now known, lies 25 km east of Salalah in the Dhofar governorate of southern Oman.
The vessel they found was originally purple in colour and marked with six simple Greek crosses. Their conclusion is that it was a Christian chalice! And what was it doing in southern Arabia?
This raises the possibility that Christian monks had set up a centre in what was once a frankincense trading post. “There is a chance that Ain Humran was the missing ‘third church’ founded by the Byzantine missionary Theophilus Indus in the middle 300s.” (Clapp, N. (1998). The road to Ubar : finding the Atlantis of the sands. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p.212)
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).
“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!
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.
Note: Images are Rights Managed and available for licensing through GulfImages.
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.
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.
Gifts for the King
- © Ross Hayden. Frankincense Burner
The men from the East see the star halting
Over the place where the Christ Child lies.
Their long journey seemingly at an end;
His just beginning.
They present their costly gifts
To the Child King.
“Look at me!” Gold boldly proclaims,
“I am indeed a gift fit for a King”.
Frankincense speaks…
Ross Hayden © 2001 Salalah, Sultanate of Oman
High in the Dhofar Mountains (a poem about the khareef)
Some years ago I received an email after someone had come across my website on Dhofar (that website is no more). He had evidently enjoyed the couple of poems I had written on Dhofar, but he was disappointed that there weren’t any on the khareef (monsoon). I immediately got to work and wrote the following poem, sending the inquirer a copy. It wasn’t long before we met. He was none other than Dr Salim Bakhit Tabook, a very interesting local character, who wrote his PhD thesis on Dhofari tribal practices and folklore (Exeter University).
Here then is my poem…
High in the mountains – no sound…
Except for chirping sparrows, and clacking crickets,
Until the cadence of distant voices
Drifts towards me through the mist -
It lifts and, lo, a beautiful panorama unfolds:
Rolling green hills, trees and rocks growing through.
And across the next valley I spy the voices –
Picnickers perched on top of a little hill
No doubt thinking that they too were all alone…
High in the misty mountains.
As I sit and ponder the peaceful scene
‘Midst gently falling rain and friendly flies
I first hear the buzz then feel the nuzzling
Of a very hungry mosquito,
And, a few of its relatives!
Quickly I spray hands, feet and neck
With a liberal coating of anti-insect spray.
It does the trick
And I continue enjoying the pastoral setting…
High in the Dhofar mountains.
Clouds again descend
And cover the nearby hills,
And my face, with their wet kiss.
I sink into a reverie
And dream of friends and loved ones in distant places…
Only the shishing of passing vehicles on the damp road,
The gentle lowing of contented jebali cows heading home,
And the far off laughter of happy excursioners,
Tell me that I’m…
High in the green Dhofari mountains.
The peace and tranquillity of the rural scene
Soon settle the small worries of the day,
Clearing my thoughts
And reminding me of the One who made it all.
Just then a new sound enters the audio spectrum –
The distant cry of a muezzin in a mountain mosque
Calls the faithful to prayer
And I too bow my head…
High in the lush green Dhofar mountains.
© Ross Hayden, Salalah, Oman. Khareef 2000.
Baobabs in Dhofar
One of my favourite places in Dhofar to retreat to is Wadi Hinna. Half way up the mountainside you come to a spring – Ain Hashair.
© Ross Hayden. Camel standing beneath huge baobab tree.
The waters of this spring – and the annual khareef – have kept a stand of 30 or 40 baobab trees (Adansonia digitata) alive for perhaps 1000 years. This particular species of tree originates in Africa, but it is found in Dhofar in only two particular locations – here in Wadi Hinna (40 km east of Salalah) and near Dhalkut (150 km west of Salalah) not far from the Yemen border.
© Ross Hayden. Huge baobab tree during khareef
I found it difficult to take a photograph which shows its massive size, until one day an obliging camel posed under its spreading limbs. Among the scattered stand of baobab trees in this valley there is one specimen that is particularly memorable. It is possibly the largest baobab in the region with a girth of 20 metres! I love to sit at its feet, or carefully clamber up its slippery armour-clad trunk to perch in a fork of its gigantic branches.
Ali Ahmed Al-Shahri
Ali Ahmed Al-Shahri
