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)

Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia)

© Ross Hayden. Hamran Fort

As you read through the history and stories I’ve recorded here, and see the photos, I trust that you too will feel some positive vibes from this lovely corner of the Middle East.