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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?
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.
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
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.
Pillar of Rock (Dhofar, Oman)
© Ross Hayden. Rock Pillar, Hayur
In days gone by, young Dhofari men used to show their physical prowess by clambering up to the top of this pillar of rock (6 or 8 metres high).
Images are Rights Managed and available for licensing through GulfImages.
© Ross Hayden. Pillar of Rock 2
Port Salalah from Donkey’s Head (Dhofar, Oman)
© Ross Hayden. Port Salalah from Donkey's Head
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 bay is a small open fishing boat.
Image is Rights Managed and available for licensing through GulfImages.
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.
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]
