Artefacts show Indus Valley, Omani civilisation contact

Oman was home to a civilisation almost 4,000 years old and had contacts with parts of present day Pakistan, a study has confirmed.

The archaeological site at Dahwa, in north Al Batinah [Credit: Times of Oman]

Representatives of the Sultan Qaboos University’s (SQU’s) media cell said that the cultural contacts with the present day Sindh province in Pakistan had been confirmed because ancient pottery from the South Asian region had been recovered from one of the settlements.

The discovery came as a result of archaeological excavations conducted by the department from 2013 to 2017, and the work on this site is still ongoing.

The archaeological site, Dahwa, in north Al Batinah, is the oldest settlement to be discovered so far in Oman. It is is located 24 kilometers west of the wilayat of Saham on the edge of the Hajar mountain ranges.

The faculty members, technical staff and graduate students of the department participated in the excavation and archaeological surveys.

The site dates back to the civilisation of Umm Al Nar, a bronze age civilisation, which dates from 2500 to 2000 BC. This archaeological site is the oldest settlement to date discovered in the north of the Batinah plain. What sets the site apart is its relationship with the Harappan or Indus Valley civilisation, which mostly covered parts of present day Pakistan and north and northwest India.

The discovery was the result of a four-year-long archaeological excavations carried out by the varsity’s 
archaeology department in Dahwa in Saham state [Credit: Times of Oman]

“There are initial indications of its external relations with Sindh, in which the pottery or the storage jar, which was manufactured in the civilisation of Harappa, then in Sindh,” a statement from the university read.

It is believed that the place of manufacture of the pottery found in Dahwa is located in the central region of the Sindh valley in Pakistan, specifically the Mohenjodaro region, where archaeologists found the largest city in the world dating back to the early Bronze Age (2500-2000 BC).

Archaeologists also believe that this pottery was used to transport some products from the Indus Valley by small boats across the Indus River to the shores of the Arabian Sea. They were transported by larger boats to a port near the wilayat of Saham and then were carried on shoulders for 24 kilometers inwards through the edges of the Hajar Mountains to the Dahwa area. The strong presence of Sindh pottery in Dahwa indicates the extent of trade activity that prevailed between the Oman and Sindh during the early Bronze Age.

The nature of the materials that were imported from Sindh and transported in these jars has not yet been identified. It is known that the Oman was famous for the export of copper to Sindh, Mesopotamia and Iran during the period of Umm Al Nar culture.

Umm Al Nar, which translates to mother of fire, derives derives its name from an island of the same name located close to Abu Dhabi. This bronze age culture flourished in present day northern Oman and UAE.

This culture is characterised by circular tombs with well fitted stones in the outer wall and multiple human remains within.

Source: Times of Oman [December 25, 2017]