These sections provide background reading on the heritage of the Hajar Mountains.
Traditional mountain society in the Hajar comprises two main lifestyles: semi-nomadic pastoralism and settled farming, both of which still exist. The shawawiya are semi-nomadic pastoralists who keep goats, which browse on shrubs and other natural vegetation.
The shawawiya move within a defined territory known as an isbah, dividing their time between a network of campsites. On Al Jabal Al Akhdar these are called hala—typically a single stone storehouse beneath a cliff overhang or a large tree—or halil, which consist of multiple structures. On Jabal Shams, such camps are referred to as diyar.
Shelters are used primarily for storage, and are only occupied in cold or wet weather. A larger halil may include storehouses, goat shelters, donkey enclosures, and cattle stalls, sometimes accompanied by small cultivated plots. These may be dispersed along a wadi or grouped together under an overhang or within a cave. Unlike settled villages, such camps usually lack a mosque or sabla (meeting place).
Water sources are typically small springs or dammed wadis. Cultivated plots may be located separately from the camp, for example small clusters of date palms growing near natural seepage. These are known as hayl (plural huyul). Isolated palms in huyul are more exposed to wind and generally produce lower yields than those in sheltered groves.
Seasonal movement between hala sites is usually limited to a few hours’ walk. Lower altitudes are favoured in winter, while higher, more exposed sites are used in summer to escape heat and insects. Although these movements benefit livestock, they are also shaped by customary rights within the isbah.
An isbah defines the area within which a family has rights to graze animals, collect firewood, harvest wild honey and medicinal plants, cut grass, and, historically, hunt. These territories are typically bounded by natural features such as watersheds, with the boundary—known as a dar—usually traversable in one or two days. (see shawawiya hala at Hayl Al Jawari Western Hajar, near Qalaat, near Sawqah and midway between Siya-Al Mudabghah all in Eastern Hajar and on Jabal Al Kawr. This is a wild bee swarm with a scattering of leaves indicating that the honey has been claimed but not yet collected).
Goats are fed a daily supplementary diet of dates, and sometimes cut foliage and dried fish, to encourage them to return to their hala without herding. Herds typically number between fifty and one hundred animals, with some kids sold each year.
The dominance of shrubs over grasses in the mountains favours browsing goats over grazing sheep, particularly given the steep and rocky terrain. Cows are purchased live in animal markets in Nizwa or Rustaq. In the past they were walked up the mountain on tracks, but today they are transported by vehicle. They are not bred in the mountains. A cow’s productive life is typically four to six years; when milk yields decline, the animal is slaughtered and often pit-roasted for Muslim festivals.
Mountain donkeys are periodically released to graze within naturally enclosed wadis, sometimes supplemented by branch fences known as shiggy.
The shawawiya historically led many of the long-distance donkey caravans on behalf of settled farmers, and as a result possess detailed knowledge of the mountain tracks. They trade products such as woollen rugs, wild honey, and firewood for dates, or purchase dates using cash from the sale of goats. The market value of a goat is broadly comparable to that of a lamb in Europe. (see scenes from Shawawiya campsites; tea for a visitor, lunch at Dalil, animal husbandry, preserved meat and a salt lick at Dar al Baydah).
On Day 1, the man track passes several hala below the lip of Al Ghubrah Bowl. On Day 4, you pass a large abandoned halil at Al Mikhayti, from where a 300 m side trip leads to the Ma’awil Cave halil. From Ar Rus, there is also an excursion to a cliff-overhang halil on the route to Masirat Ash Shirayqiyyin, and you may sleep at the abandoned halil known as As Sarab.
On Day 6, during the descent of the dip slope towards Misfat Al Abriyyin, several diyar are encountered. On the ascent to the summit on Day 8, you pass a large occupied diyar, Hayl Al Khadra. Overnight stops are also at diyar on Day 11 and during the final three days of the traverse between Yisab and Yiqa (see Ma’awil Cave and Ma’awil Cave interior).
Settled farmers in the Hajar Mountains often maintain two houses: a summer village at higher altitude and a winter village lower down. Their primary economic activity is cultivation for direct consumption. Crops are grown on terraces, with date palms on lower levels, pomegranates and walnuts on higher so cooler shaded terraces, and seasonal crops such as wheat on sunny slopes.
In the pre-oil era, well-tended date palms produced around 45 kg annually. Five palms could provide approximately 2,000 calories per day—sufficient to sustain one person on a date-based diet.
Terraces are typically located near winter villages and are irrigated by ancient aflaj fed from one or more permanent springs. Stone retaining walls are used to create flat growing surfaces and to manage water distribution efficiently across steep slopes.
Farmers also keep small herds of goats, along with a few cows and donkeys. Livestock are usually kept at the higher summer villages, and their dung is used to fertilise the terraces. Goats and donkeys are partly crop-fed, while cows are stall-fed. Donkeys provide essential transport both within the village and between seasonal settlements.
Settled villages are compact in layout and include a mosque and a covered central sabla or village majlis.
On the traverse, you will stay in six farming villages with aflaj and terraces: Hadash, Wukan, Misfat Al Abriyyin, and Yisab, as well as the summer villages of As Sawjrah and Ar Rus. Excursions from the main route lead to three winter villages—Karar, Masirat Ash Shirayqiyyin, and Masirat Al Jawamid—all of which are warm enough to support date palms (see winter village house at Karah interior and exterior, an elaborate house at Misfat Al Abriyyin, an Eid oven at As Sawjrah, irrigated terraces in Masirat Al Jawamid and in Bilad Sayt, 1992, and grape vines in Al Qawrah).
The traverse does not cross desert terrain, so you are unlikely to encounter camel-herding Bedouin. In the desert, the imbalance between low rainfall and high evaporation is far greater than in the mountains, and as a result nomadic territories are much larger than those of the mountain shawawiya or the mixed-herding Bedouin living on the broad alluvial slopes at the foot of the range.
Unlike the mountain shawawiya, whose movements are largely within defined isbah territories, Bedouin migrations are driven primarily by the need to locate pasture for their livestock. Their traditional economy is based on the raising of camels and goats by natural graze for the production of milk rather than meat. Women own the herds of goat, a combination of white short-haired, Somali goat and, the more recently introduced, long-hair dark goat from north Oman. Men own the herds of camels, and men exclusively milk the camel herds. At the core of their way of life is migration - at least of their herds - to best utilize available pasture and water. (Bedouin detail from Dawn Chatty's website, www.nomadsinoman.com.
Prior to the discovery of oil in Arabia, the Hajar Mountains were populated entirely by shawawiya and settled farmers living largely subsistence lifestyles, supplemented in some cases by wealth repatriated from Omani families in East Africa.
In the 1930s, paid employment opportunities emerged in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and what is now the United Arab Emirates. Many Omani men began to work abroad, returning periodically, which introduced a cash economy into mountain life and altered the balance of labour within households. In some cases, younger men or women assumed the role of head of the household, contributing to a gradual decline in traditional pastoral systems.
This transition accelerated after Oman began exporting oil in 1967, when employment became available closer to home, particularly at Fahud, about 140 km southwest of the mountains. These jobs were taken both by returning migrants from the Gulf and East Africa and by those from the mountains and desert.
From 1970 onwards, investment in roads, electrification, and modern construction materials further transformed rural life. Concrete housing replaced traditional structures, and expatriate workers from South Asia became increasingly involved in both construction and agriculture. Many farmers now employ migrant labour or lease their land.
At the same time, the disappearance of predators—particularly the wolf—from the Western Hajar reduced the need for constant livestock protection. As a result, many shawawiya no longer spend nights in the mountains with their herds. This link between predator absence and more efficient livestock management has clear historical parallels. In medieval England, wolves were deliberately eradicated by royal policy, removing a major constraint on sheep farming. This allowed flocks to expand far beyond those typical elsewhere in Europe and contributed to England’s dominance of the wool trade for over a century. The wealth generated by this industry is still symbolically recognised today in the House of Lords, where proceedings begin with the Lord Speaker seated on the Woolsack.
Today, many mountain residents live in modern houses near roads, commuting by vehicle to salaried employment. Most shawawiya maintain a primary residence with access to electricity and transport, so now maintain only a partial or seasonal pastoral lifestyle. In this guide, such roadside dwellings are referred to as settlements, as they differ both from traditional halil camps and from irrigated farming villages with ancient aflaj.
Many hala now include plastic water tanks to supplement traditional wadi dams (see a disused wolf trap and a plastic tank).
Despite the influence of modernisation, both shawawi and settled farming lifestyles continue, with farmers sharing responsibility for maintaining tracks, garden fences, and aflaj.
In Misfat Al Abriyyin, donkeys are still used to transport agricultural produce to markets in Al Hamra, Nizwa, and Bahla, as well as for sale online and via WhatsApp.
Along the traverse, you will often see and hear Omani women herding goats and calling them down from the mountains. Newborn kids may be carried to enclosures where the herd is supplemented with dates, hay, cut foliage, and dried fish, which gives the meat a distinctive flavour.
The final four days of the traverse follow tracks still used by shawawiya travelling with donkey caravans. In this section, steep wadis with cliffs of up to 200 m prevent road access to the small communities at Naqa Ar Ruways, Dar Al Bayda, and Dalil.
You will encounter both shawawiya and settled farmers, although the distinction is not always clear. Some tribes historically followed one lifestyle, while others combined both. As members of the same tribal system with traceable ancestry, intermarriage is common, including both intertribal and cousin marriage.
Cooperation between shawawiya and farmers is widespread. Farmers may graze livestock within shawawi isbah, shawawiya may tend the herds of farmers, and individual date palms or terraces owned by shawawiya may be maintained by farmers in return for payment or a share of the crop.
These craft traditions are still encountered along the traverse, particularly in villages and oasis towns at the foot of the mountains. What follows provides background to the materials and techniques behind objects you will see in daily use.
The craft traditions of the Western Hajar Mountains, like the lifestyle itself, have been deeply influenced by the cool mountain climate and rugged landscape. Crafts are practiced in small villages perched on high plateaux and along canyon rims, with artisans taking advantage of locally available and sometimes scarce plant materials that grow at high altitudes to produce a range of commodities unique to the region.
The thick fleece and hair of mountain-raised sheep and goats are important sources of fibre for shepherd spinners and weavers, and mountain flowers lend their distinctive flavour to local honey, making beekeeping a lucrative endeavour. For artisans living in the foot-hills, date palms serve as a versatile source of soft wood and fibre for basketry, rope making and many other everyday applications. The Western Hajar also possess a wealth of copper, clay and stone material that supports artisanal industry in oasis towns skirting the base of the mountains.
Artisans of the Western Hajar have historically maintained strong links to oasis town souqs, where they sell their craft products and purchase goods and materials unavailable to them in their own environment. These links have resulted in long-term relationships between mountain and oasis-based artisans. Bahla potters, for example, make jars specifically for the production of rosewater and grape vinegar, and for the storage of honey. Coppersmiths in Nizwa and Ar Rustaq make vessels used in the manufacturing of rosewater, while blacksmiths produce specialized tools for rose cultivation, beekeeping and other artisanal uses. Basket makers in the foothills of Wadi As Sahtan make split-palm containers for the transportation and storage of grapes and apricots grown in high-altitude orchards, mountain shepherds produce spun wool for use by the weavers of the plains, herbal oils are sold to souq-based producers of cosmetics and traditional medicines, and rosewater from the mountains is used by traditional halwah makers throughout the country (Richardson and Dorr, 2003: 181–182) 1.
Copperwork is a seminal craft in northern Oman, where a supply of the raw material has historically been provided through local mining and smelting activities. Copper ore has been mined in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains and cast into bun-shaped ingots from as early as the fourth millennium BC, and it was transported overland and by sea to Mesopotamia, fuelling the region’s early social and economic growth (→ M. Boehme, WHM: Archaeology). The discovery of locally wrought copper articles at Bronze and Iron Age archaeological sites throughout the Hajar Mountains confirms the early regional importance of copper metallurgy. Today, the most important centres of traditional copperwork are the large oasis towns located along ancient arteries of trade on either side of the Western Hajar, including Nizwa, Bahla, Ibri, Al Buraymi, Suhar and Ar Rustaq (see copper workshop in Bahla Souq).
Copperwork is historically a souq-based craft, with coppersmiths operating out of small open-air workshops where they work at their forges, take commissions and sell finished products. Work takes place in a convivial atmosphere alongside livestock auction rings, shaded fruit and vegetable stalls, and a variety of other outlets. The overriding presence of the craft within the souq environment was aptly described by British explorer S. B. Miles, who visited Nizwa in the late 19th century: ‘… the most noteworthy part of the bazaar… is the copper market, which though inviting by the quaintness of its wares, is repellent from the incessant noise and deafening din of the hammering going on’ (Miles 1896) 2.
Copperwork is a male-dominated craft and primarily a family enterprise, with a legacy of skills traditionally passed down from father to son through workshop-based apprenticeships and, more recently, through formalized vocational training programs. The formative techniques employed by coppersmiths have changed little over the course of millennia. The basis of their work is forging, with the metal being soft enough to work in either a hot or a cold state. Articles are shaped by hammering, using anvils and templates to help create the desired shape. The malleability of the copper is retained by periodic annealing, whereby the metal is heated and then plunged into cold water. Much of the work is utility led, with the metal’s excellent heat-conducting properties being well matched to the ongoing demand for industrial-scale cauldrons that are used for distilling rosewater and boiling wheat, dates and halwah. These cauldrons are unadorned and are often tinned on the inside—a task regularly undertaken by coppersmiths, thus providing a further source of commissioned work. Prior to the introduction of aluminium and stainless steel cookware in the mid to late 20th century, there was also a strong demand for copper cooking pots for everyday household use, but this has steadily diminished in recent decades.
The craft of copperwork finds its fullest expression in the production of ornate items, with the decorative techniques of the coppersmith—stamping, chasing, embossing, engraving and piercing—often overlapping with those of traditional silversmiths. Among the most culturally significant of these are the items designed for hospitality, including ceremonial coffee pots, serving trays, spouted bowls and incense containers adorned with geometric and arabesque patterns. The cultural value of the copper coffee pot was cited by Miles in 1896: ‘The traditional Omani copper coffee pot, with its long curved spout, is one of the most recognisable symbols of the country and represents not only the hospitality for which Oman is famous but also its remarkable copper heritage.’
Copper, although versatile and highly workable, is less well suited than either iron or steel to the production of weaponry, tools or heavy-duty items such as locks, keys and window grills. In Oman, this limitation has resulted in a substantial crossover between coppersmiths and blacksmiths, with both working in the most appropriate metal to the task at hand. Thus, using the same set of tools and skills, a single smith might produce anything from copper spoons and cooking vessels to steel knives and farm implements on any given day. In addition, there is an overlap between copper and silver work, with similar techniques used in the decoration of coffee pots, weaponry and jewellery, and it is not unusual to see coppersmiths adding silver embellishments to the finest copper coffee pots (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 142–143). (See coffee in preparation and silver jewellery). 1.
Today, the souqs of Nizwa and Bahla still resonate with the sound of hammer on copper, but far less so than when Miles visited in the 19th century. Copper-smiths are facing ever-increasing competition from modern and imported alternatives to traditional copper products, and rising costs for their materials. However, there continue to be successful, small-scale family enterprises that remain true to tradition, and which are capitalizing on new opportunities, including a renewed interest in Oman’s craft heritage from tourist markets and from new generations of discerning Omani consumers. The most successful of these enterprises are using time-honoured skills to adapt the traditional product range, redefining it within the context of a more modern society.
The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is cultivated in oasis towns fringing the Western Hajar and provides a versatile range of raw materials for artisans living in the foothills. Over time an artisanal use has been found for virtually every part of the palm from the trunk and the fibrous material at the base of the frond to the leaflets, fruit stems and even the fruit. For example, palm fibre is used in the production of rope and as a cushioning material for donkey trappings. Palm-trunk cylinders, sealed at both ends with clay and ash plugs, are favoured by mountain-based beekeepers who stack them in long rows for use as hives. Khūṣah (pl. kūṣ, palm-frond leaflets) are plaited to make donkey panniers and an assortment of mats and baskets, as well as being twisted and plied into sturdy twine. The central rib of the frond is used to make containers for fruit grown in mountain orchards and the woody fruit stalk is split to make rigid, tray-like winnowing baskets and sprung bird traps (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 91–92) 1.
Date Palm basket makers of the Western Hajar employ a combination of plaiting, plying, coiling, stitching, weaving and twining techniques to make a comprehensive range of products in support of agricultural and other mountain industries, and for domestic use. Their work can be grouped as follows:
Plaited Strip Basketry
The most common form of Date Palm basketry is based on the production of suffah (pl. sifif, long plaited strips) made from palm-frond leaflets that are joined together edge-to-edge and fashioned into a virtually limitless range of products. The plaited-strip technique has particular application in the making of storage bags, baby carriers, sandals, fans, floor mats, food covers, donkey panniers and baskets of almost any size. The broad, heavy leaflets from mature fronds are used for large-scale items where strength and durability are overriding priorities, with young, supple leaflets being reserved for finer work. To prepare leaflets, they are split to the desired width and the central stem is removed before being wetted and sometimes coloured prior to plaiting; powdered vegetable dyes purchased in local souqs are the main form of colourant (see basket maker).
Plaiting begins with two or three strands of frond material doubled over and worked in a one-over one-under pattern. Each strand is made up of several layers of leaflets with artisans varying the number incorporated into a strip, as well as the number and width of strands, according to the use of a product. A strip may comprise 7, 9, 11 or even 13 strands, with twill and herringbone being the most typical patterns. Thus, a heavy-duty storage basket might be made using as many 13 strands, each of which comprises four or five layers and measures 1 centimetre wide, resulting in a finished plaited strip measuring approximately 10 centimetres across. In contrast, a small, finely plaited basket might incorporate nine double-layered strands that have a width as little as 0.25 centimetre each, for a finished strip of only 1 centimetre across. Plaited strips are joined using sard (pl. sarūd, palm-fibre rope), a strong, smooth twine made from plied palm leaflets.
A standard round basket is seamed in a continuous spiral, with the edges drawn up to create the desired shape. Baskets are finished by tapering the strip and knotting the end. Rope or cord handles are often added, and the top edge of a basket is sometimes reinforced with overstitching. Plaited-strip baskets are used throughout the Western Hajar, largely in support of agriculture and household activities. There is also a strong seasonal demand for khaṣaf (pl. khașāf, large, rectangular plaited bags) that are used to store sun-dried dates. Khașāf are also used during Eid festivals and other major celebrations for the cooking of shuwāʾ, a traditional dish of spiced goat meat roasted inside the bag over hot coals in a covered pit. A similar basket is shown in use for rodent protection at As Safa Storehouse (see basket in use).
Split Palm-Stem Basketry
ʿIsqah (pl. ʿisūq, the flexible, woody stem that support the sprays of fruit) is used for making rigid tray-like baskets, which are, in turn, used for the collection of dates. ‘Isqah has a long grain and can measure up to 2 metres in length. It is split into thin strips or ‘slats’, which are trimmed to uniform widths and cut into suitable lengths for plaiting before being soaked in water to increase pliability. Basket makers create panels by laying out vertical rows of slats through which horizontal slats are worked in various plaiting patterns, with herringbone, twill and chequerboard being predominant [figs. 7 and 8]. Herringbone is created by passing horizontal slats over two and under three of the vertical strips and then moving the pattern across by one vertical slat as each horizontal slat is added.
Twill is worked under two and over two, and chequer-board is worked over one and under one. After a panel has been completed, two circular rims are made of additional ʿisqah strips, one very slightly smaller in diameter than the other. The panel is drawn up around one rim and tightly enclosed by the other, and the corners are trimmed so that it is flush with the rim.
Baskets made to carry heavy loads are reinforced by securing additional plaited strips across the base. In addition to date-collection trays, split-palm techniques are used to make winnowing trays, lidded baskets for cosmetics and embroidery equipment, and shallow trays and covered containers for general household use (see split palm-stem basket maker).
Openwork Plaited Basketry
Openwork plaiting is used to make chicken coops, fish traps, sieves and mabkharah (pl. mabāhkur, clothes fumigators from the central rib of the zawrah (the Date Palm frond). The flexible outer layer of material is split away from the inner rib, cut to length and divided into uniform widths of up to 10 millimetres, depending on the item being made. The openwork-plaiting pattern begins with three slats of material forming a triangular central unit to which new strands are continually added as the work radiates outwards, with the scale of the pattern being tailored to the specific item.
Openwork-plaited articles typically start out as a flat piece of work. As the work progresses, circular forms are created by gradually bending slats upward and using successive slats to fix the circumference of the item. Sections of unsplit palm rib are secured to the bases of fish traps and chicken coops for reinforcement. For chicken coops, basket makers make a separate flat base that is hinged to the round basket section so that the coop can be opened and closed.
Twined Basketry
The technique of twining is used primarily to make flexible palm-frond panels for the construction of seasonal housing, fishing and livestock shelters, fences, sleeping and sitting platforms, and boat decking. Depending on the intended use, panels are made from the complete frond, inclusive of leaflets, or only the central rib of the frond. The fronds or ribs are lashed together using a basic twining technique in which two palm fibre ropes are wound—one over and one under—around a rib or frond, and crossed for an interlocking effect before proceeding to the next.
For privacy and an insulating effect, fronds or ribs are twined tightly together. To encourage flow-through ventilation, the size of gaps between fronds or ribs can be increased by expanding twining patterns to include a double or triple twist. Panels normally measure 3–4 m, the natural reach of the frond, and can be any length, although they are typically made in increments of 4 m, for which as many as 150 fronds are required. In the foothills of Al Jabal Al Akhdar, twining techniques are used on a much smaller scale to produce the mīshān (pl. miyāshīn) a rigid, cylindrical basket specifically designed for storing and transporting delicate fruits grown in mountain orchards, including grapes and apricots.
The interrelated shepherd crafts of spinning, dyeing and weaving take place mainly in the hamlets of Jabal Shams, Jabal Al Kawr and in villages overlooking Wadi Ghul and Wadi As Sahtan. Foremost among the articles produced are thick, warm rugs that serve as blankets and sleeping mats, and as floor coverings inside mountain huts. In addition, weavers produce windbreaks, sacks for grass and fodder, footpads and donkey trappings, all of which are designed for strength and durability in keeping with the utilitarian basis for their production.
Spinners and weavers use wool and hair from their own sheep and goats, which thrive in the mountain environment. The tending of flocks is the domain of both men and women, as is the task of spinning, which is practiced mainly as a part-time activity with spinners tending livestock or minding children as they work. Wool and hair are collected as needed throughout the year, cleaned by hand and teased to form a loose roving in preparation for spinning. Spinners work with the natural colours of the materials, which include black, white and a range of browns, greys and beiges, using a maghzal (pl. maghāzil, drop-spindle) made from the wood of ʿItm (Wild Olive, Olea europaea subspecies cuspidata) and weighted on the bottom with a disk-shaped whorl made from stone, clay or wood. (See spinning wool at Naqa Ar Ruways ).
To spin, the spindle is held in one hand—usually the right—and rotation is initiated by running it along the thigh. The other hand is used to pull the wool or hair from the roving in time to the spinning action. Spun yarn is wound around the shaft of the spindle, and the whorl is removed when the weight of the yarn alone is sufficient to give momentum to the spinning action. For greater strength, two strands of spun yarn are usually plied together, also using a spindle. Spun wool and goat hair are valuable commodities and spinners often sell surplus supplies of yarn in the market towns at the foot of the mountains (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 189–192) 1.
Dyeing is a task undertaken by weavers, who dye spun white wool to increase the colour palette of their work. Like Bedouin spinners and weavers, Madder root (Rubia tinctorum), purchased in regional souqs, is often used to obtain vibrant red and orange hues. There is also anecdotal evidence of shepherd weavers dyeing wool with indigo in the past, using tablets of concentrated pigment purchased from indigo cultivators at lower elevations to obtain a deep blue colour. However, shepherd weavers are perhaps best known for the use of natural dyes derived from the flora of the Hajar Mountains themselves. A reddish-brown dye is derived from the underbark of Sidr (Christ’s Thorn Tree, Zizyphus spina-christi). Yellow and orange dyes are made from the twigs and roots of a number of indigenous shrubs including Muhtedī (Pulicaria glutinosa subspecies glutinosa) and Nabat al-ʿArta (Calligonum comosum). Yellow dye is also made from the inner skin of Rummān (Pomegranate, Punica granatum), which is cultivated in mountain orchards. In recent years, weavers have also had access to synthetic dyestuff in powdered form, and their use is becoming increasingly common, although the best weavers continue to favour a natural colour range (see dyeing spun wool and dyed wool ready for weaving) (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 190) 1.
The weaving process itself is predominantly the domain of men, who work outdoors using a horizontal ground loom that can be rolled up with work in progress and stored during inclement weather. The loom comprises breast and back beams, which are staked to the ground to hold warp threads under tension. A simple heddle system divides the warp threads into two sets, which can be alternately raised and lowered to allow the weaver to pass the weft threads between them. Weavings are predominantly warp-faced, and patterns are consequently determined by the colour of the warp threads. The most basic patterns consist of solid stripes of colour but by alternating the colour of the warp threads it is possible to create chequered patterns. Some shepherd weavers also use a more advanced ‘pick up’ technique whereby double warp threads of different colours are used. The weaver can then select which coloured thread will show, and in this way build up complex geometric patterns. Such weavers have distinct colourways and patterns for which they are known. Wider rugs are woven in two halves on the same warp to ensure an exact match. The ends of a weaving are secured with a band of weft twining, which holds the warp threads in place and adds a decorative accent. The terminal ends of the warp threads are loosely plied or plaited for a further decorative effect (see hand loom at Ras Adh Dhahar) (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 191–193) 1.
The Al Jabal Al Akhdar region of the Western Hajar is famous for the production of māʾal-ward (rosewater). The mountain climate is ideally suited to the cultivation of roses and the production of rosewater is a lucrative industry in Al Aqur, Sayq, Ash Shirayjah, Al Ayn, Al Qasha, Hayl Al Yaman and other villages that perch on the edge of the Sayq plateau. A short flowering season means that production is concentrated over a period of just six weeks each year, from the end of March to early May (see rose harvesting at Al Aqur and rosewater distillation).
The blooming of the Ward (Damask Rose; Rosa damascena) is a celebratory event and the making of rosewater involves the whole community. The essence-laden blossoms are harvested in the early morning and late afternoon by the women and children, who remove and sort the petals in preparation for processing. Men take responsibility for the distillation process, which takes place in a simple stone workshop over a wood-fired clay oven. The rose petals are sprinkled with pure mountain spring water and steamed in burmah (pl. buram, unglazed earthenware pots), with up to four pots fitted into the top of each oven. A small copper collection vessel is placed inside each burmah on top of the rose petals, and a larger copper vessel, filled with cold water, is then placed atop the burmah to serve as a lid. Hot rose-scented steam condenses on the underside of the large, cool vessel and drips into the collection vessel, which is periodically emptied into a larger copper container. This process is repeated until all fragrance has been extracted from the petals. The distillate is then filtered through fine cotton cloth and allowed to settle in large ceramic jars for several days before being bottled and transported to souqs on either side of the Western Hajar range.
Omani rosewater is a rich golden colour with a slightly smoky fragrance, and forms thousands of tiny bubbles when shaken. It is traditionally stored in a mrashsh (a long-necked decanter) and is sprinkled lightly over the hands of guests on auspicious occasions. A few drops of rosewater may also be used to flavour drinking water or coffee, and it is an essential ingredient in the making of Omani halwah. Rosewater is also valued for its health-giving properties, reputedly being good for the heart, head and stomach.
Among the more intriguing uses of the distilled rose-scented water is invisible ‘ink’ used to write scriptures from the Holy Qurʾān on small paper scrolls, which are then placed inside hollow, ḥirz (pl. ḥurūz, ornamental silver amulet boxes) and worn around the neck. Similarly, a mixture of rosewater and saffron is used to write scriptures in the bottom of a porcelain bowl or saucer, which are then diluted and swallowed by those seeking relief from illness or misfortune (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 184) 1.
Observing the rosewater process is possible. The 2.4 km Three Villages Trail links the three villages that produce rosewater and grow pomegranates, walnuts, apricots, as well as aromatic plants such as basil. They are Al Aqr, Al Ain and Al Sharijah. An Oman Observer article describes the motives behind building this trail. It is intended to create opportunities for villagers to market local products including rose-based perfumes, natural oils, soaps, cosmetics, honey, jams and traditional foods. Visitors will be able to tour facilities producing rosewater and purchase handicrafts and locally made gifts associated with Jabal Al Akhdar. Residents will be encouraged to convert old houses into heritage lodges, small museums and cafés.
There are two types of honeybees found in Oman: the ‘Little Bee’ (Apis florea) and the slightly larger Apis mellifera jementica. Beekeeping is practiced in many regions of the country, but perhaps the most established and well-known hives are in Wadi Bani Awf at the foot of the Western Hajar, where it is a full-time endeavour, and where stands of Simr (Acacia tortilis) and Sidr (Ziziphus spina-christi) provide the bees with their favourite nectars.
The skilled beekeepers of Wadi Bani Awf keep up to 200 hives at a time. The hive structures are made from hollowed out date palm logs, each approximately a metre in length and stacked horizontally row upon row, a traditional system of beekeeping that appears to be unique to Oman. Each log is sealed with a round stone cemented in place with a mixture of ash and water, and small gap is left along the bottom edge of the stone to allow the bee colony to access the hive. ʿAsal (honey) is collected after the flowering of Simr in summer and Sidr in early winter, with each hive yielding as much as 2.5 litres of ʿasal over the course of a year. (See old beehives, collecting honey and beehives when in use at Halhal gardens in 1972).
Elsewhere in the mountains, herders and farmers engage in part-time beekeeping using bee dens made from slabs of stone that are positioned near the base of trees and other sources of nectar. Combs are managed by means of a stick cut from the rib of a date palm frond, which serves as a lifting and carrying rod to move the comb to deep shade in the summertime and warmer locations in the winter.
Mountain ʿasal is a precious commodity, prized not only for its exotic aroma and flavour but also as an elixir of health, strength and stamina. The healing virtues of ʿasal were well known in the time of the Prophet and are extolled in the Holy Qurʾān (16:68–16:69).
As explained in The Craft Heritage of Oman: ‘Honey (ʿasal) is perhaps best enjoyed as a simple dollop on the end of the finger, but for guests it is traditionally served on airy rounds of paper-thin bread. As a medicament, it is administered to the ill or infirm, and it may be used to dose a prized camel prior to an important race, or partaken of by those facing a daunting task. When travelling in the desert, the Bedouin traditionally carry lizard-skin bags (ʿikkah) filled with a potent mixture of ghee and honey.’ (Richardson and Dorr, 2003: 205) 1.
In the harsh environment of the Hajar Mountains, where winter temperatures can fall well below freezing, warm clothing is needed for protection against the elements. For men and boys, the chief article of traditional winter clothing is the mansūl (pl. manāsīl), a heavy cloak made from panels of woven wool or goat hair .Most manāsīl are woven from natural-coloured sheep’s wool, ranging from beige to grey, brown or black, and are full length, reaching to a just few centimetres above the ground. However, shorter jacket-length cloaks or vests are sometimes made for milder weather. Mansūl fabric is highly durable and is woven in two weights to accommodate varying weather conditions: a heavy, tightly woven fabric and a much lighter material with a mesh-like open weave. Each mansūl comprises four panels that are seamed edge-to-edge, two for the back section and two for the front. There are no sleeves, but rather two slit-like armholes that are left open when the front and back panels are seamed together. The front panels are without buttons or other closures and the cloak is simply left to hang open. The mansūl is often decorated across the back and around the neck placket with brightly coloured overstitching, using blanket, herringbone, or cross-stitch techniques. Seams and armholes may also be finished with colourful overstitching.
The mansūl was once woven in towns and villages throughout the foothills of the Western Hajar Mountains, with Bahla being the best-known centre of production. It is estimated that in the 1970s there were more than 50 mansūl weavers working in the Bahla area. However, the craft declined rapidly in the late 20th century as a consequence of modernization and the availability of ready-made clothing, and by 2005 there was only a single family engaged in the craft. Mansūl weavers buy yarn from local herders who typically spin wool or goat hair while tending their livestock. The weavers ply the yarn for use as both warp and weft and employ a kārjah (pit loom), so named because the loom is positioned over a pit in which the weaver stands while working.
The loom comprises a framework supporting two sets of heddles, as well as a batten and reed. The weaver uses foot pedals to manipulate the heddles and create a shed and counter-shed through which weft threads can be passed. The batten and reed is pulled against the woven fabric in order to tighten the weave with each pass of the weft shuttle. The loom of the mansūl weaver has a particularly heavy batten supported by two thick, curved branches, which allows for the thick wool or goat-hair fibres to be closely compacted. (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 197–198) 1.
Mansūl fabric is woven in a continuous length and cut into individual panels as needed. In addition to cloaks, the fabric is used to make donkey trappings, windbreaks and sacks for grain and animal fodder. As sections of fabric are finished, they are burnished using the knee bone of a camel, which serves to compact the fibres and smooth the surface of the fabric, making it more durable, water resistant and comfortable to wear.
Apart from the mainstay industries of spinning, dyeing and weaving, basketry, beekeeping and the production of rosewater, the artisans of the Western Hajar engage in small-scale craft activities based on the use of rare plant materials to make grape vinegar, herbal oils, medicinal ointments, shampoo and cosmetics. Mountain hardwoods are used judiciously to fulfil the requirement for donkey yokes and saddles, weaving equipment, herding sticks and agricultural implements. Herding lifestyles ensure plentiful supplies of hides for leather tanning, a traditional industry practiced mainly in the foothills of the mountains where water is plentiful. The leather is used to fulfil basic household requirements and is also traded as a commodity to souq-based artisans for the production of sandals, cordage and silver-embroidered khanjar scabbards and belts. Stone is also used as a craft material, largely in support of architecture and construction but also for the making of rotary querns for the grinding of grains, and for mortars and pestles.
The craft of date palm basketry in the Eastern Hajar closely parallels that of the Western Hajar and much of Oman. Extensive date palm plantations in the mountains and their foothills provide abundant raw material, with almost every part of the palm, apart from the trunk, used in basketry.
The techniques employed are the same across both ranges, including plied work (primarily for rope), plaited-strip basketry, split palm-stem basketry, openwork plaiting, and twined basketry.
Twining is also used to produce daʿan (flexible palm panelling), made from palm-frond ribs lashed together with palm-fibre rope. Daʿan is widely used for simple dwellings, animal enclosures, fences, sleeping platforms, and sunshades. In the Eastern Hajar, a tightly fitted form is made by threading rope through holes bored in the central rib of the frond. In larger wadis such as Wadi Bani Khalid and Wadi Dayqah, fronds are soaked for several days before use.
Despite modern alternatives, basketry remains an important craft. Activity peaks before the date harvest, when most tools for pollination and collection are made from the palm itself. Tree-climbing harnesses are twined from palm fibre and cloth, baskets and trays are used to gather fruit, and plaited mats serve for sorting and sun-drying.
Palm material is free and readily available wherever dates are cultivated, and the continued reliance on basketry in agriculture, herding, and village life has ensured the survival of the craft (see plaited-strip basket maker and split palm-stem basket maker).
In the steep, rocky terrain of the Eastern and Western Hajar, the donkey has historically been the principal means of transport. Its use in northern Oman was likely established by the third millennium BC, when it was employed in the movement of copper. In the Eastern Hajar, donkeys have carried trade goods, raised well water for irrigation, and transported firewood, fodder, tools and materials. So familiar were they with the routes between mountain settlements and market towns that they were sometimes simply loaded and left to complete journeys unaided.
Donkeys also carried people. Lieutenant C. S. D. Cole, travelling inland in 1845, described their remarkable surefootedness on steep, broken ground (Cole 1847: 115): 1
‘In five hours I reached the summit… I could not discern the vestige of a path — but not so the donkey… he would… carry me over places that I should have thought impracticable for any beast of burden.’
Half a century later, Lieutenant-Colonel S. B. Miles similarly noted that ‘the ass is well fitted to climb rocky hills… and its value… in this mountainous region is great’ (Miles 1901: 476). 2
Today, although an expanding road network provides access to many settlements, donkeys remain a practical alternative to four-wheel-drive vehicles on remote and precarious tracks, and when winter storms render graded roads unsafe.
The making of donkey trappings continues on an ad hoc basis throughout the Hajar. Designed for strength and reliability, they range from purely utilitarian to highly decorative, and fall broadly into two categories: headstall equipment and loading tackle.
Headstall equipment includes the khatām (halter), usually made of leather strapping with metal chain, and a braided goat-hair lead rope that may also serve as a rein. A neckband fitted with a copper or iron bell is sometimes added to help locate animals and warn of their approach on narrow tracks, and a protective leather amulet may also be attached.
The central component of the loading system is the shdād (saddle tree), carved from sidr (Christ’s thorn; Zizyphus spina-christi) or other hardwood, and fitted over a woven blanket or palm-fibre, cotton or hessian pad. It is secured by the ṣudār (chest strap), tafar (rump strap) and ghurzāh (girth), typically woven from wool or goat hair on a ground loom, or alternatively braided from goat hair or made from palm fibre, canvas or other materials (see donkey trappings and donkey saddle with tassels ).
Well-regarded animals may be fitted with woven and tasselled ṣudār, the finest displaying geometric patterns in natural wool with dyed red and yellow accents. Red dye was traditionally obtained from the underbark of the sidr tree or from imported madder (Rubia tinctorum), while yellow was derived from Acridocarpus orientalis and Pulicaria glutinosa, with ashes of Salicornia haloxylon used as a mordant (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998: 253). 3 Synthetic dyes have largely replaced these in recent years.
Loads are secured using ropes made from goat hair, which is stronger and less abrasive than plant fibres. Rope-making is typically a two-man process, producing a tightly plied six-strand rope of great strength. Goat hair is widely available from local herds, and rope-making remains a ubiquitous skill throughout the Hajar Mountains (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 202). (See hand twisting a thread to repair the saddle bag and then load the donkey with typical freight of dates and dried fish.) 4
Several species of ʿuẓlam (indigo; genus Indigofera) grow wild in the Eastern and Western Hajar, where they provide a source of pigment for small-scale artisanal dyeing. In the village of Halfah overlooking Wadi Bani Khalid, pit-loom weavers use plants gathered from nearby mountainsides to dye skeins of unbleached cotton thread.
Leaves and stems are crushed and soaked in water to form a dye bath, then left to steep overnight at ambient temperatures. The cotton skeins are immersed for around three hours, producing a luminous viridian green quite distinct from the deep blues associated with cultivated indigo.
The dyed threads are typically interwoven with slightly darker green, commercially dyed braisim (rayon) to create a subtle chequered pattern, particularly favoured for the traditional men’s loincloth (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 287). See also dyeing spun wool. 5
Pit-loom weaving was once widespread in northern Oman, with major centres along the Al Batinah coast and in Muscat, Sur, Qurayyat and oasis towns bordering the Hajar. In 1876, Lieutenant-Colonel S. B. Miles visited Samail and noted that ‘the creaking of the loom may be heard in every hamlet’, describing a horizontal loom worked from a shallow pit, with the weaver seated below ground level (Miles 1901: 495–496). 2
The industry was historically supported by local cotton cultivation, though silk and cotton threads were also obtained through Oman’s trade networks. Today, weavers use braisim (rayon) and blends of rayon, silk, cotton and synthetic fibres.
Pit-loom weaving is a commercial activity practiced almost exclusively by men, and its products have long formed the basis of traditional regional and royal dress. The industry has declined since the early 20th century, largely due to competition from mechanised textile production, and is now confined to a small number of weaving centres in Qurayyat, Sur, Jaalan, Samad Ash Shan and villages in the Eastern Hajar, including Halfah and Abat (see pit loom and loom diagram).
The most celebrated product is the ʿamāmah saʿīdiyyah, the distinctive blue silk turban worn by the Al Bu Said rulers, including Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and by senior members of the Al Said family. It features a vivid magenta and yellow-orange border and long plied fringes.
In the early 19th century, Sayyidah Salma of Zanzibar described the wearing of the ʿamāmah and the shāl (waist wrap) in the Omani court, noting the skill required to arrange the turban and the high value of silk garments richly interwoven with gold and silver thread (Reute 1889). 6
The shāl, worn on special occasions with the khanjar, remains one of the finest products of pit-loom weaving. Weavers also produce the muṣṣar (headwrap) and wizār (loincloth), as well as a range of fabrics for women, including the sabāʿiyyah, a vivid overcloak that also serves as a blanket. A finely woven ridā’ is used by Bedouin communities as a burial shroud and for ritual purposes.
Pit-loom fabric is a balanced cloth in which both warp and weft are visible. Patterns are geometric, built from stripes, checks and blocks of colour. Production involves thread preparation, warping, weaving, braiding and embroidery (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 286–295). 4
The loom (kārjah) is set over a pit about one metre deep, allowing the weaver to stand. Warp threads are sized with starch, aligned on a warping mill (manqadah) and attached to heddles and reed. Weaving is carried out by passing a shuttle through alternating sheds created by foot-operated heddles, with a heavy batten used to tighten the fabric.
Cloth is typically woven in two halves, with patterns worked from memory. The halves are joined at the ends using a braid loom, a separate craft requiring specialist skill. Final seaming and decorative tasselling are usually carried out by women embroiderers.
In addition to the principal crafts of weaving, dyeing, basketry and the making of donkey trappings, mountain communities also produce plant-derived cosmetics, shampoos, unguents and medicinal oils on a part-time basis. Costume skills are similarly practiced, including the embroidery of the kummah (men’s cotton cap) and the embellishment of women’s dresses and trouser cuffs with embroidery and handmade foil trim. Embroidery patterns are traditional, passed from mother to daughter, and carry symbolic as well as decorative significance.
Until the late 20th century, clay was collected in the lower northwestern mountains and transported by donkey to Al Mayhah, near Qurayyat, where it supported small-scale pottery production for everyday use. The clay was dense and heat-resistant, making it well suited to cookware, incense burners, coffee pots and shallow dishes for roasting beans. Although production ceased more than three decades ago, large storage and hanging water jars remain in use in the Qurayyat area and in the mountains. (See unglazed earthenware hanging water jars, their porous walls enabling evaporative cooling, and a spouted pouring pot in a shawawiya diyar on Jabal Al Kawr). (Richardson and Dorr 2003: 209). 4
While often practiced in isolation, the crafts of the Eastern Hajar are closely linked to regional centres of commerce. Artisans maintain strong ties with the souqs of nearby oasis towns, where they sell their products and obtain materials. In the foothills, for example, small groups of women produce embroidered clothing for the weekly women’s souq in Ibra, which serves settled and migratory Bedouin, oasis towns and mountain communities alike.
From the 1st millennium BCE, agriculture expanded across the foothills and margins of the Hajar Mountains as communal irrigation systems were developed and refined. Two principal techniques are used in the Western Hajar and its foothills: diversion of flash floods (sayl) and subterranean channels known as aflaj.
These systems reflect a combination of influences. Indigenous communities developed and maintained local irrigation, migrants from Persia introduced the underground qanat system, and migrants from Yemen brought expertise in terrace construction and rainwater harvesting. Together, these traditions shaped the irrigation landscapes seen today.
The following paragraphs describe the technology, history, and social organisation behind these communal systems. The final section explains how aflaj are used today and where they can best be observed along the traverse.
In Oman, a falaj refers to a complete irrigation system, combining both the physical delivery of water and its allocation among users. The root “flj” in Arabic means to divide property into shares, reflecting the communal management of water.
There are three principal types of falaj. The first two—aini and ghaili—are surface systems. Aini aflaj collect water directly from springs, while ghaili aflaj divert seasonal flow from wadi beds. In both cases, water is conveyed to fields through channels controlled by sluices, which may be cut into rock or constructed from sealed stonework, sometimes covered with flat stones.
These surface systems exploit water sources located within practical reach of arable land. Where necessary, terraces are constructed on steep slopes, and ghaili aflaj may follow the contours of wadi walls for several kilometres. Because they are fully exposed, they require continuous maintenance.
On the traverse, you will encounter only aini aflaj, fed by springs emerging along the geological unconformity at around 1,500 m elevation (see aini falaj in Wadi Halhal).
The third type, daudi aflaj, consists of subterranean aqueducts that draw water from underground aquifers (see schematic diagram of a daudi falaj). These systems are typically constructed on the outwash fans at the base of the mountains, where runoff from entire wadi catchments accumulates.
A daudi falaj is created by tunnelling an underground channel, typically 3–9 km long, at a shallow gradient slightly less steep than the surrounding gravel plains. The channel intercepts the water table at depths of around 20 m, sometimes reaching 40 m. Vertical shafts are sunk at intervals: upstream shafts may increase inflow, while others provide access and ventilation during construction and maintenance. Upstream shafts are sealed, whereas downstream shafts remain open.
After emerging at the surface, the water is carried for a further distance in covered or open channels before being divided into distribution networks. Because most of the system is underground, daudi aflaj require less maintenance, and some have flowed continuously since their construction in the 1st millennium BCE.
Of the three types, daudi aflaj—known as qanat in Iran—have had the greatest impact on agricultural productivity and population density. The three systems differ significantly in both design and the skill required to locate them: springs and surface flows are relatively easy to identify, whereas locating aquifers requires considerable expertise.
In terms of reliability, aini aflaj provide the most consistent flow, followed by daudi aflaj, while ghaili aflaj are the most dependent on rainfall and may cease flowing during drought.
The earliest aflaj in Oman were constructed by around 1000 BCE in foothill settlements such as Nizwa, Izki, Salut, and Al Hamra. These early systems were typically shallow-cut and covered channels, sometimes associated with what archaeologists interpret as communal or administrative buildings.
The introduction of aflaj irrigation is thought to have supported population growth in these oasis settlements and encouraged a gradual shift away from Bronze Age sites that relied on sayl (floodwater) irrigation, towards locations better suited to permanent water supply.
Daudi aflaj—deep subterranean systems—were developed later, probably during the Achaemenid Persian period (559–330 BCE), when northern Oman formed part of that empire. Their purpose was to intercept groundwater stored in wadi-mouth gravels and convey it to the surface on the sloping alluvial plains where cultivation was possible.
Longer daudi aflaj extended across the bajada towards the Batinah coast. Many of these were constructed or expanded during the Sassanid period (224–650 CE) and continued to be developed during the first Imamate in the 9th and 10th centuries.
These systems were waterproofed using sarooj, an ancient cement made from lime, water, and fired local clays (see sarooj, an ancient cement). The use of cement lining and inverted siphons suggests a combination of Persian and possibly Roman engineering influences.
On the coastal plain, aflaj supplemented shallow wells, from which water was raised using rope systems powered by yoked bullocks walking down ramps. An exposed mountain example of a constructed channel can be seen in the falaj wall in Wadi Halfayn.
Aini aflaj on the mountains connect springs to cultivated terraces. They were probably first developed in early settlements such as Balad Sayt in Wadi Bani Awf, dating to around 1000 BCE, where several springs surround a flat area suitable for cultivation. This village can be visited as an excursion from Day 6 of the traverse.
The present inhabitants of Al Jabal Al Akhdar are predominantly from the Bani Riyam tribe, whose ancestors migrated from the Yemeni highlands, particularly the Hamdan region near Sanaa. There, agriculture relied on diverting seasonal floodwater to irrigate terraces. The successes and periodic failures of this system—notably the repeated collapses of the Marib Dam (c. 700 BCE–500 CE)—created population pressures that drove migration across the Arabian Peninsula.
In Oman, these migrants adapted their irrigation practices to a different environment, with lower rainfall but abundant springs. Instead of relying on silt deposited by flood waters, terrace soils were enriched using animal manure. Aini aflaj were used to convey spring water to nearby low-gradient land where terraces could be constructed from silt retained behind stone walls.
These springs arise where rainwater stored in porous carbonate rock meets underlying impermeable layers, emerging along geological boundaries that are frequently exposed in the mountains. This explains the concentration of springs at around 1,500 m elevation, where many aini aflaj are located.
There are also Persian influences on mountain agriculture. The pomegranate tree is believed to have been introduced from Persia and thrives in the cooler, shaded, and well-irrigated conditions provided by aini aflaj. Such conditions can be seen on the terraces at Hadash and As Sawjrah, where cliffs provide shade.
Historical connections with Persia continued into the early Islamic period. Following the invasion of 973 CE, Persian settlers established themselves at Ash Shirayjat, where much of the existing aini aflaj, terraces, and stone track construction dates from this time. The name Al Jabal Al Akhdar, meaning “the Green Mountain”, may also reflect an earlier Persian system of classifying landscapes by colour.
Today, agriculture in the mountains accounts for only a small proportion of Oman’s total output, but these traditional systems remain in use (see aini falaj on a slope).
During the Persian imperial periods, society was organised along quasi-feudal lines, with authority held by governors, a military aristocracy, and a landholding class. The state granted multi-generational lease rights to arid land on the condition that water could be located and developed, creating a strong incentive for aflaj construction.
In the Sassanian period (224–650 CE), peasants paid around 30% land tax and a further 30% poll tax, revenues that supported the construction and maintenance of aflaj. Control of water distribution, however, remained concentrated among a relatively small number of landowners. The scale of this taxation is comparable to modern rates, but was applied within a system that directly funded essential infrastructure in an arid environment.
Following the Arab conquest of Oman in 650 CE, responsibility for maintaining aflaj passed to local tribes. During periods of political stability, these systems were extended. In the 9th and 10th centuries, during and shortly after the first Imamate, major works such as Falaj Al Mutaridh were constructed between Sohar and the mountains, incorporating features such as water mills.
A later phase of expansion occurred under the Ya’ariba Imamate (17th century), when control of maritime trade generated wealth that was reinvested in the interior. Many bajada aflaj were restored, and new engineering works, including inverted siphons, were introduced.
Specialist knowledge was also important. The Awamr tribe, based near Izki, became known for locating and extending aflaj on the bajada. Their work involved tunnelling through cemented conglomerate under difficult conditions—high temperatures, humidity, and limited light—using simple tools such as hammers and chisels.
In the mountains, smaller-scale aini aflaj construction continued into the mid-20th century. The aini falaj at Ghayl Shadhan, the diyar reached on Day 14 of the traverse, was built by the grandfather of its present owner, who also created the surrounding gardens.
A key question is how Omani tribes managed complex communal irrigation systems without the centralised authority typical of hierarchical societies such as the Persian Empire or the Sabaean Kingdom in Yemen. The nature of the water supply shaped these systems. In Yemen, rainfall is unpredictable and irrigation depends on capturing sporadic floodwater, so farmers developed flexible networks of diversion channels.
In Oman, by contrast, daudi and aini aflaj provide a relatively constant flow of water. This required a system for dividing a continuous resource fairly among many landowners. Because individual aflaj often served multiple settlements and tribes, their management depended on cooperation and agreed rules rather than centralised control.
From around 650 CE, when political authority and religious leadership were closely linked, religious leaders played a central role in organising water distribution. Over time, this evolved into a structured system of allocation and maintenance, refined alongside the development of Ibadism. The following sections describe these systems in more detail, including dawran water sharing and the financing of falaj maintenance.
Semitic tribes migrating from southwest Arabia established territories on the interior side of the Hajar Mountains. Periods of conflict and negotiated coexistence with Persian authority continued until 650 CE, when Arab tribes assumed control following the adoption of Islam.
After a century of internal conflict, most Omani tribes adopted the Ibadi interpretation of Islam—one of the earliest schisms within the religion. Ibadism is distinguished by its method of selecting leadership: the Imam is chosen for wisdom and capability rather than hereditary right, and the position is neither permanent nor dynastic.
Of the sixty-one Imams who governed between 747 CE and 1954, only five inherited the position through family succession. Today, Oman remains the only country in which Ibadis form the majority Muslim sect.
During the first Imamate in the 9th century, elected Imams developed a cooperative system for managing aflaj that reflected the relatively egalitarian structure of Omani society. Water rights were widely distributed among small landholders, and the principles of allocation established at that time have required only minor adjustment over the past millennium.
Basic water needs—drinking, washing, and watering livestock—are free to all and are met from the upstream sections of the falaj before water enters the irrigation channels. Agricultural use, however, is carefully regulated.
Water for irrigation is allocated by time-sharing, known as dawran. Before the introduction of clocks in rural Oman around 1970, these time divisions were measured using the position of the sun’s shadow and a set of twenty-four reference stars.
A dawran system controls the sequential flow of water through the main channels and their branches. Each share corresponds to a defined period of flow, allowing water to be distributed fairly among users. These shares are specific to each falaj, and their subdivision has produced local units of time known as athar, which vary between regions.
The system is flexible rather than fixed. Allocations can be adjusted to reflect inheritance divisions, seasonal variation in water availability, and differences between daytime and night-time evaporation. Water rights may be tied to land, but they can also be owned and transferred independently.
A modern example of this system can be seen at the falaj sluice in Misfat Al Abriyyin.
Aflaj maintenance is typically financed by auctioning a portion of the water schedule to farmers who require additional irrigation. Endowments to a falaj may also form part of a villager’s will.
In larger bajada settlements, management is formalised. Records are maintained, and specialist roles are assigned, including the wakil (administrator), the arif (timekeeper), and auctioneers. In some cases, surplus revenue from water auctions—beyond maintenance costs—is used to fund local social services.
In smaller villages, management is more localised. Water distribution and maintenance are overseen by appointed villagers, typically at least two individuals elected for six-month terms by male members of the community following Friday prayers. These representatives are paid directly by landowners or holders of water rights, using funds derived from water allocations.
This participatory system reflects the principles of Ibadism, with communal decision-making applied to the management of a critical shared resource.
Even in settlements such as Izki, where land ownership was divided among tribes that were at times in conflict, cooperation over water distribution persisted. Historical aflaj records show multiple tribal affiliations, demonstrating that this system endured through periods of tension and even civil war. In essence, the framework developed in the 9th century remains in operation today.
According to the 2017 National Aflaj Inventory Project, Oman has 4,112 aflaj, of which 3,017 are still flowing. Today, traditional supplies are often supplemented by water transported by tanker or piped from coastal desalination plants.
Most falaj irrigation water is allocated to tree crops. Water is directed from communal channels to individual terraces using simple stone-and-cloth plugs that are inserted or removed to control flow. Within each terrace, individual farmers guide the water using temporary earth channels.
During drought, the arif negotiate reduced allocations with landowners, deciding which terraces should continue to be irrigated and which should be left fallow. Some crops, such as pomegranates, are relatively drought-resistant, but yields depend strongly on water availability and decline in dry periods.
The layout of terraces reflects water availability. Well-irrigated tree crops occupy the inner areas closest to the aflaj, while more marginal terraces are used for seasonal crops. At the outer edges, where aflaj water does not reach, cultivation depends entirely on rainfall. These fields may be planted only after significant rain, sometimes several times a year.
Traditionally, rainfall triggered a coordinated response, with men and women from the village working side by side to repair terraces and plant crops within a short period, maximising the benefit of rare rainfall events. This collective labour system has declined markedly in recent decades. In many villages, social norms now limit mixed-gender field work, reducing the available workforce at critical times and, in turn, the productivity of these marginal rain-fed terraces.
On the traverse, the villages of Hadash, Wukan, and As Sawjrah (Days 1–3) are closely associated with terraces irrigated by aini aflaj. At As Sawjrah, terraces lie directly below the main spring, with pomegranate and walnut trees that are several hundred years old. The most extensive irrigated terraces are found at Misfat Al Abriyyin and Yisab, where lower elevations allow the cultivation of date palms.
Water may also be stored locally before distribution, as shown in this falaj holding tank.
The Hajar Mountains are a geologist’s wonderland, exposing a unique sequence of rocks spanning 800 million years of Earth history (see annotated satellite view of the Western Hajar structure). Erosion during more humid periods has created the present topography, and the sparse vegetation in Oman’s hyperarid climate leaves these rock formations exceptionally well exposed.
Creation of the Hajar Mountains culminated about 10 million years ago as the Arabian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate. The current plate movement is approximately 10 mm a year, producing uplift of about 2 mm a year. This same tectonic process is responsible for the Zagros Mountains of Iran and the Makran range of Iran and Pakistan. Compression towards the northeast created the huge anticline of the Western Hajar Mountains. This is visible when driving around the range, where the rock layers consistently dip towards you. The traverse lies on the southern limb of this anticline, forming a gentle dipslope to the southwest (see dipslope and escarpment example). To the north, this structure is truncated by a 500–1000 m escarpment beyond which lie 10–20 km wide erosion basins, exposing 540-million-year-old Late Precambrian sandstones and carbonates (illustrated in this enhanced satellite image).
The foothills surrounding the Western Hajar consist of oceanic crust and mantle known as ophiolite, which was thrust onto the continental crust by a process called obduction 100–90 million years ago. This dark brown-green formation is clearly visible on the drive south from Muscat to the start of the traverse. Ophiolite once covered the area that became the Hajar Mountains and was progressively eroded as the anticline developed, remaining preserved around the margins of the range.
Beneath the eroded ophiolite lies a 270–95 million-year-old Mesozoic carbonate sequence, up to 3 km thick, comprising nine distinct limestone and dolomite formations, some reaching 600 m in thickness. These include Triassic carbonates (early platform development), Jurassic carbonates (thick, stable shelf deposits), and Cretaceous carbonates, which are often the most extensive and topographically dominant.
These rocks were deposited in warm, shallow seas along the margin of the ancient Tethys Ocean and are rich in marine fossils. In the subsurface, comparable carbonate formations commonly act as hydrocarbon reservoirs.
The boundary between the Mesozoic sequence and the underlying Precambrian rocks is an angular unconformity, where older tilted strata were eroded prior to deposition of the younger carbonates. This surface represents a gap in the geological record of around 300 million years.
Rainwater accumulating in the upper porous carbonates flows down to this unconformity, which acts as a seal because the older rocks are relatively impermeable. Many of the springs—and the villages that depend on them—in Al Ghubrah Bowl and Wadi Sahtan occur where this boundary intersects the surface at around 1500 m elevation. The walk on Day 2 passes between two such springs, at Hadash and Wukan.
There are bajadas, or broad slopes of alluvial material, at the foot of escarpments on both sides of the mountain. These are zones of coalescing piedmont outwash fans formed from gravel and silt carried by wadis as they emerge from the mountains. On the interior west side of the range, the bajada extends up to 25 km before merging into the desert, while on the east side it extends to the Batinah coast. Mountain rainwater draining through these wadis is captured and distributed by the aflaj irrigation systems developed in the 1st millennium BCE.
The marine origin of these rocks is most clearly seen in the abundant fossils exposed along the traverse. The greatest concentration occurs on Day 6, descending the dipslope from Ash Sharaf to Misfat Al Abriyyin, where the limestone surface is often densely packed with rudist fossils (see rudist reef limestone example). These extinct reef-building bivalves once dominated shallow tropical seas during the Cretaceous, forming extensive reef structures. Their thick shells are now seen in cross-section as irregular rings and crescents across the rock surface. Other fossil-rich limestones include crinoidal limestones (see crinoidal limestone), composed of fragmented remains of sea lilies, and occasional brachiopod shells (see brachiopod fossil), preserved as ribbed forms within the rock. Together these fossils record the evolution of marine environments that existed here long before the uplift of the mountains.
Vegetation in the Western Hajar is dominated by acacia shrubland at lower elevations, becoming woodland with wild olive trees at around 1,500 m and, above 2,200 m, juniper. Some of the olive and juniper trees are several hundred years old.
About 20% of the plants growing in the mountains have practical uses, ranging from medicinal applications to pillow stuffing (Aerva). The eight photographs and accompanying table illustrate some of the most commonly used plants encountered along the traverse.
Some of the photographs and all of the scientific names are from Dr. Annette Patzelt, a botanist who lived and worked in Oman for 24 years. The practical uses of the plants were provided by the shawawiya community living near As Sawjrah.
| Image sequence | Arabic Name | Practical Use and Scientific Name |
|---|---|---|
| Image 1 | Boot |
Edible seasonal berries gathered locally and sometimes sold by children to
passing motorists on Al Jabal Al Akhdar. Sideroxylon mascatense |
| Image 2 | Dja (stem) |
Eaten with lemon and spices with a very bitter taste, traditionally believed to
help control diabetes. The taste is so bitter that goats will not eat it. If you
do try a taste, just do it with a tiny bite. The flavour will remain in your
mouth for the rest of the day. Caralluma arabica |
| Image 3 | Dja (flower) |
The flower smells rotten to attract flies for pollination. Caralluma arabica |
| Image 4 | Jaada |
Used as a medicinal tea for digestive problems; also mashed and mixed with water
as a remedy for headaches. Teucrium mascatense |
| Image 5 | Qassam |
Produces small edible fruits, eaten fresh in season; the dense thorny branches
are also used as natural fencing to deter goats from entering cultivated
gardens. Ziziphus hajarensis |
| Image 6 | Nimt |
Produces small edible fruits, eaten raw when ripe. Sageretia thea |
| Image 7 | Sekel |
Gel from the leaves is used medicinally for children’s stomach upsets; also used
as a shampoo and for treating skin conditions such as pimples. Aloe inermis |
| Image 8 | Zatar |
Leaves used to make a medicinal tea; also chopped and mixed with olive oil as a
culinary herb. Zataria multiflora |
Except for the probable local extinction of the wolf, the fauna in the Western Hajar is similar to that of the Eastern Hajar, so it is documented once on this website in the Eastern Hajar fauna chapter. Walkers are more likely to see wildlife in the Eastern Hajar because there are few cultivated villages or shawawiya social housing settlements in the range, and the presence of a small wolf population limits the browsing range of domestic goats, which are less likely to be allowed to roam without a goatherd. Human presence is sparse, so wildlife is more abundant.
In 1838 Lieutenant James Wellsted of the British Navy visited the Western Hajar, accompanied for part of his journey by Lieutenant Whitelock. They claimed to be the first Europeans to explore the mountains of Oman, although there is circumstantial evidence that the Portuguese visited them in the 16th century. The mountain lifestyle Wellsted recorded is still recognisable today, but there have also been significant changes.
He observed wine being consumed with every meal and exported to the coast in goatskin containers called saqa. These are no longer used to transport wine, milk, or water, but are still employed as water coolers. You will see full or disused saqa hanging from trees near shawawi campsites, together with other possessions kept out of reach of nibbling goats. The goatskins are tanned with acacia bark, the leg openings stitched shut, and the neck fashioned into a spout. Grease is used to seal the skins, while still allowing enough evaporation to cool drinking water.
Wellsted recorded wine being made from a mixture of grape and pomegranate juice, with white grapes used for wine and red grapes dried to make raisins. Grapevines and pomegranates are still grown in villages today, for example Wukan, reached on Day 2. It was still possible to purchase bottles of vinegar in Al Manakhir in 1993, produced from wine that had undergone two stages of fermentation, but Wukan stopped selling wine in 2000.
Wellsted describes mountain traders arming themselves with matchlocks and swords when leading donkey caravans to trade with the desert Arabs. His host was the Sheikh of the plain-side town of Tanuf, whom he noted as having paramount authority over the mountains. The Sheikh described the mountain inhabitants thus: “They neglect their prayers, break the fast of the Ramadan and openly indulge in the forbidden pleasures of wine”.
Wellsted’s intention to visit Al Jabal Al Akhdar was not encouraged by his plains’ companions, who warned him of “great labour and considerable peril”. The mountain tribe he identified as Bani Riyam similarly distinguished themselves from the plains’ Arabs, boasting of living in peace and security in their mountains, isolated from “foreign invasions, anarchy, and internecine broils”. They were referring to what Wellsted described as quarrelling, plundering, and killing by camel-mounted raiding groups, as well as feuds between tribes.
Wellsted’s travels coincided with a period of tribal conflict that gave rise to the defensive towers you will pass at Hadash, Wukan, and As Sawjrah. His ascent route was up Wadi Tanuf to Sayq. He describes sections of the track as too narrow for laden donkeys, requiring loads to be carried by hand, and recounts an aborted attempt to follow a man track as a shortcut that proved too difficult. These remain familiar experiences today.
Wellsted descended the Western Hajar on the trading route from Sayq to Birkat Al Mawz via Wadi Muaydin. He was struck by the labour and organisation required to construct the stone steps along the wadi, comparing them to the greatest public works in Arabia. Portions of your traverse follow other historic donkey routes, offering similar examples of impressive mountain track construction. Although they do not connect directly with this traverse, the two routes Wellsted followed still exist today.
Several other British officers visited the mountains after Wellsted. In 1845 Lieutenant C.S.D. Cole, from the vessel Palinurus, travelled by donkey to the village of Wadi Bani Habib via Wadi Tanuf, continuing on to Sayq before returning by the same route.
“I found the descent far more fatiguing than the ascent and, had I not been barefooted (my shoes having been cut to pieces during my short stay in the mountains), I would never have ventured on riding, for one false step would have been destruction to both rider and donkey.” If you attempt this traverse in unsuitable footwear, you will understand his predicament.
“The inhabitants of these valleys indulge in wine of their own making; it is like the common black wine of Europe, only much inferior. Their excuse for doing so is on account of, as they consider it, the excessive cold of the mountains.”
Cole described the cultivation as “…consisting almost entirely of fruit trees, viz. pomegranates, figs, peaches, apricots, walnuts, and sweet limes, while the hills on either side are completely covered with the vine”.
Colonel S.B. Miles was the British Political Agent and Consul in Muscat from 1872–87. In 1876 he crossed the mountain range via Wadi Bani Kharus to the village of Al Alya at the head of the wadi, then climbed the donkey track to Sayq before descending via Wadi Muaydin, crossing your traverse 2.8 km from As Sawjrah (see map for Day 3).
Miles made this journey in June, in the heat of summer—a choice dictated by personal safety rather than comfort. “The country at that period was very unsettled, tribal and dynastic wars being of perpetual occurrence and it was not for several years that a fitting opportunity for carrying out my design presented itself.”
With donkeys and porters, he began the climb from Al Alya at midnight. “The path would be here quite impassable for beasts of burden had it not been artificially improved by the construction of successive series of rough steps formed of huge slabs of stone and by the curbing and revetting of the road in parts where it overhangs a precipice. The stupendous nature and difficulty of the work, and the skill and enormous labour bestowed on it, claimed my wonder and admiration, but it was in vain that I endeavoured to gather any local tradition respecting its origin.”
The absence of such traditions, and the character of the work, led Miles to attribute the steps to Persian construction: “A scattered Arab tribe like the Bani Riyam, always at war with its neighbours, could not have done it, and I think the most probable period to which it can be assigned is that of the Dailemite (Persian) conquest of Oman in the 10th century.”
Today these stepped mountain paths—particularly the thousand steps above Imti—are known as the Persian Steps, a name that reinforces the view, among both visitors and Omanis, that they date from the Persian invasion of 973 CE. It is likely, however, that Miles underestimated their age by several centuries, and that they were constructed by the Bani Riyam in more settled periods.
Miles’ descriptions of the crops—walnut, apple, pomegranate, fig, peach, apricot, vine, almond, and lime—still apply today, and he echoed earlier British visitors in noting the extent of vineyards and wine consumption. He also recorded the use of pomegranate rind as a treatment for fevers and intestinal worms.
At the time of Miles’ visit, the Bani Riyam occupied the mountains and parts of the villages at the foot of the main access routes, including Birkat Al Mawz, Tanuf, Nizwa, and Izki. During his stay at Sayq, Miles took coffee with two brothers, Sheikh Nasir and Suliman bin Saif, whose father was the temimeh sheikh of the Bani Riyam.
Miles remained in Oman for eleven years after this journey and later recorded the family’s fortunes: “Sheikh Nasir bin Saif died a few years after my visit, leaving three sons, the eldest of whom, Mohammed, inherited his father’s position as temimeh sheikh. In 1886 Mohammed and his second brother were murdered by their uncle Suliman, who usurped authority and held it until 1899, when Nasir’s third son retaliated and put his uncle Suliman to death.” According to Miles, such family tragedies were not unusual.
Several British visitors remarked that slavery in Oman differed in character from that on British West Indian plantations. Philips makes this point particularly strongly. In Oman, enslaved people were often employed in domestic roles within households and, rather than being confined under guard, could be entrusted with responsibilities such as guarding property or serving as armed retainers to sheikhs and the sultan. Loyalty was expected and, in many cases, appears to have been reciprocated. It was also customary for a sultan’s will to grant freedom to a number of personal slaves. None of the visitors recorded the presence of slaves in the mountain communities.
The Hajar Mountains form an isolated arc about 650 km long, touching the coast at each end and set back from it by up to 30 km in the centre. Three principal passes through the range have connected the coast with the interior since at least the Iron Age.
These passes follow major wadis, whose sediments were exploited by daudi aflaj (underground water channels) to supply both interior settlements and coastal plains. The combination of reliable freshwater, overland trade routes, access to the sea, and the seasonal reversal of the monsoon winds—allowing dhow navigation to India and Africa—led to the development of important trading centres.
These monsoon-linked ports formed part of the wider Indian Ocean trade network, linking China and India in the east with Persia and Mesopotamia in the Middle East and Africa in the west. Early transhipment centres included Sohar, followed by Qalhat from around 1230, and later the twin sheltered ports of Muscat and Muttrah from 1515.
From north to south, the principal mountain passes and their associated historic settlements are Wadi Hatta, Wadi Al Jizzi—linking Sohar with the Al Buraimi oasis—and the Sumail Gap, connecting Muscat with the interior towns of Izki and Nizwa. Qalhat lies at the eastern extremity of the Hajar Mountains. (see map of these three passes).
You will drive through the Sumail Gap to Al Afyah.
The mountains themselves contributed to maritime trade, supplying copper and diorite stone during the Bronze Age, while in later periods pomegranates and dried limes supplemented the larger volumes of date exports from the coast. The principal imports reaching the mountains were rice from India and woven goods from Africa.
Wealth generated by coastal trade benefited the mountains through the restoration of aflaj during the Ya’ariba Imamate, and through individual Omanis who repatriated fortunes made in East Africa.
Mountain communities benefited from their position within wider networks of cultural exchange between Asia, the Near East, and the Indian Ocean. Agricultural yields were improved through the introduction of new crops and greater diversity in cultivated species.
Vegetables such as eggplant were introduced, while citrus fruits arrived from India and pomegranates from Iran. A range of crops with origins in Asia and the Near East—including peaches, apples, carrots, onions, and garlic—became established, along with bananas from Southeast Asia. Historic visitors also recorded grapes, roses for rose water, apricots, figs, plums, mulberries, almonds, and walnuts, many of which were long-established but non-native to the mountains.
Citrus fruits and bananas were recorded as mountain crops by 10th century Arab writers. Later introductions from the Americas, brought by the Portuguese in the 16th century, included maize (corn), chilli peppers, pumpkins, passion fruit, pineapples, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Many of these crops are still cultivated in terraced mountain villages encountered along the traverse.
Dried limes were an important maritime export from the Hajar Mountains, as they could be stored and consumed on long voyages after a ship’s supply of fresh fruit and vegetables had been exhausted. Although the role of vitamin C was not understood until the 20th century, the consumption of limes helped prevent scurvy, and British sailors—drawing on longstanding practices among Arab seafarers—became known as “limeys” in the 19th century.
This practical knowledge was not always consistently applied: early 20th century Antarctic expeditions again suffered from scurvy, a striking reminder that effective remedies can be lost when their underlying science is not understood. Recovery came when explorers ate fresh seal meat, which provided sufficient vitamin C.
Limes drying on the roofs of Omani village houses remain a common sight today.
The rulers of Oman’s coast and foothills have alternated between Omani tribes and external powers since the Iron Age. However, there have been only two successful conquests of Al Jabal Al Akhdar.
The first was by the Buwayid ruler of Fars, Adhad al-Dawla, who sent an expedition to Sohar in 973 CE. Persian forces fought their way across the Batinah plain and through Nizwa before ascending the mountains via the donkey tracks of Wadi Muaydin and Wadi Tanuf. The final engagement took place on a plain at the head of Wadi Bani Kharus, which you will cross on the traverse 10 km from As Sawjrah on the way to Ar Rus on Day 4.
The Arab forces were defeated, and the victors settled on the mountain at what is now Ash Shirayjat, overlooking Wadi Muaydin. They named their settlement after the capital of Fars. As Buwayid power declined, weakened by conflict with the Seljuk Turks, Omani tribes gradually reasserted control of the mountains. The Persian settlers were absorbed into the Bani Riyam. Miles recorded in 1876 that their descendants had largely adopted Arab language, dress, and customs, while still retaining a distinct identity. He suggested that they may have introduced wine-making, and possibly rose water to the mountains. Today the terraces of Ash Shirayjat are among the most extensive in the Hajar.
The second conquest was the capture of the mountain by British-led forces during the Jabal Akhdar War (1957–59), which brought an end to the independent Imamate in the interior of Oman. The decisive action was a surprise night assault on Sayq, involving the ascent of an exposed rock slab east of Wadi Kamah.
The traverse passes several locations associated with this conflict. At 4.4 km there is a bomb shelter built by tribesmen supporting Talib, the brother of Ghalib bin Ali, the Imam and leader of the Imamate. It was used for protection against British aerial bombardment. Fragments of shrapnel can still be found along the track, from munitions dropped by Shackleton bombers or fired from de Havilland Venom aircraft.
Air attacks alone proved ineffective, despite attempts to guide aircraft using markers placed by a local informant, and this led to the deployment of Special Air Service (SAS) units. On the night of the final assault there were several diversionary attacks, including one launched from Cassino, the only permanent SAS base established on the mountain. This lies at the top of their supply route from Hijayr, which you pass 12 km from Ar Rus (see bomb shelter near Ar Rus and shrapnel near Ar Rus).
Rock art occurs on boulders and wadi walls on both sides of the Hajar Mountains. On the traverse it can be seen in Wadi Al Asi at the start of Day 1 and on the Wadi Bima side track. The engravings are pecked rather than painted, and their precise age is uncertain, but their anthropomorphic content indicates a pre-Islamic origin, making them older than 650 CE.
The carvings include mounted and unmounted human figures, as well as animals and weapons such as lances, khunjars, and bows. Mounted figures appear on both horses and camels, sometimes shown with reins and weapons, and are often depicted in groups engaged in hunting or combat. Unmounted figures are frequently shown above cattle or other livestock.
The figures are typically shown either naked or wearing short skirts, often with exaggerated anatomical features, and range in size from about 15 to 40 cm in height (Seen at Wadi Al Asi and Wadi Bima).
Omanis and expatriates sometimes refer to the most spectacular track constructions in the Hajar Mountains as the “Persian Steps”. This is likely a historical misattribution, originating from conclusions drawn by early British explorers, particularly Colonel S.B. Miles in his 1876 reports, which are discussed and quoted on this page.
Miles considered that the feuding Arab tribes lacked the organisation required to undertake such extensive engineering works and therefore attributed the construction of these stone stairways to earlier Persian occupation. However, the first recorded Persian presence in the mountains was as an invading force in the 10th century, which advanced up Wadi Muaydin to reach Al Jabal Al Akhdar. This ascent involves a climb of about 1,000 m over a short distance, implying that a usable mountain path already existed at that time. (See carefully constructed stone steps and stairs.)
Archaeological evidence indicates that the stepped path in Wadi Muaydin dates back to the Early Iron Age, predating Persian influence by many centuries. The “Persian Steps” are therefore more plausibly the work of local communities, constructed and maintained over long periods to support trade, agriculture, and communication across the mountains.
Yemeni highland settlements, together with sayl-irrigated foothill communities, have a history extending back several thousand years and are more densely populated than their counterparts in Oman. Periodic collapses of the Marib Dam and episodes of food shortage are thought to have triggered waves of migration from Yemen into other parts of the Arabian Peninsula, including Oman. The ancestors of the Bani Riyam are likely to have been part of these movements, bringing with them a mountain-based agricultural lifestyle.
While Persians, Portuguese, and other maritime powers introduced new crops to the coast and foothills, the skills and community organisation required to settle and cultivate the Hajar Mountains—including the construction of stone-staircase tracks—are more plausibly derived from indigenous traditions shared with Yemeni highland societies. This provides a more convincing explanation for the origin of the Hajar’s stone-built mountain infrastructure than later attributions to Persian influence.
The Yemen/Oman comparative photographs illustrate the enduring similarities between the two mountain landscapes. Both regions feature irrigated terraces set beside compact villages, reflecting similar responses to arid environments. Architectural details also show parallels: the window arches on the grand house in Wadi Bani Habib resemble those in Yemeni buildings, while the defensive towers and rock-perched houses seen in Yemen are comparable to those at Misfat Al Abriyyin.
These photographs were taken during personal travel in 1992, before widespread modernisation had significantly altered the mountain landscapes of either country. The route in Yemen covered approximately 90 km between two highways northwest of Sana’a, following inter-village tracks that ran roughly north. Although no map was available and roads were scarce, the paths were in regular use and relatively easy to follow.
Nineteenth-century British explorers such as Wellsted wrote at a time when accounts of discovery had an eager readership across the British Empire, and there was a strong incentive to claim priority. “... no European traveller has hitherto penetrated it, and its people, with their country, remain wholly unknown to us ...” he wrote in the opening chapter of Travels in Arabia (1838). However, Wellsted may not have been the first European to reach the Hajar Mountains.
Although Portuguese activity in Oman during the 16th and 17th centuries was primarily maritime, there is evidence that they may have explored inland in search of mineral resources nearly two centuries before Wellsted. Documents in the National Archives (Torre do Tombo) in Lisbon, within the Documentos Remetidos da Índia collection, refer to such exploration, although they remain largely uncatalogued and untranslated into English.
This material is referenced in a petition sent to the King of Portugal via Rome, encouraging the exploitation of silver and copper deposits in Oman. The petitioner, Manuel Carvalho, a Christian Arab from Basra, claimed that his Chaldean Catholic community of 12,000 followers of St John was being persecuted by the Turks. He proposed migrating with his people to an island near Basra under Portuguese protection, in return for building and garrisoning a fort. In exchange, he offered to guide the Portuguese to silver and copper mines in Oman, which he had surveyed and from which he had obtained ore samples.
The mines were described as being thirty leagues from Muscat, with copper already being extracted and traded locally, while the silver remained unworked. The petition was delivered in 1646, just four years before the Portuguese were expelled from Muscat.
Whether the Portuguese had time to pursue this opportunity—and thus reach the mountains before Wellsted—remains uncertain. The answer may yet lie in the archives.
There is abundant evidence of Palaeolithic occupation on the Arabian Peninsula dating back hundreds of thousands of years. Of particular interest to anthropologists are the routes taken by modern humans as they dispersed out of East Africa and began to colonise the rest of the world from around 120,000 years ago.
Two principal migration routes have been proposed, supported by climatic evidence, mitochondrial DNA lineages, and fossil discoveries. The northern route follows the Mediterranean coastline across the Sinai Peninsula, while the southern route traces a coastal path along Yemen and Oman after crossing the Red Sea.
Geological and climatic records show that Arabia experienced alternating wet and arid phases, with periods of significantly lower sea levels—sometimes more than 100 m below present levels. At such times, the Red Sea would have narrowed considerably at its southern end, making a crossing at the Bab al-Mandab Strait more feasible, possibly using simple watercraft.
Humans following this southern route may have crossed into Arabia and then moved northeast along the coasts of Yemen and Oman, passing west of the Hajar Mountains towards the fertile basin that is now the Persian Gulf. Lower sea levels may also have exposed freshwater springs along these coasts, helping to sustain such journeys.
The oldest visible archaeological remains in the Hajar Mountains are the Hafit tombs, dating from about 3100–2700 BCE and representing the early phase of the Bronze Age in Oman. They are named after Jabal Hafit near Al Ain in Abu Dhabi, where many examples were first documented.
On the traverse, a Hafit tomb lies 5 km along the track from Ar Rus to Ash Sharaf, reached on Day 5. Others occur in prominent locations, including along cliff edges and on the grazing plain of Jahm Al Jabayl overlooking Al Fayq, close to the horse track that climbs the escarpment above the settlement.
At first sight these tombs resemble simple piles of stones, but they have a defined internal structure, typically consisting of two or three concentric rings enclosing one or two burial chambers. Archaeologists have recorded at least fifty-seven Hafit tombs across the Sayq Plateau, with many more likely to remain undocumented.
Most tombs have a base diameter of 4–5 m, with some reaching up to 7 m. They are commonly sited on flat ridges and may have served not only as burial monuments but also as waymarks in the landscape, reflecting a period when pastoral communities grazed livestock across the mountains.
Environmental evidence, including charcoal deposits, indicates that the Hafit period coincided with a relatively moist phase within a generally drying climate, supporting a higher population across southeastern Arabia (see a Hafit tomb on a cliff edge overlooking Al Fayq and a better-preserved Hafit tomb in the Eastern Hajar).
As the Bronze Age progressed, settlement expanded beyond the mountains into the foothill oases. During the Umm an-Nar period (2700–2000 BCE), communities at Izki, Nizwa and Ibra grew significantly. This expansion was supported by the increasing development of irrigation systems, including early forms of daudi aflaj, which brought groundwater to the surface and enabled more reliable agriculture. These communities also became increasingly connected through trade across the Arabian Gulf.
By this time, both mountain and foothill communities were linked into a wider regional trading network connecting Magan (Oman) with Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.
Despite this regional connectivity, there appears to be a gap of around fifteen hundred years in the mountain archaeological record following the Hafit period, until evidence reappears in the Early Iron Age (1200–600 BCE).
Two sites in Wadi Muaydin have been dated to this later period from pottery sherds. The first is the remains of a tower or building guarding a branch of the track ascending from the west towards the Sayq Plateau, located 875 m southwest of the present-day airstrip. The second is a fortified structure on the upper slope of Wadi Muaydin, above the spring at the village of Al Ain, overlooking the donkey track that climbs to Al Jabal Al Akhdar. Both sites are marked as waypoints in the GPX file available on this website.
Sections of stone steps dating to the Early Iron Age also survive along the present track between the villages of Al Aqr and Al Ain, indicating that this ascent route was already well established by this period.
The presence of these strategically positioned fortifications at the head of Wadi Muaydin, together with the surviving track construction, suggests that the route from Birkat Al Mawz to the Sayq Plateau has been in use for around three thousand years.
This suggests a continuity of route use, supported by the similarity of pottery sherds dated to around 1000 BCE at sites associated with the present-day villages of Al Hamra on the interior side of the range and Balad Sayt in Wadi Bani Awf on the coastal side, indicating a trading connection between these communities. The most direct link between them is a 20 km donkey track that partly overlaps the present traverse, meaning that sections of the route used on Day 6 may have been in continuous use since the Early Iron Age.
On the side route Al Alya to Al Fayq, sections of track survive that were engineered to a higher standard than the typical donkey routes, with carefully constructed stone steps and graded alignments suitable for pack horses. Horses, while faster, are less sure-footed than donkeys, and their use required more substantial track construction. The example shown here has not been used for several centuries, but its preservation illustrates the level of organisation and labour invested in maintaining mountain transport routes.
Oman’s coast and the interior west of the Hajar Mountains may have formed part of the migration routes taken by modern Homo sapiens as they dispersed out of Africa between about 60,000 and 120,000 years ago. Over time, hunter-gatherer communities in the region adopted pastoral practices, keeping domesticated goats, sheep, and cattle.
Key archaeological sites and periods include Jabal Qara and Al Hadda (8000–7500 BCE), Wattayah and Suwayh (7000–3800 BCE), and Ra’s Al-Hamra (3800–3100 BCE).
The Hafit Period (3100–2700 BCE), which coincided with a relatively wetter phase, supported an increase in population. It is named after the distinctive tombs found in the Emirates and across the Hajar Mountains.
During the Bronze Age, copper from the foothills of the Hajar Mountains was transported by donkey caravan to coastal settlements associated with the Umm an-Nar culture, and from there shipped by sea to Mesopotamia, when Oman formed part of the region known as Magan (c. 2500–1800 BCE). (see map of Bronze Age trading routes, traditional construction of a Bronze Age boat and sea trial of a Bronze Age boat).
Frankincense from Dhofar was exported by sea from around 2000 BCE and, in later periods, by overland caravan using domesticated camels, which came into widespread use by about 1500 BCE.
The Achaemenid Persian Empire (559–330 BCE) extended into parts of Oman. Systems of daudi aflaj (underground water channels), possibly introduced or further developed during this period, played a key role in determining the location of interior settlements such as Izki and Nizwa.
From around 200 BCE, waves of migration from Yemen and southwest Arabia reached Oman. These movements are often linked to repeated failures of the Marib Dam, a large flood- diversion structure that was vulnerable to extreme rainfall events. Major floods periodically overwhelmed the dam, causing catastrophic breaches and the collapse of irrigation systems, followed by famine until repairs were completed. Such episodes are recorded several times in historical sources and likely contributed to successive waves of migration between about 100 and 400 CE (see Oman and Yemen, 1992 images).
The Sassanid Persian Empire (224–650 CE) extended into northern Oman, where Persian and Arab communities coexisted. During this period, daudi aflaj (underground water channels) were constructed or further developed to irrigate plantations on the Batinah coast (see sarooj, an ancient cement).
Islam was introduced to Oman during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, when a letter was sent to the Julanda rulers in 629 CE inviting them to accept the new faith. Islam was subsequently adopted across tribal Oman by the mid-7th century. Arab forces then consolidated control of the region, displacing the remaining Sassanid Persian authority.
By 747 CE, most Omani Arab tribes had adopted Ibadism, an early branch of Islam that remains a defining feature of Omani religious identity.
The First Imamate (793–886 CE) developed a naval capability and is recorded as having sent an expedition to Socotra to assist its inhabitants during an Abyssinian occupation. This period of Ibadi rule lasted for about a century before ending in internal conflict between tribal and regional factions in northern and central Oman.
This conflict drew in the Abbasid Caliphate, which intervened from Baghdad in support of northern tribal groups. Despite this intervention, central Oman remained predominantly Ibadi.
The weakening of central Omani authority opened the country to a series of external interventions, often driven by the wealth of its maritime trade. In 965 CE, the Buyids destroyed Omani ships at Sohar and established control of the port for about a century. The Buwayid ruler of Fars also led a campaign into the interior, culminating in the conquest of Al Jabal Al Akhdar in the late 10th century.
Subsequent centuries saw further incursions by regional powers, including the Seljuk Turks and the rulers of Hormuz, as well as interventions from southern Persia. These periodic invasions reflected Oman’s strategic position between the Indian Ocean trade networks and the Arabian interior.
Omani control was partially re-established under the Nabahina dynasty (c. 1154–1560), who ruled from Bahla. Their period of influence coincided with the peak of Arab maritime trade between about 1400 and 1500.
Portuguese forces occupied key coastal centres between 1508 and 1649, constructing forts to control the spice trade between Asia and Europe. Qalhat fell in 1508 and Muscat in 1515. During this period the Ottomans briefly challenged Portuguese control, capturing Muscat twice in the mid-16th century before withdrawing.
The Ya’ariba Imamate (1624–1743) established Oman as a major regional power. It signed a free trade agreement between Sohar and the British East India Company in 1646 and successfully expelled the Portuguese from the Omani coast between 1633 and 1650. Omani forces captured Portuguese ships and strongholds, culminating in the seizure of the fort at Mombasa in 1698, and went on to dominate much of the western Indian Ocean and the East African coast.
This period of expansion was accompanied by the growth of a maritime trading economy in which slavery formed a significant component, with slave markets operating first in Sur and later in Muscat. The prosperity of the Imamate also funded major restoration of falaj irrigation systems.
Dynastic succession weakened the state when the child Saif bin Sultan was proclaimed ruler in 1718, leading to a prolonged struggle for power among rival factions. This conflict developed into a civil war between two tribal confederations: the Hinawi (largely Ibadi) and the Ghafiri (associated with Sunni groups), a rivalry with deeper roots in earlier divisions within Oman.
The leaders of both confederations were killed in the fighting, leaving Saif bin Sultan in control of the coast. In an effort to defeat his rivals in the interior, he twice sought support from Persia. This intervention enabled Nader Shah’s forces to raid the interior, as well as Sohar and Muscat, in 1737 and again in 1742, bringing the Ya’ariba Imamate to an end.
The present Al Busaidi dynasty was founded by Ahmad bin Said Al Busaidi, who was elected Imam in 1749 after expelling Persian forces from Muscat in 1747 and bringing an end to the civil war. He re-established Omani authority and rebuilt naval strength, enabling a renewed period of expansion along the East African coast and into the western Indian Ocean, including Zanzibar, Mombasa, and Gwadar.
Oman entered into agreements with Britain in 1798 and 1800, accepting the presence of an East India Company agent and aligning itself with British interests in preference to France and the Netherlands. Under Said bin Sultan, the centre of power shifted towards East Africa, and in 1840 the summer capital was moved from Muscat to Zanzibar, reflecting the growing importance of trade, including cloves, ivory, and enslaved people.
Omani merchants played a leading role in developing the clove industry in Zanzibar and expanded trading networks deep into the African interior. Following the death of Said bin Sultan in 1856, a succession dispute between his sons led to the formal separation of Oman and Zanzibar in 1861, brokered by the British Government of India.
Britain concluded a series of treaties with Oman (1822, 1839, 1845, and 1873) aimed at suppressing and eventually abolishing the slave trade, enforced by the Royal Navy and the East India Company. The loss of East African revenues, together with the decline of the slave trade and increasing competition from steam-powered shipping, contributed to a period of economic contraction in Oman.
Despite financial support from Zanzibar, the economy did not fully recover. Migration to East Africa, which remained under Omani influence, led to a dramatic decline in the population of Muscat during the late 19th century, with contemporary accounts suggesting a reduction of up to 85%.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Oman entered a period of political instability. This included internal conflict within the Al Busaidi dynasty, beginning with the patricide of 1866, as well as repeated revolts and challenges from conservative Ibadi groups. External pressures added to this instability, including Persian claims over Bandar Abbas, Wahhabi incursions via Buraimi, and the temporary capture of Muscat in 1868 by religious insurgents.
European rivalry between Britain and France, and the growth of the Muscat arms trade, further complicated the situation. In 1913, the election of an Ibadi Imam at Tanuf led to renewed division between the coastal Sultanate and the interior Imamate. British Indian troops were stationed at Bait Al Falaj, and the Treaty of Seeb (1920–1955) formalised a division of authority, granting the interior a degree of autonomy under the Imamate (see Rajan watch tower above Misfat Al Abriyyin).
From around 1930, Omani men migrated to the Arabian Gulf for work, often leaving their families behind.
The Jabal Al Akhdar War (1957–59) was an unsuccessful attempt by the interior Imamate, supported by Saudi Arabia, to maintain its authority. British-led forces, including SAS units, supported the Sultan (see bomb shelter near Ar Rus and shrapnel near Ar Rus).
After more than a century of Omani control, the coastal enclave of Gwadar was sold to Pakistan in 1958 for £3 million.
Exploration for oil began in the mid-1950s. The Dhofar concession was initially awarded to archaeologist Wendell Phillips in 1955, and drilling at Fahud in the Oman concession followed in 1956; both early wells proved dry.
The Zanzibar Revolution (1964) overthrew the Omani ruling elite, and many Omanis, including those with overseas education, were expelled, with large numbers later returning to Oman.
The Dhofar War (1962–76) was an insurgency led by a Marxist movement with both local and international support. British, Jordanian, and Iranian forces supported the Sultan in suppressing the rebellion.
Oil was discovered at Yibal in 1962, with production beginning in 1967 under Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), a company owned by the government in partnership with Shell and other stakeholders. PDO remains the country’s largest oil producer.
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said assumed power in 1970. He initiated a programme of infrastructure development and ended the isolation of the interior from the coast and the wider world. Financed by oil revenues, this modernisation has continued to the present day.
Oman lay on the Bronze Age trade routes linking Harappa in the Indus Valley with Mesopotamia. The earliest exports from the Hajar Mountains were copper, when Oman formed part of the region known as Magan. A cuneiform text from around 2300 BCE records instructions from King Sargon of Akkad to sailors from Magan on where to dock their ships.
Copper production involved separating bright green and blue oxide-carbonate minerals from mined ore, crushing them using stone anvils, and smelting them with charcoal in clay furnaces. In 2005, an experimental voyage attempted to recreate Bronze Age maritime technology using a vessel built in Oman from reeds, date-palm fibres, and bitumen, with woollen sails and teak oars. The aim was to complete a 960 km journey across the Arabian Sea, following a route believed to have connected Mesopotamia with the Indus Valley.
The period of overlapping Persian and Arab presence in Oman, following migrations from Yemen between about 200 BCE and 650 CE, was marked by cycles of conflict and truce. One account describes a battle at Salut near Bahla in which Sassanid forces are said to have used elephants, although they were ultimately defeated.
Arab navigation reached a high point in the 15th century, when Ahmad bin Majid of Julfar documented monsoon winds and sailing routes across the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea. Around this time, a Gujarati navigator assisted Vasco da Gama in crossing the Indian Ocean from Africa. Thereafter, European powers—beginning with the Portuguese—came to dominate maritime trade in the region.
Despite this, dhow trade between Oman, East Africa, and India continued uninterrupted and was later protected by British naval power based in India. Merchants from Kutch in Gujarat settled in Oman from the 16th century, and the souq behind Mutrah port includes the walled quarter of Sur Al Lawatia, home to descendants of Sindhi merchants since the 18th century. Since the First Imamate, foreign traders have been tolerated in Oman, though generally confined to port settlements.
The 18th century civil war involved most Omani tribes and caused significant damage to aflaj irrigation systems, reducing the cultivated area to levels below those of the 10th century. Defensive towers and forts built during this period remained in use until the 20th century, with early oil prospectors reporting continued instability in the interior. Many of these structures have since been restored.
Oman’s connections with East Africa date back to at least the 5th century and culminated in the 19th century expansion along the Swahili Coast. Omani communities remained in the region, and many families continue to maintain cultural and linguistic ties, with some Omanis speaking Swahili and maintaining property in East Africa.
In the century prior to 1970, the interior of Oman remained largely isolated from the coast and the wider world. During this period, the country experienced the loss of its Indian Ocean territories, significant outward migration, political division between interior and coast, and conflict in the mountains. It also faced the Dhofar War (1962–76), an insurgency in the south supported by South Yemen and the wider Soviet bloc. In addition, Omani communities were expelled from East Africa following the Zanzibar Revolution.
These challenges place into perspective the transformation achieved under Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who ruled from 1970 to 2020 and oversaw a sustained period of stability and modernisation.
