Oman: Arabia’s Ancient Emporium 2 NOV – 17 NOV 2015 Code: 21539 Tour Leaders Dr Erica Hunter Physical Ratings A tour of Oman incl. the Musandam Peninsula combining dramatic landscapes with visits to fascinating museums, mosques, crenellated forts, medieval ports, Bronze Age sites and turtle-watching. Overview Tour Highlights Dr Erica C. D. Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Eastern Christianity, Department for the Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, leads this 16-day tour of little known, extraordinarily diverse Oman. Muscat, with its lively Muttrah Souq, fascinating museums and the fantastic Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque showcasing the best of Islamic art Impressive crenellated medieval fort at Nizwa and its souq, famous for silver jewellery The extraordinary tombs of Bat, a UNESCO heritage site, the best preserved Bronze Age settlement in the Middle East Dramatic landscapes, ranging from the spectacular 'Grand Canyon' to the monumental desert dunes at Wahiba Sands where we camp under the stars The medieval port of Sur with its ship-building yard where skilled craftsmen continue to build the traditional dhows and fishing boats Salalah with its frankincense trees, and Sumharam, the 'frankincense port', on the southern coast of Oman Turtle-watching at the Green Turtle Sanctuary, located at Ras al Jinz, the easternmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula Musandam Peninsula with its majestic mountains that plunge into spectacular fjords The Sultanate of Oman is one of Arabia's best kept secrets, an idyllic land where majestic mountains dramatically descend towards deserts and large oases surround medieval fortified towns and castles. The colourful and immaculately dressed people are immensely courteous in welcoming visitors to their seafaring nation, the legendary home of Sinbad. Overview Come and join renowned scholar Dr Erica C. D. Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Eastern Christianity, Department for the Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London on an exploration of an extraordinary land. A bountiful heritage created Oman's distinct culture - a world harking back as far as 5,000 BC, when this region influenced the development of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Luxuriant oases, Bedouin camps, sumptuous palaces, pre-Islamic, Islamic and Portuguese forts, tribal fortified houses and villages with colourful souqs, all reveal themselves in this under-visited land. We'll journey to walled desert towns, ancient and medieval cities, including the extraordinary tombs at Bat – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and possibly the best preserved Bronze Age urban settlement in the Middle East – and fairy-tale forts including Nizwa, famed for her silver jewellery souk. Medieval ports are orientated towards Asia and East Africa, including the atmospheric medieval city of Sur where we'll view skilled craftsmen who still produce dhows and fishing boats by traditional techniques. Holy shrines and mosques are set against a superbly diverse environment of rugged mountains, vast sandy deserts, palm groves, and stunning white beaches on the Gulf of Oman. Desert landscapes are relieved by brilliantly green wadis, majestic mountain ranges, plantations of dates and bananas, and the frankincense tree, still harvested today at Salalah and Sumharam, a frankincense trading entrepôt on Oman's southern coast. We'll spend an evening watching nesting turtles at the Green Turtle Sanctuary at Ras al Jinz, where the Gulf of Oman meets the Indian Ocean at the easternmost tip of the Arabian peninsula. We'll visit wonderful museums and mosques, including the remarkable Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat showcasing the best of Islamic arts, Omani arts and crafts. An ASA exclusive is our journey to remote Al Khasab on the on the Strait of Hormuz, where we'll make a full-day excursion by 4WD to Jebel Harim (2087m) the highest mountain in the region, then cruise through the spectacular fjords of the Musandam Peninsula. The Sultanate of Oman is one of the Middle East's best-kept secrets: an idyllic land where majestic mountains and deserts frame cities populated by colourfully dressed and immensely courteous people, eagerly welcoming visitors to their seafaring nation, homeland of the legendary Sinbad. Oman: Arabia’s Ancient Emporium August 2014 Page 2 Leaders Dr Erica Hunter Senior Lecturer at London’s School of Oriental & African Studies & world authority on Mesopotamian Christianity & its spread to the Gulf, Iran, Central Asia & China, Erica leads ASA’s Oman tour. Dr. Erica CD Hunter BA, MA, DPhil, PhD (Melbourne) SOAS University of London Department of the Study of Religions Senior Lecturer in Eastern Christianity Dr. Erica C D Hunter is Senior Lecturer in Eastern Christianity, and Head of the Department for the Study of Religions, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. From an old Queensland family, she was born in Melbourne, and gained her PhD from the Dept. of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Melbourne in 1982. She continued her work in Aramaic and other Semitic languages, including Ancient South Arabian, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, before going to England in 1984 to the erstwhile Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge where she was Affiliated Lecturer in Hebrew and Aramaic between 1998-2005. In 1987, her researches took her to the Iraq Museum, Baghdad where she continued her work on the collections until mid-2002. Between 1989-1991 she was the Gertrude Bell Fellow of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (now the British Institute for the Study of Iraq). Major publications include: Catalogue of Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum (British Museum Press: London, 2000) [with J.B. Segal], The Christian Heritage of Iraq: Collected Papers from the Christianity in Iraq I-V Seminar Days (Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2009) and Catalogue of Syriac Texts from Turfan (Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag, 2014). She is currently editing a book, Non-Muslim Communities of the Contemporary Middle East commissioned by I.B. Tauris, London. She is an international authority on ‘Mesopotamian’ Christianity and its spread through the Gulf (including Oman), Iran, Central Asia and China. Her particular interest in Oman stems from when she stayed at the British Residence in Muscat, whilst en route to Australia, affording her opportunities to travel extensively. Apart from her experience as a lecturer in Oman, she has led numerous tours in diverse places: Ethiopia, north-west China, Central Asia, Armenia and Georgia, as well as in both the eastern and western regions of Turkey. Oman: Arabia’s Ancient Emporium August 2014 Page 3 Itinerary The daily activities described in this itinerary may change or be rotated and/or modified in order to accommodate alterations in opening hours, flight and ferry schedules. Participants will receive a final itinerary together with their tour documents prior to departure. Meals included in the tour price and are indicated in the itinerary where: B=breakfast, L=Lunch and D=evening meal. Al Khasab, Musandam - 2 nights Day 1: Monday 2 November, Dubai – Al Khasab Check-in and Welcome Meeting Dhow cruise to the fjords of Musandam Participants travelling on the ASA ‘designated’ flights are scheduled to arrive at Dubai Airport in the early morning. After clearing Passport Control and Customs we shall make the two-hour journey to the northern tip of the Arabian Peninsula to Al Khasab on the Strait of Hormuz, just opposite Iran, and surrounded by the United Arab Emirates. Our journey takes us along the coast past Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. Following hotel check-in and some time at leisure, our program commences with an introductory/welcome meeting. We shall then transfer to Al Khasab harbour where we board a dhow for a cruise through the western inlet, Khaw ash Shamm, to view the spectacular fjords of Musandam, with its villages clinging to the side of the majestic Hajar Mountains, and the famous telegraphic island. Until recently the Musandam Peninsula was largely cut off from the rest of Arabia; apart from the remains of a small Sassanian settlement on an island just to its north and of a Portuguese fort at Al Khasab, few traces of foreign contact remain from earlier times. It wasn’t until the British explorer Bertram Thomas described Musandam after a brief visit in the 1920s that it became known to the outside world. During the cruise there will be an option to swim and snorkel. Lunch will be provided on board. This evening we dine together at the hotel. (Overnight Al Khasab) LD Day 2: Tuesday 3 November, Musandam Peninsula Al Khasab Fort Qayadh Pre-historic Cave Paintings, Wadi Tawi Oman: Arabia’s Ancient Emporium August 2014 Page 4 4WD drive to Jebel Harim, Khari Najid & Birkhat Khalididya Park This morning we depart by 4WD to visit the Al Khasab fort, built by the Portuguese in the 16th century, as well as the pre-historic rock engravings (depicting, amongst other animals, several fine camels) at Wadi Tawi. Next we drive to Jebel Harim, the highest mountain in Musandam (2087m) which has an unsurpassed panorama of the landscape. Later we drive to Khari Najid with its equally stunning sea views and then to Birkhat Khalididya Park, a natural park with a multitude of acacia trees and an ancient water catchment system still in use. (Overnight Al Khasab) BLD Muscat - 2 nights Day 3: Wednesday 4 November, Al Khasab – Muscat High-Speed Ferry from Al Khasab to Muscat Tour of Muttraq and Muttraq Souq This morning we depart Al Khasab by high-speed ferry for Muscat. Isolated until recently, connections with the rest of Oman have greatly improved since 2008 with the launch of the world’s fastest passenger ferry service that operates between Muscat and Musandam. The diesel-powered vessels built by Australia-based Austal, have top operating speeds of nearly 52 and 56 knots and make the 420km journey in just over 5 hours.