The Ancient City of Qalhat (Oman)
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Additional information received by ICOMOS On 29 September 2017, a letter requesting additional The Ancient City of Qalhat information was sent by ICOMOS to the State Party to (Oman) request further information regarding the justification of Outstanding Universal Value, in particular as it relates to No 1537 the city’s layout, division and original function, its role in regional and global trade networks as well as architectural innovation that could be said to have emerged from Qalhat. A reply was received from the State Party, dated 31 October 2017. Official name as proposed by the State Party The Ancient City of Qalhat An Interim Report was provided to the State Party on 22 December 2017 summarising the issues identified by Location the ICOMOS World Heritage Panel. A reply from the State Governorate of Al-Sharqiyya South, Wilayat of Sur Party was received on 27 February 2018 supplying a Oman detailed description of the archaeological remains and their historic functions, augmenting the comparative Brief description analysis as well as further details on conservation and The ancient city of Qalhat is located on the eastern coast boundaries. The State Party also submitted additional of the Sultanate of Oman, approximately 20 kilometres images and maps of the property. north-west of the city of Sur. The property includes the entire Ancient City of Qalhat, demarcated by its inner and All additional information received from the State Party outer walls, which extends over 35 hectares, as well as has been incorporated into the relevant sections below. areas outside the walls where the necropolises are situated. The city was an important port on the East Arabian Coast, which flourished in the 11th to Date of ICOMOS approval of this report 14 March 2018 15th centuries CE under the rule of the Princes of Hormuz. Following Portuguese attacks, it was abandoned in the 16th century and has remained as an archaeological site ever since. 2 The property Category of property Description In terms of categories of cultural property set out in The archaeological site of the ancient city of Qalhat is Article I of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, this is a located on a narrow triangular coastal rocky plateau in Al- site. Sharqiyya province, 45 kilometres north-west of Ras Al- Hadd and 20 kilometres north-west of the city of Sur. The site is separated from the sea by a rocky cliff of 1 Basic data approximately 10 to 15 metres in height. The former settlement stretches over an area 1600 metres long at the foot of the Jabal Al-Hajir Al-Sharqi and covers an overall Included in the Tentative List area of 35 hectares. The nominated property, however, 23 May 2013 encompasses an area of 69 hectares, including among others the city’s necropolises. The historic city has been International Assistance from the World Heritage divided into several quarters for the purpose of Fund for preparing the Nomination archaeological documentation and interpretation. None The central quarter is located between two wadis, which Date received by the World Heritage Centre are both inside the city walls. It is located at the accessible 30 January 2017 point from the sea, where boats could land. Archaeological investigations identified this section as the Background most ancient part of the city, dating back to around This is a new nomination. 1 100 CE. The quarter contains 140 documented structures and is centred around the Friday Mosque Consultations complex. Within this quarter house sizes vary ICOMOS has consulted its International Scientific considerably. North of the Friday Mosque larger, scattered Committees on Archaeological Heritage Management, on buildings with large open spaces and terraces have been Underwater Cultural Heritage and several independent documented. To the west and south there are medium- experts. sized buildings distributed in slightly denser urban patterns. On the south-western fringe of the quarter, much Technical Evaluation Mission smaller and densely-packed architectural structures can An ICOMOS technical evaluation mission visited the be observed. property from 18 to 23 September 2017. 47 The Great Friday Mosque is located in the heart of the discovered to date, both the above-described attributions ancient quarter at the end of the main street which leads remain doubtful. from the western gate to the shore. Following its discovery in 2008, it was completely excavated and is now being Qalhat was important enough in the 10th and conserved. As this quarter was the heart of the city, most 11th centuries AD to be mentioned by Al-‘Awtabi in his administrative and official buildings were located near the Kitab al-Ansab, which describes the geographies and Friday Mosque along the seashore. Small shop structures genealogies of Oman at the time. Several other written in the surroundings indicate the presence of a souq. An documents mention the existence of Qalhat at the same area to the north connects 8 buildings by means of a time. It was described as a city with civil, military, fence. This is assumed to have been a central area with political and commercial relations with the newly- public functions, such as a madrasa, hammam, khan and established Kingdom of Hormuz. hospital. The Kingdom of Hormuz was initially established by The central quarter is surrounded by several peripheral Mohammad Dirham Ko Al-Azdi in the area of Minab. In quarters, such as the north-east quarter. This quarter is the early 12th century AD, the capital transferred to Jaron composed of buildings on both sides of a straight street Island and was called New Hormuz. Qalhat became a which connects the harbour to a city gate in the northern southern power centre which provided shelter for the fortification wall, the key access to Qalhat from the princes of Hormuz during times of conflict. However, direction of Muscat. This quarter also contains the largest Qalhat also hosted exiles who were aspiring to regain single building identified in the city. Although its function is power and who re-established their armies and fleets to not determined, a palace function, such as for the attack the New City of Hormuz. governor of the city, is suspected by archaeologists. Qalhat became a regional centre in the 13th century due The north-west quarter is dominated by private dwellings, to the decline of other early Islamic Omani settlements. It with clusters of residences and buildings with other became the predominant trade centre on the East functions organized around squares. Three of such Arabian coast. According to Ibn al-Mujawir, the city fell buildings along the northern end of the quarter were under the control of the Khwarizm ruler Khwajah Radi Al- excavated and have been identified in turn as a small Din Qiyam Al-Mulk Abu Bakr Al-Zuzani, who collected mosque, a dwelling and what was likely a store. The taxes and traded in Qalhat until he died in 1218-19 AD, excavations have delivered detailed information about the leaving behind 64,000 tonnes of silk and 500 horses. In life of the Qalhatis, their involvement in fishing, agricultural 1219, Qalhat’s fortification wall was built which and livestock activities, as well as their trading relations. strengthened its economic position further. The western quarter may have been the productive In the 13th century Qalhat likely controlled most of the neighbourhood of the city, since both the excavated units Indian Ocean trade of the Kingdom of Hormuz. It also here were probably workshops. One of the two was a dominated the eastwards trade towards the coast of pottery kiln producing glazed tiles such as were used in Africa. At that time the governor Ayaz split his presence the Friday Mosque, while the other was an artisan’s between Hormuz and Qalhat, which in his absence was workshop utilizing semi-precious stones and pearls. ruled by his wife Maryam. She, Bibi Maryam, is said to have built the Great Friday Mosque and a mausoleum The funerary areas surround the ancient city and are for her late husband. She continued ruling after her partly located inside, partly outside the city walls. More husband’s death until at least 1319. than 2000 funerary structures have been documented, including small mausoleums, cist graves with inscriptions, In the 14th and 15th centuries AD trade relations were simple graves of various shapes and funerary terraces. extensive. A great amount of Chinese porcelain has The city was surrounded by a defensive wall with several been found at Qalhat, as have Indian ceramics and fortification towers. It should be noted that only a small carved slabs with Indian motives. The main commodities percentage of the historic city has been excavated and which Qalhat traded were dates and Arabian horses, for that the archaeological potential for the generation of which it was particularly famous. Qalhat, at that time, further knowledge about the Kingdom of Hormuz remains was a wealthy and cosmopolitan city with a population of immense. Arabs, Persians and Indians, as well as smaller numbers of different African communities. Qalhat kept its status History and development as the second most important city and port of the The earliest historic evidence in the ancient city of Qalhat Kingdom of Hormuz until the arrival of the Portuguese. is an Iron Age tomb dating to around 500 BC. The most ancient mention of Qalhat is found in the Kitab Ansab Al In the last quarter of the 15th century, Qalhat was ‘Arab attributed to Salama ibn Muslim Al-Awtabi Al-Suhari, affected by an earthquake. It was still in the process of which dates its foundation to the early Christian Era. rebuilding when the Portuguese arrived in 1507. The However, oral tradition dates its foundation centuries Portuguese described it as a fortified town of 5000 to earlier to the reign of Malik bin Fahm Al-Azdi, who is said 6000 inhabitants.