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The best stories are in the details

H i s t o r y
Rock art in Wadi Nakhr

You will find many spots in the Western Hajar with ancient figures – both human and animal – carved on rock. Wadi Bani Kharus is the best-known location, where you will easily find many marks on the smooth walls of rock that line its ancient riverbed. But look a little further and you will discover yet more examples, off the usual tourist trail.

One such site is Wadi Nakhr, which we have explored in this issue, visiting the villagers who weave rugs here. A single boulder towards the beginning of the wadi, sitting bang in the middle of the gravel track, bears the distinct markings of an ancient people.

Much such rock art provides important historical clues. Many items of material depicted are no longer part of the local culture and some images depict animals no longer present in the country. While most forms can be found on rock, some has been discovered on man-made structures, like old falaj channels, or the walls of forts.

Many motifs and themes now found in local craft, such as silver jewellery, have their parallels in the forms found on rock. For example, some silver pendants meant for women have stick or ‘X’ type symbols that are charms that encourage pregnancy – such designs have also been found in carvings in the mountains.

Most natives to the areas where the ancient figures are present are also aware of them, and could guide you to more. Oman’s interior is rich in folklore and beliefs, and some, like those involving jinns, are related to such specific sites, or caves. The stories either relate to what is depicted in stone, or provide an explanation as to the origin of the designs.

Rock art found in Oman was completed at different times, with the more recent ones depicting objects introduced by Western culture, and others showing the presence of animals now extinct.

A r c h i t e c t u r e
Arches

There are many devices employed by architects and builders to manipulate space to pleasing effect; one way is to incorporate arches into a design. Arches, particularly those supported by slender columns, can suggest lightness and elegance, cast interesting shadows, create rhythm (when used in repetition), and form an agreeable contrast to the planar lines of a building.

Not merely ornamental, an arch is a curved structure that usually supports the weight of something – a roof or bridge – over an open space. They are constructed in myriad styles. The decorative ogee arch, for example, has two ogee (S-shaped) curves that meet at the apex, while the Tudor arch is wide, flattened and pointed. A lancet arch has an acutely pointed apex; a horseshoe arch, common in Islamic architecture, is semicircular and widens before rounding off, the maximum width wider than the distance between the two side supports. There are numerous others, too: trefoil arches, shouldered arches and rampart arches. For thousands of years, in locations round the world, arches have been integral to architectural designs. Buildings in Muscat are no exception: arches can be seen across the city, on structures both prosaic (such as supermarkets) and immensely grand.

S h o p p i n g
In view

As well as being of interest to historians, old topographical views can be handsome and collectable. Visiting artists must have been few and far between, for it seems that only a handful of painted images documenting Muscat exist. Some of these are displayed in the city’s museums, and others no doubt exist in private collections. The next best thing to owning an original is to purchase one of the posters from Al Madina Art Gallery (tel: 24 691380). The set reproduces views published in 1813 by W Haines, based in 10 South Molton Street, London. They show Muscat and Mutrah from the sea as the towns would have appeared to visitors 200 years ago. The scenes are finely drawn and softly coloured, featuring dhows and boats on the sea, and clutches of whitewashed buildings nestled at the foot of inhospitable mountains – lyrical images that are world’s apart from the bustling scenes that confront visitors today. The posters cost RO12 each, from Al Madina, which is stocked with many other images, including reproduction maps of old Arabia.

A r t
Calligraphy

Islamic art finds expression in diverse media – from clay, paint and timber to fibres woven into carpets. Pen and ink are also valuable tools of expression: over the centuries calligraphers have created virtuoso examples of lettering that are at once poetic and decorative.

Calligraphy is derived from the Greek words kallos, meaning beauty, and graphe, meaning writing. It has been venerated in the Islamic world for two reasons: first, because the Holy Quran is written in Arabic, and Arabic is thus inextricably linked with the divine; and second, because Islam favoured lettering over figurative arts. Religious proverbs, blessings and excerpts are common subject matter for calligraphers, and have never been limited to parchment or paper. Lettering is used to illuminate tiles, objects such as ceramics, and architecture – you can see passages of calligraphy on the walls of Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, for example.

Inevitably different styles of calligraphy have evolved in different centres and according to the purpose they serve: important documents are invariably worked in a more complex script than that used for humbler papers. Among the prominent historical styles are Kufic (an early, angular form derived from Kufa in Iraq), Naskhi (a cursive, rounded script) and Thuluth (which is ornamental with prolonged letters). Some lett-ering is beautifully embellished with flowers or animals; and other artists have manipulated the words into forms suggestive of animals such as birds to create designs known as calligrams.

C o o k i n g
Eggs Benedict

The Benedict commemorated in eggs Benedict has long been the subject of debate. The legend most commonly bandied about concerns a dashing, New Yorker stockbroker named Lemuel Benedict. In 1942, The New Yorker published an article recalling Lemuel’s order, in 1894, of poached eggs, toast, ham and a pitcher of hollandaise sauce at the old Waldorf – a breakfast to rectify the after-effects of a night on the town. The maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf, Oscar Tschirky – the man credited with the creation of Waldorf salad (a combination of apple, celery, walnuts and mayonnaise) – put Lemuel’s dish on the menu, substituting bacon for ham, and English muffins for toast, and it has been enjoyed ever since. Stories of other Benedicts have contradicted this one, but each tale seems to revolve around a first-rate restaurant in the Big Apple. Eggs Benedict is commonly served at brunch.

W a n d e r i n g
The Wadi of Gazelle Heads

Barely five minutes from Hamriya, and a few seconds off the Muscat-Yitti road, are spots of wadi and mountain that are completely unknown and even more charming. Park your car almost anywhere off the road to your right, and choose a track up the surrounding hills – you will be rewarded with great views, an unending series of little wadis and mountains, and complete solitude.

We chose a shallow dead-end wadi as a lay-by, drove half a kilometre till the end, then started walking up the nearest slope. There are no people here, no villages, visitors, donkeys or goats – nothing remotely man-made or introduced. The only sign of life, we soon discovered on the first of a series of ledges we came across, were a number of patches of gazelle droppings and patches in the earth where they had slept, scratched out with little hooves and devoid of pebbles. We have never actually seen any gazelles on our few walks here, but we have spotted them even closer to the city on other excursions. Walk on and you’re at the top, with only a couple of neighbouring peaks for company. Many kilometres of slopes ahead – you’ll have to constantly climb up and down – will lead you to some spot of Muscat, a good idea for a hike when it gets cooler. For now, make do with a couple of hours of pleasant mountain walk, best done just before it gets dark in the evenings.

Final confirmation of other denizens came with the discovery of a gazelle skull in the foothills, just before we got back to our car. More details of its owner – long dead – and the other slopes of the mountain still remain a mystery, a good excuse for the next trip.

GPS in UTM

Park here
40 Q 0659319, 2605883
Elevation 199m

Top view
40 Q 0659270, 2605455
Elevation 278m

A d v e n t u r e
The rim walk – now the rim ride?

Al Khatim, on the edge of the Grand Canyon below Jebel Shams, is the starting point for the famed ‘rim walk’ – a ledge a few metres across that runs along the inside edge of the canyon, 1,100m high. While the walk itself isn’t tough – an hour one way – it isn’t for every city slicker either. Don’t even think about it if you’re scared of heights, because for most of the way you’re looking over an open canyon, jumping distance from the edge. This bird’s-eye view path will lead you to the abandoned village of Sap Bani Khamis, with its now-empty granaries, stone houses, water pool and agricultural terraces. Once there, you have to turn back to Al Khatim, for the only other way out is a via ferrata – a metal rope that you anchor yourself to while climbing a vertical rock face to the top.

MC thought differently. The thrills of walking the ledge have been experienced by so many they’ve become passé, so he upped the ante: why not cycle the ledge? Why not, indeed.

So MC and fellow rider Peter Szekely set off from Muscat, mountain bikes packed with barbecue gear and sleeping bags. This is what he has to say: “Our bikes attracted children and their voices followed us till we disappeared behind the next curve. The trail sneaked in between the rocks, with the abyss of the Jebel Shams canyon to our right. Some sections are for professional ‘trial’ riders, but we did what we could, jumping the steps, twisting between rocks, pushing saddle to the stomach with the bottom far back above the rear wheel to jump over obstacles, sometimes just centimetres from the edge. One bad move and in a best-case scenario we could end up 5m below – worst case would involve a 1,000m freefall. After about an hour of exciting riding, with stretches in between spent carrying the bikes, we arrived at the abandoned village. We rested here – I was really exhausted – before setting back. The way to Al Khatim was tough, for most of it was uphill. Back in the village we were offered a lunch of rice and lamb, but rushed back to our cars, for rain clouds had begun to gather. And this is how we proved, for the first time ever, that the rim walk (romantically called W6) could be cycled. On a scale of one to ten, this was a 27 for me. As my rim cycling partner Peter said, this should now be renamed the Rim Ride. Mabrook!”