Oman lists rare manuscript in UNESCO memory register

Oman Wednesday 15/November/2017 21:11 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman lists rare manuscript in UNESCO memory register

Muscat: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, succeeded in registering the Omani manuscript "Secrets Origin in Marine sciences " (Madan al Asrar Fi Oulom al Bihar) in the Memory of the World programme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO through the national team of the world memory register.
The manuscript is the first-of-its- kind in the Sultanate. It is considered one of the most important manuscripts in the marine sciences, in addition to being one of the most important marine guides for dealing with the rules of marine science, commanding ships using marine machines and accurate calculations, describing the compass and its parts, the latitude and longitude, the tilt tables, the star sighting and the drawing of the forms of certain ports as seen by the traveller.
This manuscript is of great importance to scholars in the field of politics, the world economy and tribal journeys across countries, especially in the time period before the Renaissance in the Sultanate. The manuscript shows close relations between many countries with the sea link. This confirms the existence of one country's tribes in another country, and the existence of cultures known in a country in other countries.
The manuscript was written by Nasser bin Ali bin Nasser Al Khudhori, born in the Wilayat of Sur in the Governorate of South A'Sharqiyah in 1870. He died in 1962 at the age of 92 years. He was a famous sailor in Oman, India, Sindh, Malabar, East Africa, Comoros, Seychelles, Persia, Iraq and others.
The Ministry of Heritage and Culture has formed a national team to follow up the work of the Memory of the World Register to work on the nomination of suitable works according to the technical and historical standards of the UNESCO. The team is composed of government and private bodies concerned with the Sultanate to preserve the human documentary heritage. These entities are the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, the National Documents and Archives Authority, the Royal Opera House Muscat, University of Nizwa.