Ministry of Heritage and Tourism carries out joint excavation in Baushar

Muscat: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism is carrying out a joint excavation that includes specialists from the authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council concerned with cultural heritage. The excavation is being carried out at the Sanab site in the Wilayat of Baushar, Muscat Governorate from January 13 - 22, 2024.

The excavation aims to document the site affected by urban sprawl and learn about its archaeological components to understand the various cultural aspects of the period of human settlement, in addition to exchanging experiences between specialists from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and embodying the goals of the Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, which approved this program.

The programme includes visiting several archaeological missions operating in the Sultanate of Oman to learn about Omani archaeological sites and the nature of their work. It is worth noting that the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism conducted many archaeological surveys and excavations in the Wilayat of Baushar, which includes many archaeological sites dating back to different periods.

The Ministry carried out a salvage excavation for archaeological cemeteries affected by residential plans in the village of Sanab in the Wilayat of Baushar. The cemeteries of the village of Sanab were chosen to carry out the joint Gulf excavation for several reasons, the most prominent of which is the presence of cemeteries on the list of archaeological sites in danger as a result of urban expansion and encroachments on those cemeteries, in addition to natural factors represented by successive floods due to successive climate extremes.

The excavation work plan includes photographing and documenting the site, preparing it, surveying the surrounding areas using scientific methods, examining and documenting everything suspected of being an archaeological witness, preparing and cleaning the tombs to begin the excavation process, and recording archaeological tomb data according to the stages of work. In addition to recording the discovered artefacts, clarifying all the data of the archaeological finds, and preserving them in this manner.