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Gilt-titled brown cloth in colour illustrated jacket 22 x 31cm. Printed by Al Nahda Printing Press Oman. 192pp with royal portrait frontis and many mostly b/w illustrations + 5 folding sheets o/w 2 printed to both sides. Near fine with marks to text block edge and rubbing to jacket edges. This original English language edition was also translated into Arabic by the Department of Archaeology at Sultan Qaboos University, with both published in 2001. Both look to be scarce with Worldcat and Jisc listing 17 locations for the English and 2 for the Arabic. This significant work presents findings from Southwest Missouri State University's expedition to Dhofar led by Professor Juris Zarins in 1990-95: "The importance of this study stems from the fact that there are only a few comprehensive reports about the archaeology of Dhofar. Indeed [it] further authenticates the important and influential role in the region played by Dhofar for multitudes since early prehistory". The expedition followed work for a documentary by Nicholas Clapp and George Hedges with Ranulph Fiennes in 1990, about the search for the lost city of Ubar. First sponsored by the Oman International Bank, the Government took over in 1991 when Sultan Qaboos established the National Committee for Supervision of Archaeological Survey. Building on its findings Sultan Qaboos University joined excavations at Al Baleed in Salalah from 1996 as part of a master plan to restore and develop the site as a visitor park. The first in a projected series, this high profile publication also aimed to encourage Arab and international experts to come forward to explore joint projects with the University and Omani Government (Preface by Mohammed Bin Al-Zubair Bin Ali, Advisor to HM The Sultan for Economic Planning Affairs, President of Sultan Qaboos University; introductory note by Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed Al Rowas, Minister of Information; Acknowledgments; Editorial Preface by Moawiyah M. Ibrahim, Editor in Chief). Chapters cover early explorers (Bertram Thomas, Clapp, and before); Ecology; Summer Monsoon; Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeology; Dhofar (origins of frankincense trade, Dhofar and the West); Bronze Age (northern Oman / East Arabia, Hadhramaut, Dhofar and the incense trade); Iron Age (northern Oman, Yemen, Dhofar, Shisr, Al Humran, and the frankincense trade); Dhofar Regional Survey; the Mahra; the Omani; classical sources; and the Islamic Period. Among its findings were modern man's arrival in Najd and Shisr 100,000 years ago; abandonment of most of the Peninsula due to extreme aridity 20-8,000 years ago; arrival of pastoral nomads from the Levant 6,000 BC establishing ancient trade routes, maritime trade, and beginning the incense trade to meet demand from Mesopotamia; retrenchment, camel domestication and copper trade with Masirah and Dhofar in the Bronze Age; re-emergence of herders with crops in the Iron Age in a lifestyle similar to the modern Mahra, migration of Omani Arabs, influence of Parthian Persians, the possibility Shisr could be either Ubar or Omanum Emporium, emergence of Al Baleed as a major port, etc. Interior trade prospered in the Islamic Period driven by horses and incense, ties with India were sustained, and coastal Dhofar participated in long distance trade. Ottoman and Portuguese invasions brought things to a standstill. Illustrations include drawings, maps and plans including fold-outs showing sites, past and current stream flows, and sections based on Ptolomey's map. Colour illustrations include the Bertram Thomas Ubar Road and remote sensing map of Salalah. Seller Inventory # 4403
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