Sur Maritime Museum

Historical museum located in southern Oman, dedicated to showing the development of ships for the Sultanate's trade and the development of ports in the country's coastal cities, specifically around Ash Sharqiyah.
Sur Maritime Museum
Photo by Katja Drnovsek
Type: Historical Museum
Country:
Oman
Establishment: 1987

The Sur Maritime Museum (Arabic: مركز فتح الخير) is a historical museum located in southern Oman, dedicated to showing the development of ships for the Sultanate's trade and the development of ports in the country's coastal cities, specifically around Ash Sharqiyah.

History

The museum was established in the 1980s on the premises of the Orouba Club following efforts by the local community and the historian Rabie bin Ambar Al Araimi.[1] Several of the museum's exhibits date from the period when trade routes were established between the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia, such as insignia from various Ghanja ships.[2]

In addition to other traditional boats such as Sanbūq (Arabic: سنبوق), Baghlah (Arabic: بغلة) and Boum (Arabic: بوم).[3]

Collections

The museum includes photographs and exhibits about different archaeological sites, castles and forts in the region, including old Arab ship models such as Jalboot (Arabic: جالبوت).[4] In addition, the museum contains old Omani sailing documents and publications, as well as charts and photographs, jewelry and exhibits on Omani captains and sailors, and information on the Nokhedha (Arabic: النوخذة), a traditional Arab ship.[5]

The museum includes photographs of the Wilayat dating back to the 20th century and information about the Sur Mosques, in addition to exhibits on the establishments of the oldest mosques of the Wilayat located in the suburb of Al Fawaris (Arabic: الفوارس).[6]

The museum features the Fath Al-Khair (Arabic: فتح الخير) ship built in the suburb of Al Rasha (Arabic: الرشة) in the 1950s, which served as part of the Southern naval fleet destined to carry goods across the Indian Ocean from Yemeni coffee, date palm (Arabic: التمور) imported from Iraq and Iran as well as species from East Africa.[7]

Sur Maritime Museum Imagen 1
Miniature model of the traditional Arabian Boum boat (2023) - Photo by Tennyson Dcruz
Sur Maritime Museum Imagen 2
Elements used in Omani navigation such as a telescope, scopes and hourglasses (2022) - Photo by Fahad Oman
Sur Maritime Museum Imagen 3
Miniature model of a Shasha, traditional boat made of palm wood used for fishing in the Persian Gulf (2022) - Photo by Said Saif Mubarak

References

  1. بالصور: ماذا تعرف عن مركز فتح الخير الثقافي؟. (2022-04-15). صحيفة أثير الإلكترونية. (in Arabic)

  2. We Love Oman: Preserving the nation maritime heritage. (2021-07-06). Times of Oman.

  3. المتحف البحري يحتضن رموز التراث العماني (2014-08-21) صحيفة الخليج (in Arabic)

  4. مركز فتح الخير بـ”صور”.. معلم تاريخي يحكي التراث البحري للولاية. (2022-06-01). شؤون عمانية. (in Arabic)

  5. مركز فتح الخير يستقبل أكثر من ١٥٠ صحفياً وصحفية .. ماذا تعرف عن هذا المر. (2023-12-24). صحيفة الصحوة. (in Arabic)

  6. Maritime Museum in Sur showcases Oman’s heritage. (2014-06-07) Times of Oman via the Free Online Library.

  7. (فتح الخير).. تحكي صفحة من التاريخ البحري العريق لصور (2014-05-04). Alwatan. (in Arabic)

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