Medallions of Transformation - Oman E-Book

Maria Dekeersmaeker

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 102

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

In the Sultanate of Oman, almost dead center of the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula where the smell of frankincense is omnipresent, I came across a royal medallion which expanded my dimensions and perceptions. This medallion, unsuitable for wearing due to its large size, forms the basis of stories and portraits about a diverse society in constant transformation. These stories and portraits about changes in form or appearance, about internal shifts that align you with yourself, and/or of skill areas that need to be examined or changed, became, in their own way... Medallions of Transformation.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Intro

Chapter 1

National Emblem

Medallion of Empowerment

We Are Determined

Centers of Excellence

Chapter 2

Originality is in the details

Detail 1: Starry Sky

Detail 2: Trees to Ground

Detail 3: A Sealed Heirloom

Conserving Legacies

Chapter 3

Translating Scriptures;

An Adventure of Epigraphy

An Adventure of Archaeography

Guarding the Written Word

Keep on Reading

Chapter 4

Musings

The Destination of a Frankincense Burner

The Essence

Chapter 5

Frankincense Voices

The Governor of Dhofar

Oman is “Amouage” is Oman

Amouage: Waves of Emotion

NFP Colors with a Meaning

“One” Treasure of Hospitality

Chapter 6

Scent and Rhythm

Spiritual Melodies

Earthly Melodies

Chapter 7

Architecture of its Time and Place

Sustainable Heritage

Living Heritage

Across the Ages

Chapter 8

Architecture in Spatial Environments

Desert Silence

Conscious Gardening

Chapter 9

Oman’s Diversity

Architecture for Well-being

Acknowledgements

Intro

“Cabin crew, please take your seats for landing.”

With these words, the descent to the Sultanate of Oman begins.

This Middle Eastern country is located almost dead center of the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula.

Three years after the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour left this world for the hereafter, on January 10, 2020, and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said took the reins of rule on January 11, 2020, my journey in Umān resumed with a three-month entry stamp in my new passport.

With three lines it is possible to make a shape.1 The use of three lines indicating the number three occurred in many writing systems.2

In my many writings3 that preceded these three months; in my perception;

Umān is the land

Where the waves of the surrounding sea enchant you, Where the mountains entrust you with their stories, Where the desert leads you to inner stillness, Where the tradition of hospitality is deeply rooted, Where the ancient magic of frankincense is omnipresent.

However, … “Only when you know how to read the incense smoke, a diverse society that is constantly in transformation come your way.”4

This was the case when I started my journey at the “Currency Museum” in the building of the Central Bank of Oman located in the commercial business district in Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate.

Currency speaks its own specific language in this museum.

Together with the written word, these two inventions make the invisible visible.5

1 Shiv Charan Singh, 2004, Let The Numbers Guide You. The Spiritual Science of Numerology, O Books UK, p.29

23, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3

3 Dekeersmaeker, M., Mariastories, https://mariastories.com/category/books/

4 Dekeersmaeker, M., 2022, The Custodians,https://mariastories.com/the-custodians/

5 Herrenschmidt, Cl., 2007, Les Trois Écritures. Langue, nombre, code, Éd. Gallimard–Collections Folio Essais, p.355

Chapter 1

National Emblem

Before two glass doors with two roundels depicting two swords connected with a khanjar could be opened, some security procedures had to be followed, like those at the airport.

A khanjar, a curved dagger, is the national emblem of Oman that is still worn during official ceremonies and festivals.

Number two is the beginning of diversity.6

After handing in my passport for a badge with the number 123, or the sum of 6 – the number that brings us into relationship with the unknown7 – I entered the museum’s treasure hall. This hall with a permanent exhibition is the Central Bank’s most important public relation instrument. In addition, there are publications that can be purchased or consulted in the library.

Two monetary authorities preceded the establishment of the Central Bank of Oman. The 1970 Muscat Currency Authority, founded by Sultan Said bin Taimour when he issued the Rial Saidi. Two years later, when the Omani Rial was issued by his son, the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour, who simplified the country’s name from the “Sultanate of Muscat and Oman” to the “Sultanate of Oman,” the Muscat Currency Authority was replaced by the Currency Board.

When a strong need was felt for legislation to regulate the activities of the banking system, the Central Bank of Oman, or CBO for short, as we know it today, was established by the Banking Law of 1974.8 A few years later, the first branch of the CBO opened in Salalah, the administrative capital in the south and home to one of the largest ports on the Arabian Peninsula.9 Followed by a second branch in Sohar, the capital city of Al Batinah north Governorate, with its port, the gateway to the Gulf.10 It is said that Sinbad the Sailor, one of the most beloved characters of The Arabian Nights, began his legendary journey to the Chinese industrial and commercial center of Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, from this port city.11 The voyages of this character certainly draw on reports of real Arab seafarers in the Indian ocean.12 Documents also show that Sheikh Abdullah Al Omani, a wealthy Omani trader from the port city Sohar, lived in China for decades. He was known for his good reputation, was rewarded with a government post and received many gifts from the Chinese emperor upon his return to his homeland.13 A copy of a painting by the late Professor Eugene Harper Johnson in the Museum of the Land of Frankincense in Dhofar in the south accurately depicts the reception of the Sheikh and his delegation at the court of Jen-Tsung, emperor of the Song Dynasty (1050 AD).14

According to Arabic and Chinese documents, Omani delegations started visiting China from the middle of the 8th century AD.15 To this day, ties between Oman and China persist.

To delve further into the history of banking, there is also the newly built Oman Across Ages Museum in Manah, 160 kilometers from the capital city, Muscat.

The Currency Museum collection is documented by texts on exhibition boards. The captions on some coins can be studied through interactive screens. Maps illustrate currency circulation and underline Oman’s strategic geographic location and the ancient trade routes along the coasts of Arabia, East Africa, India, and the Far East.16

It reminds me of the Maritime History Gallery of the National Museum in Muscat, where you can read, “…with its extensive coastline, the story of Oman’s past is in many ways a maritime history. Today, Oman continues its relationship with the sea. It has a modern fleet, prosperous seaports, and historical reconstructions.”17

It also reminds me of the replica of the “kamal (meaning guide)” on display in the Maritime Hall of the Museum of the Land of Frankincense in Dhofar. The object, a flat piece of wood with a knotted rope, is one of the earliest navigational aids and guided the Arab sailors via the stars. In the Maritime Hall of the Oman Across Ages Museum in Manah, in the north, the story of Ahmed bin Majid, the inventor and designer of the kamal, is told using audiovisual media.18

All these trade movements contributed to the exchange of currencies issued by different rulers or governments from many countries.

A precious example on display in the Currency Museum is a silver dirham struck in 81 H/700 AD. It appears to be the oldest coin known in Arabia and minted in Oman as it bears the name of the country. It was struck during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul al-Malik bin Marwan (685-705),19 a caliph who was in many ways the most important of the Umayyad rulers as he was responsible for the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.20 During his rule he instituted the concept of bimetallism, a monetary standard between the gold dinar and the silver dirham, thus creating a fixed rate of exchange between them.21

However, what surprised me the most in the museum were the commemorative medals.

One, in particular, a bronze octagonal medal, unsuitable to wear due to its large size, caught my attention. It radiated strength.

6 Ibid. Shiv Charan Singh, p.20

7 Ibid. Shiv Charan Singh, p.55

8 Central Bank of Oman, CBO History,https://cbo.gov.om/Pages/CBOHistory.aspx

9 Port of Salalah, https://www.salalahport.com.om

10 Sohar Port and Freezone https://soharportandfreezone.om/en

11 Ministry of Heritage and Culture, 2018 (3rd ed.), Oman, a seafaring nation, Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Sultanate of Oman, p.7

12 Irwin, R., 1994, 2004, 2010, The Arabian Nights. A Companian, Taurus Paperbacks, UK, NY, p.210

13 Dekeersmaeker, M., 2012 (May 11), Oman Talks, https://omantalks.wordpress.com/category/archeology/

14 Johnson, E., Harper, 1997, Oman. A Pictural Resuscitation, Ministry of Information, Sultanate of Oman, pp. 57-65

15 Dekeersmaeker, M., 2012 (May 11), Marine research for 14th century Chinese ship wreck in the second phase, Oman Talks, https://omantalks.wordpress.com/category/archeology/

16 Central Bank of Oman, Currency History,https://cbo.gov.om/Pages/CurrencyHistory.aspx

17 The National Museum, Maritime Gallery,https://www.nm.gov.om/en/maritime-gallery?action=ground

18 Dekeersmaeker, M., 2023 (May 05), Guided by the Stars, Mariastories,https://mariastories.com/guided-by-the-stars/

19 Central Bank of Oman, Currency Museum,https://cbo.gov.om/Pages/CurrencyMuseum.aspx

20 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Standing Caliph Dinar, Ashmolean Museum, https://www.ashmolean.org/standing-caliph-dinar

21 Filiu, J-P., 2023, Histoire du Moyen-Orient, De 395 à nos jours, Éd. Du Seuil, p.73

Medallion of Empowerment

When two squares are placed on top of each other, both rotated at 45 degrees, an eight-fold structure is created. The synchronization or harmony that results from this is the ninth structure. In the central part of mosques and cathedrals there are often impressive eight-fold structures supporting a dome, a ninth structure.22 Eight is also known as the number of infinity, symbolized as a figure that also suggests continuous movement,23 just as a dynamic society is constantly in motion.

Four segments on the obverse of the octagonal medallion show calendar pages from January to April. The other four segments display beautifully engraved images of the late Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, three forts of Oman, depictions of seafaring, handicrafts, fauna, and flora. These landmarks can also be found on paper money.

The reverse of the medallion shows the calendar pages of the remaining eight months, hence the name “Calendar Medal.” These pages show floral motives as a background, again referring to the floral motifs on paper money.

But what stood out most was the year 1997 in Arabic and English numbers. This medallion marks the 27th National Day and refers to the speech of the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour on the occasion of the opening of the Council of Oman. I quote:

“... Members of the Council of State and the Majlis Ashura, Dear Citizens, everywhere,

In the name of God and with the success granted by Him, on this blessed, auspicious day we open the Council of Oman, which compromises two councils: the Majlis Ashura - a trail blazing experiment which has proved its success over the past years…

…The establishment of the Council of State to work side-by-side with the Majlis Ashura towards achieving the nation’s goals is another step forward along the path of cooperation between the government and the citizens, which aims to ensure greater prosperity, progress and development.”24

At the time of his death, on January 10, 2020, the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour was the longest-serving leader in the Middle East and the Arab world. He was also the only Arab leader to have created a written record during his annual State of the Sultanate Orations to his Nation. His speeches are a systematic report for his subjects of his decisions and actions. No other head of state in the Middle East has made such an engagement.25

On January 11, 2020, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said took the reins of government.

The System of Government transition: Modern and Renewable Renaissance of Oman (An Analytical Study)