In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough, a team from Sultan Qaboos University has uncovered one of the oldest objects ever found in the Omani Peninsula, shedding new light on early cultural and religious traditions that have remained hidden for over 4,000 years.
The discovery is the result of excavations that began in 2013 by the Department of Archaeology at Sultan Qaboos University, in collaboration with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. In 2018, work resumed at the Dahwa 7 site, located on the fringes of Wadi Al-Sukhn in Saham, North al-Batinah Governorate. The site revealed a distinctive settlement dating back more than 4,500 years, associated with the ancient Umm an-Nar culture that flourished between 2700 and 2000 BC across the region now known as Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Evidence uncovered at Dahwa 7 shows that the settlement’s economy was based primarily on copper mining, agriculture—particularly the cultivation of date palms—and livestock rearing. Numerous fragments of imported pottery from the Indus Valley (present-day Pakistan) suggest strong trade links with the Harappan civilisation, which was thriving during the same period.
Among the significant finds at the site is a small, isolated structure located atop a raised plateau overlooking the main settlement. Excavated under the direction of Professor Khalid Douglas and Professor Nasser Al-Jahwari from the Department of Archaeology, the building’s size and sophisticated construction set it apart from other structures. Excavations between 2018 and 2021 revealed a rectangular room with a small eastern entrance and a carefully crafted stone table coated in yellow plaster, believed to have served a ritual purpose.
Findings indicate that the building functioned as a religious structure, making it one of the oldest temples identified in the region. Archaeologists discovered that the temple underwent two major phases of use. During later modifications, a new floor was laid over a clay layer, beneath which a pair of intact copper cymbals (musical instruments used in ritual ceremonies) were unearthed.
These cymbals are now recognised as the oldest known examples in both the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant. Similar artefacts have been discovered at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley and in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, highlighting early cultural and religious connections between Oman and major civilisations of the third millennium BC.
Geochemical analysis confirmed that the cymbals were crafted from local copper, likely sourced from the area near Muscat. The discovery not only emphasises Oman’s ancient role in long-distance trade but also points to intellectual and religious exchanges between distant societies and civilisations.
The full findings were recently published in the prestigious UK journal Antiquity and have attracted widespread interest from leading international academic publications.