Tag: Anthropology

Foodways: Cultures, Food Selfishness and “Could I Have a Little Bite?”

“May I have a sip?” asks a much-loved older relative.

I stifle a sigh and hand over my coffee cup.

Three minutes later, “Can I have another sip?”

With a small sigh, I hand over the cup.

Two minutes later, “Can I…” and I hand the cup over while biting my lip.

I don’t want to share. That cup of caramel/ Brazil nut/ vanilla-flavored coffee is my first flavored filter coffee in 11 months and, since I probably won’t be back to that store again this summer, it’s the last of that kind for another year. And I want to savor every drop of it.

And cherished older relative could have bought their own, heck I would have paid for their own. But no, my relatives want “just a sip” and “just a bite.”

This might have turned me into a person happy to share, but it did not. I turned into a person who hates handing over my coffee cup, doing it only under duress and after chiding myself about the importance of generosity.

Then I moved to Oman and learned a whole new system of dealing of food. There is no “mine” and no “yours” when eating with my Dhofari friends. There is “ours” and everyone attempts to be the person who is fastest to pass the freshly poured cup of tea or the newly opened box of cookies to someone else.

When I am with female friends at restaurants; food is automatically pushed towards the center of the table. We cut off pieces of whatever we ordered and place it on each other’s plates, even if that person is protesting that they don’t want any. We unconsciously put some French fries on a plate in the middle of the table or turn our plates so it’s easy for someone to take some.

On picnics, the food is set out communally on a platter. No one takes anything out of the coolbox without asking each person what they want first. At the end of the night, you try as hard as possible to give the leftovers to someone else. Several times I have pushed others to take food (halwa or qibqab, a thin, plain cracker-like bread) that I really wanted to bring home.

I do this instinctively in Oman but when I am staying with family, my food protection systems engage, the remnant of years of fending off “just a bite” and “you should share.”

Seeing food (taco salad! cinnamon-raisin bread! potato salad! cranberry muffins!) that I haven’t had for almost a year, I get selfish. When I open a small (one person!) bag of Old Bay-spiced potato chips and a relative hovers and dives in, I fight my instinct to hold the bag out of reach.

When people ask for “just a sip,” I am still cranky but I envision my Omani friends’ horror at the thought of my behaving badly. I remember all the meals shared and all the French fries I have stolen as I hand over the coffee cup.

“It’s just pie, people are more important than pie,” I say to myself as a foreign fork appears at the side of my plate. I push my plate towards the fork, saying “go ahead” with a cheery tone. Ethnographic work changes you. For the better.

 

 

 

New essay: “Sîn is for Zenith” on the Arabic alphabet website

The Arabic Alphabet: A Guided Tour – http://alifbatourguide.com/

by Michael Beard, illustrated by Houman Mortazavi

“Sîn is for Zenith” – http://alifbatourguide.com/the-arabic-alphabet/sin/

excerpt:

The sound of Sîn (pronounced “scene”) is the clear sibilant we represent with our letter S. The S we know is all curves. Sîn is usually more angular, a little closer to the W shape of its Phoenician ancestor. Greek Sigma comes from the same source, the W shape tipped up 90 degrees clockwise.There was a Nabatean predecessor of Sîn in the form of a bowl shape with an upright growing out of it, something like Hebrew Shin. The shape of Sîn grows out of it: two miniature half-circles resting side by side. What strikes the eye are those three short uprights, referred to as “teeth” (Sîn word sinân in Arabic, the plural of sinn). It is not my job to say what is beautiful and what isn’t, but what I’m taken by in the most elegant handwritten Sîn is a slight asymmetry: the space between the first two teeth (reading right to left) is slightly narrower than the space between the second and third.

In terminal form Sîn ends with a rounded clockwise sweep, a shape which fledgling calligraphers struggle over, the clockwise descent and return, thickening along the bottom, tapering to a point as it rises on the left. The same curve reappears in Shin, Ṣad & Ḍad.

Sîn went through a period in its evolution when it had a triangle of dots suspended below the line, to distinguish it from the letter Shîn, the next in sequence, which has three dots above. (Shîn kept them. Present-day Sîn goes commando.) A streamlined variant of Sîn, still used, was developed in interests of efficiency: it can take the form, perhaps as a visual representation of the smooth prolonged sound of sibilance, of a straight unrippled line, often descending slightly, throwing the base line down a notch and continuing at a lower level. Easiest letter ever. In the initial or medial position the line simply continues on for a bit with nothing else happening.

The source of sinn, “tooth,” is the Arabic stem S–N–N, which, as a verb, means to sharpen, mold, shape. In one form, sunna, it means, in Hans Wehr’s definition, “habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition; al-sunna or sunnat al-nabîy, the Sunna of the Prophet (nabîy), i.e. his sayings and doings, later established as legally binding precedents…” In other words, the ahl-al-sunna are the follows of the sunna, in English “Sunnis.” It’s an admirable definition, if only because Wehr defines the etymological stream of meanings without getting excited, or lost in detail. A history book, once it has said “Sunni,” has to go into teacher’s mode, including the actors and the theology, plus the alternative, Shiism, and to describe how Shiism ended up breaking away from “Sunnism.” Today everyone knows it, or can look it up, and the history hardly seems necessary. Hans Wehr defines shî‘a, the other major branch, as “followers, adherents, disciples, faction, party, sect”; al-shî‘a, the faction of Ali, the Shiah, the Shiites (that branch of the Muslims who recognize Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law, as the rightful successor.)” It’s all the definition you need. They’re just words, ordinary words. Neither sunna nor shî‘a occur in the Qur’ân.

Reflections on Houseways Research

I got the e-mail confirming that my Houseways book will be published in January 2023 while sitting in a living room that is completely opposite of the rooms I have described and lived in Oman. The Canadian house had wooden floors and furniture, windows without curtains, no AC, a big fireplace, floor lamps, crocheted afghans, many photos and bookshelves overflowing with novels, candles, puzzles, souvenirs and small wooden carvings of birds. Looking at the room while thinking of the descriptions of Omani houses in my book was a good reminder of how differently people arrange their living spaces.

Given that my academic background is literature and travel writing, it might seem odd that I decided to write about houses, but I grew up in a home in which everyone had strong opinions about how to live and an active interest in building decks, planting gardens, finding a rug in exactly the right shade of blue and putting the sofa there, no, not there, there, a little to the right, no, now forward a little.

As I child, I wanted to live in a Baroque castle; everyone else wanted to live in a modernist, northern European design-aesthetic structure. I wanted to read novels; everyone else wanted to figure out if it was possible to punch a hole in that wall to put in a window. For my 13th birthday I wanted a ball gown and was given my very own tool kit with hammer, pliers, wrench, level and screwdrivers.

I heard about Mansard roofs, color wheels, mixed-use developments and Frank Lloyd Wright. Our living room had a Barcelona chair, a Scandinavian Designs sofa and a Century House (Madison, WI) rug; when my father and I went to England, it was to see Milton Keynes and Welwyn Garden City. I watched my family build furniture, swatch paints, install insulation, build benches to strengthen community bonds in our neighborhood and weed. I read in cafés while they re-framed doorways.

The root of this problem was that when he was in his early 20s, my father walked into Louisburg Square in Boston and thought, “everyone should live like this.” That collection of houses changed his life; he became an urban planner and spent more than 60 years thinking, talking, writing and teaching about how to form better-organized houses, neighborhoods and cities. My mother creates gardens and both siblings have planned renovations of their houses down to the trim on the underside of cabinets.

I thought I had escaped this legacy until I got interested in how Dhofaris design kitchens as part of my Foodways project [ Foodways in Southern Oman – Short Essays and Images ]. I realized, while that I am not interested in decorating or remodeling, I love listening to people’s stories about how they live in their houses, what choices they make and why.

I am grateful to my family for all that early training and to the Omanis who have trusted me with their stories, opinions, photos and friendship.

https://www.routledge.com/Houseways-in-Southern-Oman/Risse/p/book/9781032218595

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003270317/houseways-southern-oman-marielle-risse

Reflections on Ethnographic Work: Behaving Badly and Defending Grandpa

I was talking to a researcher about doing work in Oman and gave my usual spiel about the necessity of being honest and calm. Sometimes it’s better not to answer a question or get involved in a discussion about a certain topic, but you need to remain truthful and composed.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with some of the research guys when I had only known them a few years. I can see contours of the argument now that I couldn’t see then, but I clearly remember how uncertain I felt to wade into a heated disagreement.

A few of the research guys and I were sitting on a beach and somehow we got into a discussion about Masons. I said my grandfather was one. One man had read some conspiracy theories about Masons and started in on the evils of the organization. I am usually perfectly fine ignoring provocations or avoiding arguments, but this was about my grandfather’s morals and I refused to back down.

I was not close to my grandfather. He was slightly forbidding, somewhat reminiscent of a hawk, and the pillars of his life were the Methodist church, fishing, golfing, deer-hunting and the Masons. His career was in banking and he ran one of the few banks in Wisconsin that stayed open during the Depression, something I have always been proud of. That might seem a slender thread to hang family honor on but I cherish the fact that he had used his hard work and business acumen in the service of others. And while I was arguing with the research guys I thought about his funeral service. He was buried in his Masonic apron and there was no one who could say that he had ever cheated or lied in his entire life. I was not going to allow anyone to tarnish his reputation.

We went back and forth for almost two hours. I raised my voice, argued stridently, interrupted and refused to acquiesce. I felt uncomfortable quarreling with the guys but I would not let them have the last word. My upright grandfather would never have belonged to a group that caused harm in the world. I knew I was being rude and not adhering to the normal standards of our conversations but it felt like a betrayal of Grandpa’s memory if I quietly accepted what they were saying.

In the end, given the conventions of friendships, we had to find a way to resolve the argument so we hammered out an agreement that MAYBE upper levels of Masons had POTENTIALLY done bad activities in the past but these were HIDDEN from the lower level ranks who did good things like raise money for charity, thus my grandfather was a GOOD man who did good things.

Thinking about that fight now, I think that the guys were deliberately pushing the topic to see what I would do. The role of Masons in world politics is certainly not a subject of great concern to them. They had no personal investment in the topic which would warrant an extended attack on the organization. They had not seen me really mad before and I think were interested to see how much self control I would lose. And I think there was a level of understanding that I was fighting for the respect/ reputation of my grandfather, so while my anger showed a lack of self-control, they never brought up Masons again or teased me about the argument as an example of my behaving badly.

Reflecting on that conflict later made me realize that the general Dhofari expectation of keeping a pleasant atmosphere sometimes has to be broken. It’s impossible to foretell for yourself or anyone else when the time will come, but during the Masons argument, my cautious, ethnographic self went right out the window. Although I was afraid of angering the guys, I dug in and fought my corner.

When I talk to people about the need for staying peaceful, I remember my yelling and pounding my fist that night. And it’s hard to explain when it’s OK, or even justified, to lose your temper; each person needs to make that decision for themselves.

I was lucky that I didn’t get furious over something to my personal advantage which would be read as selfish. Of course it’s better to control yourself, but defending Grandpa was an acceptable reason to shout.

 

Reflections on Ethnographic Work: Shopping, Safety and Maneval’s New Islamic Urbanism (2019)

To better understand issues related to housing and how house fit within cities, I have read many texts about the growth of cities on the Arabian Peninsula. Across differences between authors there are two similarities: writers often fail to put themselves in the location and scorn shopping. Perhaps the genres they are writing in (political science, urban studies, architecture, etc.) call for a distanced view but it’s odd to read so much information about a place by people who never talk about what it’s “like” to be there. Critiques of road placement, enclave developments, poorly designed open spaces, congestion etc. might be accurate, but there’s nothing in the text to show that the author was actually there except for some ‘taken by the author’ photos.

And there is widespread contempt for shopping with lots of remarks about mindless, over-consumerism but nothing about joy of walking into a shopping center with a mix of languages, scents, sights and people. I lived in Sharjah from 1997-99 and City Center Mall and the Blue Souq were my favorite places to shop and people-watch.

This summer I was in New York City, Boston and small towns in the Northeast. In each location, people blended together. Most clothes in NYC were black; most clothes in Boston were khaki. No feathers, no saris, no rhinestones, no apricot-colored silk dresses worn with sandals decorated with small birds, no little girls running around in 7-layer tulle dresses with bare feet, no long robes with pointed hoods, no teal leather slippers with the toes curled up, no purple fake-crocodile leather skirts. But that is what is waiting for you at a Dubai mall: uniforms from every kind of job, clothing from many countries and people strutting around in whatever dream they and their tailor could come up with, plus goods from Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Japan, Korea, South America and others.

And the souqs! When you read the disparaging comments about how inauthentic they are, how they are set up for tourists and what was torn down to build them, you get no sense of the wonder of, for example, the Sharjah Blue Souq. It’s lovely (and safe! more on that below). There are Emiratis and expats shopping and a wonderful cacophony of Iranian, Pakistani, Indian, Afghani, Syrian, etc. sellers.

To walk into Muttrah Souq in Muscat is to overwhelmed with rainbows of colors: scarves, shoes, dresses and ribbons. There are displays crowded with shells, colored glass lanterns, little metal oil lamps, spices, frankincense, gold necklaces and silver rings. It might not be completely authentic or following all best practices for urban design but it’s fun. And used by Omanis as well as tourists.

By not talking about the “feel” of urban spaces, writers miss another important aspect: safety. When I worked at the American University of Sharjah, I didn’t have a computer in my on-campus apartment, so I would often walk about 6 blocks to work in the evening. How many female academics can say that they can walk through any building and any part of their campus at any time of day or night and feel perfectly safe?

In Dubai, Sharjah and Muscat I get into taxis without a second thought. I walk through parking garages without threading my keys through my fingers or looking around. At Washington National airport I had to assess fellow passengers before deciding who I could ask to watch my carry-on bag when I went to buy a magazine. At Dubai and Muscat airports, I just leave the bag if I need to walk a short distance to get a soda. At my café in Salalah, men leave their laptops, phones and sunglasses on the table when they go to pray. At the grocery store, I can leave my purse in the cart as I go to get some apples and then stand in line to have them weighed.

I do not ever try to put myself in danger. I never camp alone but many times I have driven home from a research meeting at 2 or 3am. I worry about camels on the road, not about being harmed. The times when my car has broken down or gotten stuck in the sand, the men who have stopped were helpful.

Happily, Maneval’s New Islamic Urbanism (2019) does not follow the norms of talking about urban spaces in the abstract and disparaging shopping centers. Maneval has a thorough understanding of the history and architecture of Jeddah but he also muses on what “it’s like” to walk down the streets and through the buildings. The focus of his work is to reframe the concepts of public and private to

conceive of these spaces as variable products of social practice involving both people and artefacts…[e.g] walls, doors, curtains etc. are not enough to turn a building into a private space. It could just as well be used as an office or for the assembly of a political party. In order for it to become a private space, whether continuously or temporarily, people have to use it as such, that is, keep other people out to remain undisturbed, screen certain bodily appearances and activities from view, do what they only want to do alone or with a limited number of persons with whom they share an intimate bond (63)

However, to me, how he sets himself within the context of Jeddah is just as important as his academic framework. He is the only author I found who talks in first person about the difficulty of every-day actions such as crossing a street or finding the entrance to a building. [An article that also discusses “what it’s like” to walk in Arabian Peninsula cities is Nastasi’s excellent “A Gulf of Images: Photography and the Circulation of Spectacular Architecture” (2019), but this text concentrates on urbanscapes, not houses.]

When Maneval talks about how gender separation displaces both women and men, he discusses how he was not able to enter an art exhibit or sit in a café with a group of men. His opening example, of being guided/ guarded through a female-only university, is the only time I have read a male author explaining how it feels to be “othered” on the Arabian Peninsula.

I am grateful that I found his book early in my research on Houseways ; it was heartening to find someone who blends the academic with the personal to create a comprehensive view of how people navigate through houses and cities.

Updated bibliography for Houseways in Southern Oman, June 2022

Selected references related to Houseways in Southern Oman, Dr. Marielle Risse

(photo by Ms. Onaiza Shaikh)

[references for pre-historic and pre-modern Dhofar are also listed in separate topic-specific bibliographies at the end]

 

Abdelghani, Montasser. 2013. “The Impact of Shopping Malls on Traditional Retail Stores in Muscat. Case Study of Al-Seeb Wilayat.” Regionalizing Oman. Steffen Wippel, ed. New York: Springer. 227-47.

 

Abu-Lughod, Janet. 1989. “What Is Islamic about a City? Some Comparative Reflections,” in Urbanism in Islam: The Proceedings of the International Conference on Urbanism in Islam (Tokyo: Middle Eastern Culture Center): 193-217.

 

—. 1987. “The Islamic City: Historical Myth, Islamic Essence and Contemporary Relevance.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 19.2: 155-76.

 

Adam, Khalid and Liudmila Cazacova, 2012. “The Round Dhofari House Popularity Uniting the Past and the Present.” Proceedings of the 6th International Seminar on Vernacular Settlements. Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, North Cyprus. 365-74.        

 

Akcan, Esra. 2014. “Postcolonial Theories in Architecture” in A Critical History of Contemporary Architecture (1960-2010). Elie Haddad and David Rifkind, eds. London: Ashgate. 119-40.

 

—. 2014. “Global Conflict and Global Glitter: Architecture in West Asia (1960-2010)” in A Critical History of Contemporary Architecture (1960-2010). Elie Haddad and David Rifkind, eds. London: Ashgate. 317-43.

 

Al Gandel, Thamna and Ibrahim Bryan Finn. 2017. Learn About Dhofar from 530 Questions and Answers. Muscat: Dar al Wraq.

 

Al Harthy, Sultan. 1992. The Traditional Architecture of Oman: A Critical Perspective. Unpublished M.Arch. thesis. The University of Arizona. https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/555398/AZU_TD_BOX353_YARP_1120.pdf?sequence=1 – https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/555398

 

Al Hinai, H., W. J. Batty and S. D. Probert. 1993. “Vernacular Architecture of Oman: Features that Enhance Thermal Comfort Achieved within Buildings.” Applied Energy 44.3: 233-44. 10.1016/0306-2619(93)90019-L

 

Al Ismaili, Ahmed. 2018. “Ethnic, Linguistic, and Religious Pluralism in Oman: The Link with Political Stability.” Al Muntaqa 1.3: 58-73.

 

Al Kathiri, Muna Salim and Liudmila Cazacova. 2014. “Islamic Architecture Features and Modern Housing: A Case Study of the North Awqad District in Salalah, Oman.” The International Journal of the Constructed Environment 4: 1-18.

 

Al Mohannadi, Asmaa Saleh, Raffaelo Furlan and Mark David Major. 2019. “Socio-Cultural Factors Shaping the Spatial Form of Traditional and Contemporary Housing in Qatar: A Comparative Analysis based on Space Syntax.” Proceedings of the 12th Space Syntax Symposium.

 

Al Mohannadi, Asmaa Saleh and Raffaello Furlan. 2019. “Socio-cultural Patterns Embedded into the Built Form of Qatari Houses: Regenerating Architectural Identity in Qatar.” Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal 12.4: 1-23.

 

Al Thahab, Ali, Sabah Mushatat, and Mohammed Abdelmonem. 2014. “Between Tradition and Modernity: Determining Spatial Systems of Privacy in the Domestic Architecture of Contemporary Iraq.” ArchNet – International Journal of Architectural Research 8.3: 238-250.

 

Albright, Franklin. 1982. The American Archaeological Expedition in Dhofar, Oman, 1952-1953. Washington DC: American Foundation for the Study of Man.

 

Alexander, Christopher, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King and Shlomo Angel. 1977. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford: OUP (Center for Environmental Structure Series).

 

Alkhalidi, Abdulsamad. 2013. “Sustainable Application of Interior Spaces in Traditional Houses of the United Arab Emirates.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 102: 288-299.

 

AlMutawa, Rana. 2022. “Navigating the Cosmopolitan City: Emirati Women and Ambivalent Forms of Belonging in Dubai,” in Migration in the Making of the Gulf Space Social, Political, and Cultural Dimensions. Antia Mato Bouzas and Lorenzo Casini, eds. New York: Berghahn Books. 67-85.

 

—. 2020, Dec. 9. “Dishdasha Blues: Navigating Multiple Lived Experiences in the Gulf.” London School of Economics Middle East Blog Posts https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2020/12/09/dishdasha-blues-navigating-multiple-lived-experiences-in-the-gulf/

 

—. 2019, Nov 8. “Dubai Mall or Souq Naif? The Quest for ‘Authenticity’ and Social Distinction.” London School of Economics Middle East Blog Posts. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2019/11/08/dubai-mall-or-souq-naif-the-quest-for-authenticity-and-social-distinction/

 

—. 2019. “The Mall Isn’t Authentic!: Dubai’s Creative Class And The Construction of Social Distinction.” Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 48: 1-2: 183-223.

 

—. 2018, Dec.4. “Challenging Concepts of ‘Authenticity’: Dubai and Urban Spaces in the Gulf.” London School of Economics Middle East Blog Posts. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/12/04/challenging-concepts-of-authenticity-dubai-and-urban-spaces-in-the-gulf/

 

—. 2017. “Women and Restrictive Campus Environments: A Comparative Analysis Between Public Universities and International Branch Campuses in the UAE.” Higher Education in the Gulf States: Present and Future. 17-9.

 

Ammann. Ludwig. 2006. “Private and Public in Muslim Civilization,” in Islam in Public: Turkey, Iran and Europe. Nilüfer Göle and Ludwig Ammann, eds. Istanbul Bilgi University Press. 77-125.

 

—. 2002. “Islam in Public Space.” Public Culture 14.1: 277-79.

 

Anderson, Esther. 2021. “Positionality, Privilege, and Possibility: The Ethnographer ‘at Home’ as an Uncomfortable Insider.” Anthropology and Humanism 46.2: 212-25.

 

Anderson, John. 1896. “A Sketch of the Physical Features of the Coast of South-East Arabia.” A Contribution to the Herpetology of Arabia. London: R.H. Porter. 2-18.

 

Atlas of Archaeological Survey in the Governorate of Dhofar Sultanate of Oman. 2013. Muscat: Office of the Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs.

 

Andraos, Amale. 2016. “The Arab City.” Places Journal. https://doi.org/10.22269/160531

 

Arnaud, Jean-Luc. 1995. “La Formation de l’Architecture Contemporaine à Sanaa,” in Sanaa hors les Murs, une Ville Arabe Contemporaine. Franck Mermier and Gilbert Grandguillaume, eds. Urbama – CFEY: Tours. 165-226.

 

Asmi, Rehenuma. 2016. “Finding a Place to Sit How Qatari Women Combine Cultural and Kinship Capital in the Home Majlis.” Anthropology of the Middle East 11.2: 18–38.

 

Avanzini, Alessandra, ed. 2008. A Port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C.BC. – 5th C.AD) Khor Rori Report 2. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.

 

—. 2007.“Sumhuram: A Hadrami Port on the Indian Ocean,” in The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period: Definite Places, Translocal Exchange BAR International Series 1593. Eivind Heldaas Seland, ed. Oxford: Archaeopress. 23-31.

 

—. 2002. “Incense Routes and Pre-Islamic South Arabian Kingdoms.” Journal of Oman Studies 12: 17-24.

 

Avanzini, Alessandra and Alexander Sedov. 2005. “The Stratigraphy of Sumhuram: New Evidences.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 35: 11-7.

 

Ball, Lawrence, Douglas MacMillan, Joseph Tzanopoulos, Andrew Spalton, Hadi Al Hikmani and Mark Moritz. 2020. “Contemporary Pastoralism in the Dhofar Mountains of Oman.” Human Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00153-5

 

Bandyopadhyay, Soumyen. 2019. “The Bait as-Sail Rehabilitation and Restoration Project, Salalah, Oman.”  Architecture and Cultural Heritage of India, Arabia and the Maghreb. https://www.archiam.co.uk/ghassani-house-adaptive-reuse-project/

 

—. 2011. Manah: An Omani Oasis, an Arabian Legacy Architecture and Social History of an Omani Settlement. Liverpool: ‎Liverpool University Press.

 

—. 2006. “The Deconstructed Courtyard: Dwellings of Central Oman,” in Courtyard Housing: Past, Present and Future. B. Edwards, M. Sibley, M. Hakmi, and P. Land. eds. New York: Taylor & Francis. 109-21.

 

—. 2002. “Problematic Aspects of Synthesis and Interpretation in the Study of Traditional Built Environment.” Global Built Environment Review 2.2: 16-28.

 

Barth, Fredrik. 1983. Sohar: Culture and Society in an Omani Town. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

Beeston, Alfred. 1976. “The Settlement at Khor Rori.” The Journal of Oman Studies 2: 39-41.

 

Belfioretti, Luca and Tom Vosmer. 2010. “Al-Balīd Ship Timbers: Preliminary Overview and Comparisons.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40: 111-18.

 

Belk, Russell. 2012. “People and Things,” in Handbook of Developments in Consumer Behavior. Victoria Wells and Gordon Foxall, eds.  Cheltenham: Elgar. 15-46.

Benkari, Naima. 2021. “The Formation and Influence of the Military Architecture in Oman during the al Ya’ariba Period (1034-1162 AH/ 1624-1749 AD). Journal of Islamic Architecture 6.4: 217-228.

 

—. 2021. “Community-led Initiatives for the Rehabilitation and Management of Vernacular Settlements in Oman: A Phenomenon in the Making.” Built Heritage 5.1: 1-20.

 

—. 2019. “Local Community Involvement in the Adaptive Reuse of Vernacular Settlements in Oman,” in Vernacular and Earthen Architecture: Towards Local Development. Miles Lewis, Shao Yong, Gisle Jakhelln and Mariana Correia, eds. Shanghai: Tongji University Press. 557-64.

 

—. 2017. “Urban Development in Oman: An Overview.” Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 226.1: 143–156.

 

Benkari, Naima, and Alya Al-Hashim. 2015. “Omani Traditional Houses and Settlements: New Options for Developing a Sustainable Tourism.” unpublished.

 

Bent, J.T. 1895. “Exploration of the Frankincense Country, Southern Arabia.” The Geographical Journal 6.2: 109-33.

 

Bent, Theodore and Mabel. 2005/ 1900. Southern Arabia. London: Elibron.

 

Bianca, Stefano. 2000. “Basic Principles of Islam and Their Social, Spatial and Artistic Implications” in Urban Form in the Arab World. London: Thames & Hudson. 23-48.

 

Biancifiori, M. 1994. Works of Architectural Restoration in Oman. Rome: Edizioni De luca.

 

bin Zayyad, Sabeen and Brian Sinclair, 2017. “Culture, Context + Environmental Design: Reconsidering Vernacular in Modern Islamic Urbanism.” presented at the 10th EAAE/ARCC International Conference. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314218959_Culture_context_environmental_design_Reconsidering_vernacular_in_modern_Islamic_urbanism

 

Blue, Lucy, Nasser Said Al-Jahwari, Eric Staples, Lorena Giorgio, Paolo Croce, Alessandro Ghidoni, Ayyoub Nagmoush Al Busaidi and Luca Belfioretti. 2014. “Maritime Footprints: Examining the Maritime Cultural landscape of Masirah Island, Oman, Past and Present.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44. 53-68.

 

Bontenbal, Marike. 2017. “Policy Brief – Opportunities and Constraints of Female Labour Participation in Oman’s Private Sector.” Economic Research Forum – German University of Technology in Oman. 1-8.

 

—. 2015. “Residential Satisfaction and Place Identity in a Traditional Neighborhood: The Case of Mutrah, Oman,” in Gateways to the World: Port Cities in the Gulf: Working Group Summary Report. Doha: Center for International and Regional Studies at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. 189-215.

 

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Nastasi, Michele. 2019. “A Gulf of Images: Photography and the Circulation of Spectacular Architecture,” in The New Arab Urban: Gulf Cities of Wealth, Ambition and Distress. Molotch, Harvey and Davide Ponzini, eds. New York: New York University Press. 99-129.

 

Newton, Lynne. 2010. “Shrines in Dhofar,” in Death and Burial in Arabia and Beyond: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Society for Arabian Studies Monographs 10. Lloyd Week, ed. 329-40.

 

Newton, Lynne and Juris Zarins. 2017. The Archaeological Heritage of Oman. Dhofar Through the Ages. An Ecological, Archaeological and Historical Landscape. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture Sultanate of Oman.

 

—. 2014. “A Possible Indian Quarter at al-Baleed in the Fourteenth-Seventeenth Centuries AD?” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44: 257-76.

 

Orazi, Roberto. 2002. “The Harbour and City of Khor Rawri.” Journal of Oman Studies 12: 210-22.

 

Othman, Zulkeplee, Rosemary Aird, and Laurie Buys. 2015. “Privacy, Modesty, Hospitality, and the Design of Muslim Homes: A Literature Review.” Frontiers of Architectural Research 4: 12–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2014.12.001

 

Ovington, John. 1929.  A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689. H. G. Rawlinson, ed. London: Oxford University Press.

 

Pavan, Alexia. 2020. “The Port of Al Baleed (southern Oman), the Trade in Frankincense and Its Coveted Treasures.” Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 29.1. doi:10.31338/uw.2083-537X.pam29.1.13

 

—. 2017-2018. “Husn Al Baleed: Civil and Military Architecture along the Indian Ocean in Medieval Times.” Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology 13-14: 28-41.

 

Pavan, Alexia and Michele Degli Esposti, 2016. The Urban Shrine in Quarter A at Sumhuram: Stratigraphy, Architecture, Material Culture. Quaderni di Arabia Antica 4, Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider.

 

Pavan, Alexia, Agnese Fusaro, Chiara Visconti, Alessandro Ghidoni, and Arturo Annucci. 2020. “New Researches at The Port of Al Balid and Its Castle (Husn): Interim Report (2016-2018).” The Journal of Oman Studies 21: 172-99.

 

Pavan, Alexia, S. Laurenza, and R. Valentini, 2020. “Masonry and Building Techniques in a Medieval City Port of the Sultanate of Oman: Preliminary Typological Atlas at al-Balīd.” Newsletter Archeologia 10.

 

Pavan, Alexia and Chiara Visconti. 2020. “Trade and Contacts between Southern Arabia and East Asia: The Evidence from al-Balīd (southern Oman).” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 50: 243–57.

 

Pirenne, J. 1975. “The Incense Port of Moscha (Khor Rori) in Dhofar.” Journal of Oman Studies 1: 81-96.

 

“Population.” 2022. Data Portal – National Centre for Statistics and Information. https://data.gov.om/OMPOP2016/population. June 2.

 

Potts, Daniel. 2016. “Trends and Patterns in the Archaeology and Pre-Modern History of the Gulf Region,” in The Emergence of the Gulf States: Studies in Modern History. J.E. Peterson (ed.). London: Bloomsbury. 19-42.

 

Ragette, Friedrich. 2003. Traditional Domestic Architecture of the Arab Region. Felbach: Edition Axel Menges.

 

Raymond, André. 1994. “Islamic City, Arab City: Orientalist Myths and Recent Views.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 21.1: 3-18. https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/13530199408705589

Remali, Adel, Ashraf Salama, Florian Wiedmann and Hatem G. Ibrahim. 2016. “A Chronological Exploration of the Evolution of Housing Typologies in Gulf Cities.” City, Territory and Architecture 3.14: 1-15. doi:10.1186/s40410-016-0043-z

 

Richthofen, Aurel von. 2019. Spatial Diversity and Sustainable Urbanisation in Oman. unpublished dissertation. Technische Universitaet Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig. https://doi.org/10.24355/dbbs.084-201901220928-0

 

—. 2016. “Visualizing Urban Form as Mass Ornament in Muscat Capital Area” in Visual Culture(s) in the Gulf: An Anthology. N. Mounajjed, eds. Gulf Research Centre Cambridge. 137-58.

 

Risse, Marielle. 2021. Foodways in Southern Oman. London: Routledge.

 

—. 2021. “Private Lives in Public Spaces: Perceptions of Space-Usage in Southern Oman,” presentation at Middle East Studies Association annual conference. Montreal, Quebec. December 2.

 

—. 2019. Community and Autonomy in Southern Oman. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

 

—. 2018. “Accounts from the Journeys of the Brig ‘Palinurus’ Along the Dhofar Coast in the mid-1800s.” Maritime Exploration and Memory Conference, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England. Sept. 15.

 

—. 2015. “Generosity, Gift-giving and Gift-avoiding in Southern Oman.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 45: 289-96.

 

—. 2013. “Verstehen/ Einfühlen in Arabian Sands (1959): Wilfred Thesiger as Traveler and Anthropologist.” Journeys: The International Journal of Travel & Travel Writing 14.1: 23-39.

 

—. 2009. “Cultural Refraction: Using Travel Writing, Anthropology and Fiction to Understand the Cultures of Southern Arabia.” Interdisciplinary Humanities 26:1: 63-78.

 

Roche, Thomas, Erin Roche and Ahmed Al Saidi. 2014. “The Dialogic Fashioning of Women’s Dress in the Sultanate of Oman.” Journal of Arabian Studies 4:1: 38-51.

 

Rose, Jeff. 2022. An Introduction to Human Prehistory in Arabia: The Lost World of the Southern Crescent. New York: Springer.

 

Rose, Jeff and Yamandu Hilbert. 2014. “New Paleolithic Sites in the Southern Rub’ Al Khali Desert, Oman.” Antiquity 88.341. https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/rose341

 

Rose, Jeff, Yamandu Hilbert, Anthony Marks and Vitaly Usik. 2018. The First People of Oman: Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Nejd Plateau. Sultanate. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

 

Rose, Jeff, Vitaly Usik, A. Marks, Yamandu Hilbert, Chris Galletti, A. Parton, V. Černý, J. Geiling, M. Morley, and R. Roberts. 2011. “The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: An African Middle Stone Age Industry in Southern Arabia.” PLoS ONE 6(11) e28239.

 

“Salalah al-Wusta & Gharbiya: Dhofar Governorate: Documentation and Heritage Management Plan.” 2016. University of Liverpool and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. https://issuu.com/archiam/docs/20170908_hmp_salalah

 

Salama, Ashraf. 2015. “Urban Traditions in the Contemporary Lived Space of Cities on the Arabian Peninsula.” Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review 27.1: 27-39.

 

—. 2014. “A Century of Architecture in the Arabian Peninsula: Evolving Isms and Multiple Architectural Identities in a Growing Region,” in Architecture from the Arab World (1914-2014): A Selection: Bahrain Catalogue in Biennale Venice. G. George Arbid (ed.). Manama: Bahrain Ministry of Culture. 137-43.

 

Sale, J. 1980. “The Ecology of the Mountain Region of Dhofar.” The Journal of Oman Studies: Special Report 2: The Oman Flora and Fauna Survey 1975. Muscat: Diwan of H. M. for Protocol. 25-54.

 

Saunders, J. P. 1846. “A Short Memoir of the Proceedings of the Honorable Company’s Surveying Brig ‘Palinurus,’ during Her Late Examination of the Coast between Ras Morbat and Ras Seger, and between Ras Fartak and the Ruins of Mesinah.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 16: 169-86.

 

Scholz, Fred. 1980. “Part III. Case Study: The Sultanate of Oman,” in Bedouins, Wealth, and Change: A Study of Rural Development in the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman. Tokyo: United Nations University. https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80143e/80143E07.htm

 

Singh, Kaushalendra. 2018., Jan 12. “A Saga of Legacy at Bait al Ghassani.” Oman Observer.  https://www.omanobserver.om/article/64672/Front Stories/a-saga-of-legacy-at-bait-al-ghassani

 

Smith, G. Rex and Venetia Porter. 1988. “The Rasulids in Dhofar in the VIIth-VIIIth/XIII-XIVth Centuries.” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1: 26-44.

 

Smith, John Alexander. 1991.“The Islamic Garden in Oman: Sanctuary and Paradise.” Garden History 19: 187-208.

 

—. 1983. “Desert Developments.” Building Design 11: 18-21.

 

Sobh, Rana and Russell Belk. 2011. “Domains of Privacy and Hospitality in Arab Gulf Homes.” Journal of Islamic Marketing 2.2: 125-37.

 

—. 2011. “Privacy and Gendered Spaces in Arab Gulf Homes.” Home Cultures 8.3: 317-40.

 

Sobh, Rana, Belk, Russell and Justin Gressel. 2010. “Conflicting Imperatives of Modesty and Vanity Among Young Women in the Arabian Gulf,” in Advances in Consumer Research 38. D. W. Dahl, G. V. Johar, and S. M. J. van Osselaer, eds. Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research.

 

Speck, Jeff. 2013. Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time. New York: North Point Press.

 

St Albans, Suzanne. 1980. Where Time Stood Still: Portrait of Oman. London: Quartet Books.

 

Stephenson, Lindsey. 2011. “Women and the Malleability of the Kuwaiti Dīwāniyya.” Journal of Arabian Studies 1.2: 183-99.

 

Stephenson, M.I., Karl, A.R. and David, E. 2010. “Islamic Hospitality in the UAE: Indigenization of Products and Human Capital.” Journal of Islamic Marketing 1.1: 9-24.

 

Tabook, Salim Bakhit. 1997. Tribal Practices and Folklore of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman. Unpublished PhD thesis, Faculty of Arts, Exeter University.

 

Tabuki, Salim Bakhit. 1982. “Tribal Structures in South Oman.” Arabian Studies 6: 51-6. (same author as above)

 

Takriti, Abdul Razzaq. Monsoon Revolution: Republicans, Sultans and Empires in Oman 1965-1976. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

 

Thesiger, Wilfred. 1991/ 1959. Arabian Sands. New York: Penguin.

 

Thomas, Bertram. 1932, reprint. Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia. London: Jonathan Cape.

 

Usik, Vitaly, Jeff Rose, Yamandu Hilbert, P. Van Peer, and Anthony Marks. 2013. “Nubian Complex Reduction Strategies in Dhofar, Southern Oman.” Quaternary International 300: 244-66.

 

van Nes, Akkelies and Claudia Yamu. 2018. “Space Syntax: A Method to Measure Urban Space Related to Social, Economic and Cognative Factors,” in The Virtual and the Real in Planning and Urban Design: Perspectives, Practices and Applications. C. Yamu, A. Poplin, O. Devisch, and G. de Roo, eds. Routledge: New York. 136-150.

 

Varanda, Frenando. 2017. “The Domestic Architecture of the Northern Plateaux and Eastern Slopes of Yemen: Building Attitudes and Formal Identities,” in Architectural Heritage of Yemen: Buildings that Fill my Eye. Trevor Marchand, ed. London: Gingko Library. 89-99.

 

vom Bruck, Gabriele. 2018. Mirrored Loss: A Yemeni Woman’s Life Story. New York: Hurst.

 

—. 2017. “Bodies on the Move: Gender Dynamics on a Sanaani Minibus,” in Architectural Heritage of Yemen: Buildings that Fill my Eye. Trevor Marchand, ed. London: Gingko Library. 187-93.

 

—. 2005. “The Imagined ‘Consumer Democracy’ and Elite Re-Production in Yemen.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11.2: 255-75.

 

—. 1997. “A House Turned Inside Out: Inhabiting Space in a Yemeni City.” Journal of Material Culture 2.2: 139-72.

Walsh, Tony. 2013. Walking Through History: Oman’s World Heritage Sites.

 

Wanucha, Elizabeth and Zahra Babar, eds. 2018. Hawwa, CIRS Special Issue: Family in the Arabian Peninsula 16.1-3.

 

Weir, Shelagh. 2007. A Tribal Order: Politics and Law in the Mountains of Yemen. Austin: University of Texas Press.

 

Wikan, Unni. 1982. Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

 

Winter, Tim. 2015. “Urban Sustainability in the Arabian Gulf: Air Conditioning and its Alternative.” Urban Studies. 1-15. doi: 10.1177/0042098015608782

 

Wolfe, Charles. 2020, Sept. 9. “Five Principles of the ‘Urbanism of Experience’.” Public Square. https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2020/09/09/five-principles-urbanism-experience

 

Yapicioglu, Balkiz and Liudmila Cazacova. 2018. “‘Omani Burqa’ vs. Decorated Facade of Modern Omani House: The Case of Salalah, Dhofar Region, Oman.” The Academic Research Community Publication. 101-111. ISSN online: 2537-0162

 

—. 2016. “The Building as a Statement of an Artefact: The Mijmara.” International Journal of Ecology & Development 31.3: 99-116.

 

—. 2016. “Culture Embedded in City’s Architecture; Incense Burning Custom and Its Effects on Modern Buildings’ Features of Salalah, Oman.” Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Heritage. Istanbul, Turkey.

 

Yarwood, John. 2012. Urban Planning in the Middle East: Case Studies. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

 

Yule, Paul and K.K. Mohammad. 2006/ 1998. “Report on Al-Baleed Pottery: Reference Collection,  RWTH Aachen University” Muscat: Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs.

Zarins, Juris. 2009. “The Latest on the Archaeology of Southern Oman.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 129.4:  665-74.

 

—. 2007. “Aspects of Recent Archaeological Work at al-Balid (Zafar), Sultanate of Oman.” Proceedings of the Seminar of Arabian Studies 37: 309-24.

—. 2001. The Land of Incense: Archaeological Work in the Governorate of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman, 1990-1995. Muscat, Oman: Sultan Qaboos University Publications.

 

—. 1997. “Mesopotamia and Frankincense: The Early Evidence,” in Profumi d’Arabia. Alessandra Avanzini, ed. Rome: L’Erma Bretschneider. 251-72.

 

—. 1997. “Persia and Dhofar: Aspects of Iron Age International Politics and Trade,” in Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons. G. Young, M. Chavalas and R. Averbeck, eds. Bethesda: CDL Press. 615-89.

Zarins, Juris and Newton, Lynne. 2012 “Al Balid: Ancient Zafar, Sultanate of Oman. Report of Excavations, 2005-2011 and Salalah Survey.” Unpublished ms., Muscat-Salalah.

 

Zerboni, Andrea, Alessandro Perego, Guido S. Mariani, Filippo Brandolini, Mohammed Al Kindi, Eleonora Regattieri, Giovanni Zanchetta, Federico Borgi, Vincent Charpentier and Mauro Cremaschi. 2020. “Geomorphology of the Jebel Qara and Coastal Plain of Salalah (Dhofar, southern Sultanate of Oman).” Journal of Maps 16.2: 187-98.

 

Zimmerle, William. 2017. Cultural Treasures from the Cave Shelters of Dhofar: Photographs of the Painted Rock Art Heritage of Southern Oman. Washington: Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center/Liberty Press.

 

—. 2017. Crafting Cuboid Incense Burners in the Land of Frankincense: The Dhofar Ethnoarchaeology Preservation Project. Washington: Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center/Liberty House Press.

 

Selected references – Al Baleed and Sumhuram

Albright, Franklin. 1982. The American Archaeological Expedition in Dhofar, Oman, 1952-1953. Washington DC: American Foundation for the Study of Man.

Avanzini, Alessandra, ed. 2008. A Port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C.BC. – 5th C.AD) Khor Rori Report 2. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.

—. 2007.“Sumhuram: A Hadrami Port on the Indian Ocean,” in The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period: Definite Places, Translocal Exchange BAR International Series 1593. Eivind Heldaas Seland, ed. Oxford: Archaeopress. 23-31.

—. 2002. “Incense Routes and Pre-Islamic South Arabian Kingdoms.” Journal of Oman Studies 12: 17-24.

Avanzini, Alessandra and Alexander Sedov. 2005. “The Stratigraphy of Sumhuram: New Evidences.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 35: 11-7.

Belfioretti, Luca. and Tom Vosmer. 2010. “Al-Balīd Ship Timbers: Preliminary Overview and Comparisons.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40: 111-18.

Buffa, V and A.V. Sedov. 2008. “The Residential Quarter,” in A Port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd C. BC – 5th C. AD). A. Avanzini, ed. Khor Rori Report 2, Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider: 15-59.

Carter, Henry. 1846. “The Ruins of El Balad.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 16: 187-99.

Cleveland, R. L. 1960. “The 1960 American Archaeological Expedition to Dhofar.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 159: 14-26.

—. 1959. “The Sacred Stone Circle of Khor Rori (Dhofar).” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 155: 29-31.

Costa, Paulo. 1982. “The Study of the City of Zafar (Al-Balid).” Journal of Oman Studies 5: 111-50.

Degli Esposti, Michele and Alexia Pavan. 2020. “Water and Power in South Arabia: The Excavation of “Monumental Building 1” (MB1) at Sumhuram (Sultanate of Oman).” Arabian Archeology and Epigraphy. 1 – 29. DOI: 10.1111/aae.12159

Franke-Vogt, Ute. 2002. “Remarks on the Classification of the Pottery from Al-Balid, Dhofar (Oman).” Unpublished ms., Office of the Advisor to HM the Sultan for Cultural Affairs: Muscat-Salalah.

Fusaro, Agnese. 2021. “The Islamic Port of al-Balīd (Oman), between Land and Sea: Place of Trade, Exchange, Diversity, and Coexistence.” Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World 1.1-2: 67-95. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/26666286-12340003

Giunta, Roberta. 2009. “Coins from Al Balid, A Preliminary Report.” Unpublished ms, Office of the Advisor to HM the Sultan for Cultural Affairs: Muscat-Salalah.

Ibrahim, Moawiyah and Ali Tigani ElMahi. 1997. “A Report on Two Seasons of Sultan Qaboos University Excavations at Al-Balid, Dhofar 1996-7.” Unpublished ms. Office of the Advisor to HM the Sultan for Cultural Affairs: Muscat- Salalah.

Jansen, Michael, ed. 2015. “The Archaeological Park of Al-Baleed, Sultanate of Oman. Site Atlas along with selected Technical Reports 1995-2001.” Muscat: Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs.

Newton, Lynne and Zarins, Juris. 2014. “A Possible Indian Quarter at al-Baleed in the Fourteenth-Seventeenth Centuries AD?” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44: 257-76.

Orazi, Roberto. 2002. “The Harbour and City of Khor Rawri.” Journal of Oman Studies 12: 210-222.

Pavan, Alexia. 2020. “The Port of Al Baleed (southern Oman), the Trade in Frankincense and Its Coveted Treasures.” Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 29.1. doi:10.31338/uw.2083-537X.pam29.1.13

—. 2017-2018. “Husn Al Baleed: Civil and Military Architecture along the Indian Ocean in Medieval Times.” Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology 13-14: 28-41.

Pavan, Alexia and Michele Degli Esposti, 2016. The Urban Shrine in Quarter A at Sumhuram: Stratigraphy, Architecture, Material Culture. Quaderni di Arabia Antica, Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider.

Pavan, Alexia, Agnese Fusaro, Chiara Visconti, Alessandro Ghidoni, and Arturo Annucci. 2020. “New Researches at The Port of Al Balid and Its Castle (Husn): Interim Report (2016-2018).” The Journal of Oman Studies 21: 172 – 199

Pavan, Alexia, S. Laurenza, and R. Valentini, 2020. “Masonry and Building Techniques in a Medieval City Port of the Sultanate of Oman: Preliminary Typological Atlas at al-Balīd.” Newsletter Archeologia 10.

Pavan, Alexia and Chiara Visconti. 2020. “Trade and Contacts between Southern Arabia and East Asia: The Evidence from al-Balīd (southern Oman).” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 50: 243–257.

Pirenne, J. 1975. “The Incense Port of Moscha (Khor Rori) in Dhofar.” Journal of Oman Studies 1: 81-96.

Yule, Paul and K.K. Mohammad. 2006/ 1998. “Report on Al-Baleed Pottery: Reference Collection,  RWTH Aachen University” Muscat: Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs.

Zarins, Juris. 2007. “Aspects of Recent Archaeological Work at al-Balid (Zafar), Sultanate of Oman.” Proceedings of the Seminar of Arabian Studies 37: 309-24.

Zarins, Juris and Newton, Lynne. 2012 “Al Balid: Ancient Zafar, Sultanate of Oman. Report of Excavations, 2005-2011 and Salalah Survey.” Unpublished ms., Muscat-Salalah.

 

Selected references: Himbert, Rose and Usik – Pre-historic

Hilbert, Yamandu. 2013. “Khamseen Rock Shelter and the Late Palaeolithic-Neolithic Transition in Dhofar.” Arabian Archeology and Epigraphy 24: 51-8.

Hilbert, Yamandu, Ash Parton, Mike Morley, Lauren Linnenlucke, Zenobia Jacobs, Laine Clark-Balzan, Richard Roberts, Chris Galletti, Jean-Luc Schwenninger and Jeff Rose. 2015. “Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene Archaeology and Stratigraphy of the Southern Nejd, Oman.” Quaternary International 282: 250-263. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040618215001603

Hilbert, Yamandu, Jeff Rose and Richard Roberts. 2012. “Late Paleolithic Core Reduction Strategies in Dhofar, Oman.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42: 1-18.

Hilbert, Yamandú, Vitaly Usik, Christopher Galletti, Ash Parton, Laine Clark-Balzan, Jean-Luc Schwenninger, Mike Morley, Zenobia Jacobs, Lauren Linnenlucke, Richard Roberts and Jeffrey Rose. 2015. “Archaeological Evidence for Indigenous Human Occupation of Southern Arabia at the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition: The Case of al-Hatab in Dhofar, Southern Oman.” Paléorient 41.2: 31-49.

Rose, Jeff. 2022. An Introduction to Human Prehistory in Arabia: The Lost World of the Southern Crescent. New York: Springer.

Rose, Jeff and Yamandu Hilbert. 2014. “New Paleolithic Sites in the Southern Rub’ Al Khali Desert, Oman.” Antiquity 88.341. https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/rose341

Rose, Jeff, Yamandu Hilbert, Anthony Marks and Vitaly Usik. 2018. The First People of Oman: Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Nejd Plateau. Sultanate. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

Rose, Jeff, Vitaly Usik, A. Marks, Yamandu Hilbert, Chris Galletti, A. Parton, V. Černý, J. Geiling, M. Morley, and R. Roberts. 2011. “The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: An African Middle Stone Age Industry in Southern Arabia.” PLoS ONE 6(11) e28239.

Usik, Vitaly, Jeff Rose, Yamandu Hilbert, P. Van Peer, and Anthony Marks. 2013. “Nubian Complex Reduction Strategies in Dhofar, Southern Oman.” Quaternary International 300: 244-66.

 

Other selected references – pre-modern

Adam, Khalid and Liudmila Cazacova, 2012. “The Round Dhofari House Popularity Uniting the Past and the Present.” Proceedings of the 6th International Seminar on Vernacular Settlements. Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus. 365-74.    

Bortolini, Eugenio and Olivia Munoz. 2015. “Life and Death in Prehistoric Oman: Insights from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Funerary Practices (4th – 3rd mill. BC).” Proceedings of the Symposium: The Archaeological Heritage of Oman. Paris: UNESCO. 61-80.

Charpentier, Vincent, Jean-Francois Berger, Rémy Crassard, Fredico Borgi and Philippe Béarez. 2016. “Les Premiers Chasseurs-collecteurs Maritimes d’Arabie (IXe-IVe millénaires avant notre ère) [Early Maritime Hunter-Gatherers in Arabia] Archéologie des Chasseurs-collecteurs Maritimes. Catherine Dupont and Gregor Marchand, eds. Paris: Société Préhistorique Française. 345-66. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311650424_Les_premiers_chasseurs-collecteurs_maritimes_d’Arabie_IXe-IVe_millenaires_avant_notre_ere

Charpentier, Vincent, Alex de Voogt, Remy Crassard, Jean-Francois Berger, Federico Borgi and Ali Al-Mashani. 2014. “Games on the Seashore of Salalah: The Discovery of Mancala Games in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman.” Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 25: 115-120.

Cleuziou, Serge and Maurizio Tosi. 2020. In the Shadow of the Ancestors: The Prehistoric Foundations of the Early Arabian Civilization in Oman, second edition. Dennys Frenez and Roman Garba, eds. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.

Costa, Paulo. 2001. Historic Mosques and Shrines of Oman. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.

—. 1983. “Notes on Settlement Patterns in Traditional Oman.” Journal of Oman Studies 6.2: 247-68.

Cremaschi, Mauro, Andrea Zerboni, Vincent Charpentier, Remy Crassard, Ilaria Isola, Eleonora Regattieri, Giovanni Zanchetta. 2015. “Early-Middle Holocene Environmental Changes and pre-Neolithic Human Occupations as Recorded in the Cavities of Jebel Qara (Dhofar, southern Sultanate of Oman).” Quaternary International 382: 264-76.

de Cardi, Beatrice. 2002. “British Archeology in Oman: The Early Years.” Journal of Oman Studies 12, 2002.

Garba, Roman. 2020. “Window 48- Triliths. Hinterland Monuments of Ancient Nomads. Window 48,” in In the Shadow of the Ancestors: The Prehistoric Foundations of the Early Arabian Civilization in Oman, second edition. Dennys Frenez and Roman Garba, eds.Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. 500-10.

Garba, Roman, Alžběta Danielisová, Maria Pia Maiorano, Mahmoud Abbas, Dominik Chlachula, David Daněček, W. Al-Ghafri, Stephanie Neuhuber, Denis Štefanisko and Jakub Trubač. 20202. TSMO (Trilith Stone Monuments of Oman) Research Project Expedition Report of the 2nd Season 2019-2020. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341193620_TSMO_EXPEDITION_REPORT_OF_THE_2nd_SEASON_2019-2020_campaigns_TSMO_2A_2B_Ministry_of_Heritage_and_Culture_Sultanate_of_Oman

Garba, Roman and Peter Farrington. 2011. “Walled Structures and Settlement Patterns in the South-western Part of Dhofar, Oman (poster).” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 41: 95–100.

Hulton, Jessop and J. Smith. 1830. “Account of Some Inscriptions Found on the Southern Coast of Arabia.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 5.1: 91-101.

McCorriston, Joy, Michael Harrower, Tara Steimer, Kimberly D. Williams, Matthew Senn, Mas‘ūd Al Hādhari, Mas‘ūd Al Kathīrī, ‘Ali Ahmad Al Kathīrī, Jean-François Saliège and Jennifer Everhart. 2014. “Monuments and Landscape of Mobile Pastoralists in Dhofar: The Arabian Human Social Dynamics Project 2009-2011.” Journal of Oman Studies 12: 117-44.

Newton, Lynne. 2010. “Shrines in Dhofar,” in Death and Burial in Arabia and Beyond: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Society for Arabian Studies Monographs 10. Lloyd Week, ed. 329-340.

Newton, Lynne and Juris Zarins. 2017. The Archaeological Heritage of Oman. Dhofar Through the Ages. An Ecological, Archaeological and Historical Landscape. Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture Sultanate of Oman.

Potts. D. 2016. “Trends and Patterns in the Archaeology and Pre-Modern History of the Gulf Region,” in The Emergence of the Gulf States: Studies in Modern History. J.E. Peterson (ed.). London: Bloomsbury. 19-42.

Zarins, Juris. 2001. The Land of Incense: Archaeological Work in the Governorate of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman, 1990-1995. Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University Publications.

Zerboni, Andrea, Alessandro Perego, Guido S. Mariani, Filippo Brandolini, Mohammed Al Kindi, Eleonora Regattieri, Giovanni Zanchetta, Federico Borgi, Vincent Charpentier and Mauro Cremaschi. 2020. “Geomorphology of the Jebel Qara and Coastal Plain of Salalah (Dhofar, southern Sultanate of Oman).” Journal of Maps 16:2, 187-198.

Zimmerle, William. 2017. Cultural Treasures from the Cave Shelters of Dhofar: Photographs of the Painted Rock Art Heritage of Southern Oman. Washington: Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center/Liberty Press.

—. Crafting Cuboid Incense Burners in the Land of Frankincense: The Dhofar Ethnoarchaeology Preservation Project. 2017. Washington: Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center/Liberty House Press.

Research on fishing in Dhofar

(photo by S. B.)

I have been looking at the theme of generosity, including sharing food, for more than ten years. For my book, Foodways in Southern Oman (Routledge, 2021), I conducted several interviews about fishing practices in Dhofar. In Spring 2020, I started a second round of formal interviews which provided the information used in the publication, presentation and essays found here: Research on Fishing in Dhofar

 

Foodways: Fish traps (in Arabic) – مصائد الأسماك

original post:  Foodways: Fish traps

Arabic translation by Aruba Al Mashikhi

أود أن اشكـر المشاركون في الدراسة على صبرهم و مساعدتهم لي. كما اتوجه بالشكر أيضاً للمترجمة عُـروبة و الاساتذة د. علي الغرياني و د. ياسر سبتان و د. عامر أحمد على ما قدموه من عون و دعم.

A kind friend who knows I am doing research on fishing sent me these two photos from the Oman Aquarium in Muscat.
لي صديق طيب يعلم بأني أقوم ببحث عن الصيد فقام بإرسال هاتين الصورتين من حوض الأسماك في مسقط.

museum - exampleexample - text

Onaiza Shaikh took these photos of modern fish traps
قام [عنيزة شيخ] بالتقاط هذه الصور لمصائد الأسماك الحديثة

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Fish traps in Dhofar are referred to as “boxes.” A full time fisherman usually has 20-100 boxes, with 50 as the most common amount and a maximum of 150. They are put in the ocean in September or October and taken out before storms and the khareef (the monsoon season from June to August). If the ocean is quiet, it can take about 5 hours for 2 people to check 50 boxes. A person working alone can check 20 to 30 boxes in one day.

مصائد الأسماك في ظفار تسمى [قراقير]. ويمتلك الذي يمتهن الصيد من ٢٠ الى ١٠٠ صندوق، بنسبة ٥٠  صندوقًا كمتوسط العدد و ١٥٠ كحد أقصى.و يتم وضعها في المحيط خلال سبتمبر وأكتوبر والتقاطها قبل الاعاصير وموسم الخريف في ظفار (من يوليو الى أغسطس). وعندما يكون المحيط هادئا؛ يمكن أن يمضي شخصان ٥ ساعات لتفقد ٥٠ صندوق صيد  ويمكن لشخص يعمل بمفرده أن يتفقد من ٢٠ إلى ٣٠ صندوق صيد في يوم واحد.

Related essays on fishing

Foodways: Researching Fishing Practices in Dhofar and Selected Bibliographies

Foodways: Fishing from or near the Shore – Sardines

Foodways: Fishing from or near the Shore – Boxes

Foodways: Catching Lobsters and Diving for Abalone

Foodways: Photos for my presentation “The Costs and Benefits of Fishing in Southern Oman,” ‘Fish as Food’ conference, International Comm. on the Anthro. of Food and Nutrition

Foodways: Data for my presentation “The Costs and Benefits of Fishing in Southern Oman,” ‘Fish as Food’ conference, International Comm. on the Anthro. of Food and Nutrition

Houseways in Dhofar: Placement of Furniture and Sightlines

I am grateful to Maria Cristina Hidalgo [https://www.mariacristinah.com/ ] for her helpful plans and to my informants who have allowed me to chart their homes.

1) Perspective view of front hallway

The first point is that when one walks through the main door, there is often no furniture in sight. Sometimes there is a high, narrow table near the door to set things on that will be out of reach of children or one might be able to get a glimpse into the salle but, as the perspective below illustrates, most of the furnishings are out of sight.

Model

2) Ground floor plan with furniture

Below is a bird’s eye view of the same house, showing how, as is usual in Dhofari houses, all the furniture is placed against the wall except for the small, moveable tables in the salle and majlis which are put in front of guests (represented here with small squares).

Model

A few notes about the ground floor plan:

  • All the furniture is against the wall, most notable in the kitchen which has a small built-in table.
  • The salle is open to the main hallway but there is also a sliding door in the family salle and a door in kitchen, plus the outside door in the majlis. Thus, there could be four different types of visitors to the house at the same time who would not see each other because each were using a different door: male guests in the majlis, female guests in the salle, relatives in the family salle and a cleaner, repair person or someone bringing supplies such as drinking water or a gas canister into the kitchen.
  • The arch over the hallway at the far end separates the more public area (guest and family salles) from the family-only areas of the kitchen and one of the family suites.
  • The bedroom and maid’s room doors are set at 180 degrees from someone walking in from the front door; there is no way to see in “by chance.” Further, the beds are placed in such as way that they can only be seen if a person walks into the room.
  • There is constant air movement; the house has split ACs (meaning the motor is on the roof) and the kitchen and every bathroom has an exhaust fan which are usually on all the time.
  • There are five family suites on the upper floor, meaning the staircase is both the least used in terms of time (no one sits on the stairs) and most used in that every member of the house will use the stairs several times a day, except for the person living in the downstairs bedroom. For example, a women who does not cook might not enter the kitchen every day and a man might not have a reason to enter the salle for a week at a time.

3) Example of family suite

A door to the hallway which leads to a suite with a bathroom and two rooms is a very common floor plan in Dhofar; sometimes there is an additional store room. When a couple is newly married, one room is a bedroom and the other a sitting room. If they have several children, the suite will be set up as below, with one room for the parents and one for the children. When the children are older, they might be moved into a different suite which has one room with same gender relatives of the same age (siblings, cousins, etc.) and the second room as a study/ plan room. Only in very large houses would one person have a suite to themselves.

Model

Foodways: Researching Fishing Practices in Dhofar and Selected Bibliographies

(photo by Hussein BaOmar)

Impetus            

In my first book I wrote a little about Dhofari fishermen in terms of how they viewed their independence and interdependence. For my second book, I wrote about procuring and gifting fish. I then changed my research focus to houses.

However, in early 2021 I happened to hear a discussion between several researchers who believe that Dhofaris are not as connected to the natural world as they have been in previous generations. One affirmed that Dhofari men no longer work with their hands. Another researcher has told me that that fishing is now outsourced to expat laborers.

This was interesting to hear as it is a good lesson in how different researchers can view the same area in different ways. Those researchers are talking to different types of people and looking at different issues than I am. The men who are part of my research group have all done and continue to do different types of manual labor, including daily fishing.

There is a lot of casual expat fishing in Dhofar: non-Omanis fishing from shore and/ or in hired boats to do sport fishing or catch a few fish for dinner. There are also expat laborers who are connected to the fishing industry by working to clean boats, repair nets, put together fish traps, help fishermen load and unload boats etc.

My perspective is that I have been talking with Dhofari fishermen who work in the coastal towns of Salalah [the main city in the Dhofar region], Taqa (28 km east of Salalah), Mirabt (70 km E), Sudah (135 km E), Hadbeen/ Hadbin (167km E) and Hasik (187 km E) for over 15 years. I have been with Dhofari men in boats throwing nets, throwing boxes, fishing for tuna and fishing with live bait during over a dozen fishing trips in boats, as well as more than 20 fishing-from-shore outings. I have also done several boat excursions. I have watched Dhofari fishermen leaving and returning to shore dozens of times and listened to men discuss fishing trips during most of the over 350 picnic dinners I have attended. I have only once seen an expat laborer take part in a fishing trip on a boat.

Thus, after hearing that discussion between researchers, I thought about how I could best set out what I have seen to add to the on-going conversations about Dhofari cultures. One idea was to document the different kinds of labor the men in my research group are involved in such as herding camels, another was to try to code how many hours per day were spent outside in different locations. But given the persistence of the pandemic, I realized I needed to work on something that would could be done mainly by distance. I also wanted to work on something about which there was no or little current data.

I finally decided on a simple question: how much does fishing cost? I could do interviews on windy beaches for safety and during my food research I found no other similar research on the Arabian Peninsula although there has been work done on the types of fish along the Omani coast (e.g. Al-Jufaili, Hermosa, Al-Shuaily and Al Mujaini 2010; Choudri, Baawain and Mustaque 2016, Harrison 1980; McKoy, Bagley, Gauthier and Devine 2009) and how fish are sold (e.g. Al-Marshudi and Kotagama 2006; Al Rashdi and Mclean 2014; William and Fidelity Lancaster 1995; Omezzine 1998, Omezzine, Zaibet and Al-Oufi 1996; Siddeek, Fouda and Hermosa 1999).

Research Trajectory

Most research on fishing concentrates on which kinds of fish were caught and how they are sold. I wanted to look at fishing from another angle: how do Dhofari fishermen prepare to catch fish? I am very grateful for the many hours informants spent with me going over the costs and answering questions over the past year. I am also grateful to Helen Macbeth and the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition for organizing the very interesting “Fish as Food: Lifestyle and a Sustainable Future” conference hosted at the University of Liverpool in September, 2021 [ http://www.icaf2021.uk/ ].

When I started my research on fishing costs I had thought to frame with discussion by talking about the non-monetary costs and benefits to fishing but the data led me in another direction. First, given the cultural disinclination to brag or report good deeds, it was not easy to get fishermen to talk about how they often gave fish away. Secondly, to my surprise, fishermen did not perceive any drawbacks to fishing. I had supposed that being away from home for long periods of time might be seen as creating difficulties for family members but fishermen affirmed that they would either buy supplies for the house before they left or that other family members would help to bring anything that was needed.

Most of my time was spent trying to figure out the cost of all the component parts of a fishing trip, but the most interesting conversations were about how the day’s catch is divided. In one interview I threw out a series of math-problem hypotheticals such as: If four men caught 100 kilo of fish how many kilo would each person take home and how much would be sold?

My informant started to work through long decision trees while I simply wanted a clear number. After a few minutes of frustration, I realized that I was approaching the subject from the wrong direction as I have a non-tribal, non-community-based outlook. There is no answer to: If four men caught 100 kilo of fish how many kilo would each person take home? It’s a meaningless question because in Dhofar each of the men would take into account a whole series of factors before deciding how to divide the fish such as how many people lived in each of the men’s houses.

Trying to articulate how decisions are made about sharing the fish and the profit led to many interesting discussions and connected back to my previous work about gift-giving in Dhofar (in the list of references below).

Three cultural understandings were explained over the course of several conversations on windy beaches. First, fishermen told me that in other parts of Oman the owner of the boat takes a double share of the profit. For example if 4 men went fishing and the profit was 200 OR, the money would be split 5 ways, with the boat-owner taking 80 OR (2 shares of 40 OR each). In Dhofar, the 4 men would first pay all the costs for the fishing trip, then divide the profit by 4, with the boat owner taking the same share as the other men.

However if the boat or engine needed repair, that money would be also taken out of the profit before splitting the money. For example if 4 men had a profit of 200 OR after paying for the expenses of gas, food, bait. etc. but the engine had just been repaired at a cost of 100 OR, the boat-owner would be given 100 OR. The remaining 100 OR would be divided equally between the 4 men. [Money for boat and engine repairs is sometimes fronted by the man who buys the catch, then repaid from future profits without any interest charged.]

Secondly, the fish must always be divided in the same manner, even if the fish are used for different purposes. For example, one fisherman (X) explained that he often went fishing with a man (Y) who had only a few people living in his house while X had over 25 people in two houses for whom he supplied fish. Before selling the catch, X would set aside at least 3 large fish for his family and put the same amount aside for Y. Y would protest that he didn’t need that much fish. X insisted that Y take an equal share, even if Y’s fish would be given away and not used by Y’s family.

Lastly, given my previous work on gift-giving, I had thought that perhaps a fisherman would ask for extra fish if, for example, he planned to go camping with friends so he would need more fish. Or he might decline to take fish if all of his family was out of the house so there was no need to bring fish for dinner. Or if one fisherman was known to be in need, the others would swear that all the proceeds would go to him or a man could ask for more than his share as a loan. And I wondered how fishermen dealt with a man who frequently asked for extra fish or money.

The answers to these queries was that a group of men may fish together for a season, several seasons or for years [men change groups because of someone buying or selling a boat, having more or less time to fish, etc.] but once in a group everyone attempts to keep a fair and level distribution of fish and profits at all times. No one should ever ask for more than his share or attempt to decline his share.

If a man is in need, he can ask his friends after the distribution. The cultural understandings I had previously worked out were for personal situations. Fishing was “work,” I was told and within “work” there must careful attention that everyone is given an equal share. This is done in part because Dhofaris usually try to cover their problems.

One example I was given that if A, B, C, and D go fishing and A proposes to give that they give the day’s profit to B because B will get married soon, perhaps C is planning to take a family member to Muscat for a health emergency and actually has more need of the money. Rather than trying to decide who has what need, the fish and money are split evenly but not a predetermined levels such as each man will take 5 kilos.

At some point I would like to engage with the articles listed below in terms of how others’ research corresponds to the Dhofari context, particularly with the Lancasters’ excellent, detailed discussion of fishing in Ja’alân and Al Rashdi and Mclean’s article about women and fishing in Al Wusta.

Resources

  • selected bibliography – fish and fishing in Oman
  • related research on M. Risse’s website
  • related publications and presentations by M. Risse
    • books
    • other publications
    • presentations
    • research in partnership with other members of the Dhofar University community

Selected Bibliography – Fish and Fishing in Oman

Al-Jufaili, Saud, Greg Hermosa, Sulaiman S. Al-Shuaily and Amal Al Mujaini. 2010. “Oman Fish Biodiversity.” Journal of King Abdulaziz University 21.1: 3-51.

Al-Marshudi, Ahmed Salim and Hemesiri Kotagama. 2006. “Socio-Economic Structure and Performance of Traditional Fishermen in the Sultanate of Oman.” Marine Resource Economics 21: 221-30.

Al Rashdi, K. and E. Mclean. 2014. “Contribution of Small-Scale Fisheries to the Livelihoods of Omani Women: A Case Study of the Al Wusta Governorate.” Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries: Navigating Change – Asian Fisheries Science Special Issue 27S: 135-149.

Chittick, Neville. 1980. “Sewn Boats in the Indian Ocean, and a Survival in Somalia.” International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 9.4: 297-310.

Choudri, B., Mahad Baawain, and Mustaque Ahmed. 2016. “An Overview of Coastal and Marine Resources and their Management in Sultanate of Oman.” Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism 7.1: 21-32.

Clements, Frank.  1977. “The Islands of Kuria Muria: A Civil Aid Project in the Sultanate of Oman Administered from Salalah, Regional Capital of Dhofar.” Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies) 4.1: 37-39.

Field, Richard. 2013. Reef Fishes of Oman. Gharghur, Malta: Richard and Mary Field.

Gardner, Andrew. 2013. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Frankfurt: Edition Chimaira.

Haines, Stafford. 1939. “Memoir to Accompany a Chart of the South Coast of Arabia from the Entrance of the Red Sea to Misenat, in 50, 43, 25 E. Part I.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 9: 125-56.

—. 1845. “Memoir of the South and East Coasts of Arabia: Part II.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 15: 104-60.

Harrison, David. 1980. The Journal of Oman Studies: Special Report 2: The Oman Flora and Fauna Survey 1975. Muscat: Diwan of H. M. for Protocol.

Janzen, Jorg. 1986. Nomads in the Sultanate of Oman: Tradition and Development in Dhofar. London: Westview Press.

The Journal of Oman Studies: Special Report 2: The Oman Flora and Fauna Survey 1975. Muscat: Diwan of H. M. for Protocol.

Kenderdine, Sarah and Tom Vosmer. 1994. “Maritime Graffiti in Oman.” Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology 18: 33-45.

Lancaster, William and Fidelity Lancaster. 1995. “Nomadic Fishermen of Ja’alân, Oman.” Nomadic Peoples 36/37: 227-44.

McKoy, John, Neil Bagley, Stéphane Gauthier, and Jennifer Devine. 2009. Fish Resources Assessment Survey of the Arabian Sea Coast of Oman – Technical Report 1. Auckland: Bruce Shallard and Associates and the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

Mendonca, Vanda, Barry Jupp, Musallam Al Jabri, Thuraya Al Sariri and Mohamed Al Muzaini. 2003. National Report on the State of the Marine Environment. Muscat: Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment & Water Resources, Marine Pollution and Coastal Zone Management Section.

Morris, Miranda. 1987. “Dhofar – What Made it Different’,” in Oman: Economic, Social and Strategic Development. B.R. Pridham, ed. London: Croom Helm. 51-78.

“National Aquaculture Sector Overview-Oman.”  2019.  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations-Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_oman/en

Omezzine, Abdallah. 1998. “On-shore Fresh Fish Markets in Oman.” Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing 10.1: 53-69.

Omezzine, Abdallah, Lokman Zaibet and Hamad Al-Oufi. 1996. “The Marketing System of Fresh Fish Products on the Masirah Island in the Sultanate of Oman.” Marine Resources Economics 11: 203-10.

Randall, John. 1996. Coastal Fishes of Oman. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press.

Saunders, J. P. 1846. “A Short Memoir of the Proceedings of the Honorable Company’s Surveying Brig ‘Palinurus,’ during Her Late Examination of the Coast between Ras Morbat and Ras Seger, and between Ras Fartak and the Ruins of Mesinah.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 16: 169-86.

Serjeant, Robert. 1995. “Customary Law Among the Fishermen of al-Shihr,”in Farmers and Fishermen in Arabia: Studies in Customary Law and Practice. G. Rex Smith, ed. Aldershot: Variorum. 193-203.

—. 1968. “Fisher-Folk and Fish-Traps in al-Baḥrain.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 31.3: 486–514.

Siddeek, M., M. Fouda and G. Hermosa. 1999. “Demersal Fisheries of the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf.” Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 49.1: 87-97.

“Sustainable Management of the Fisheries Sector in Oman: A Vision for Shared Prosperity, World Bank Advisory Assignment.” 2015. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group and Muscat: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Wealth.

Tabook, Salim Bakhit. 1997. Tribal Practices and Folklore of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman. Unpublished PhD thesis, Faculty of Arts, Exeter University.

Vosmer, Tom. 1997. “Indigenous Fishing Craft of Oman.” The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 26.3: 217-35.

—. 1993. “The Omani Dhow Recording Project: Sultanate of Oman.” Indian Ocean Review 6.2: 18-21.

Wilkinson, J. C. 2013. Water & Tribal Settlement in South-East Arabia (Studies on Ibadism and Oman). New York: Georg Olms Verlag.

related research on M. Risse’s website: https://mariellerisse.com/

related publications and presentations by M. Risse

books

Foodways in Southern Oman. Routledge, 2021

This book examines the objects, practices and beliefs relating to producing, obtaining, cooking, eating and disposing of food in the Dhofar region of southern Oman. The chapters consider food preparation, who makes what kind of food, and how and when meals are eaten. Dr. Risse connects what is consumed to themes such as land usage, gender, age, purity, privacy and generosity. She also discusses how foodways are related to issues of morality, safety, religion, and tourism. The volume is a result of fourteen years of collecting data and insights in Dhofar, covering topics such as catching fish, herding camels, growing fruits, designing kitchens, cooking meals and setting leftovers out for animals.

Community and Autonomy in Southern Oman. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019

This book explores how, in cultures which prize conformity, there is latitude for people who choose not to conform either for a short time and how the chances to assert independence change over time. The main focus is on how the traits of self-control and self-respect are manifested in the everyday actions of several groups of tribes whose first language is Gibali (Jebbali/ Jebali, also referred to as Shari/ Shahri), a non-written, Modern South Arabian language. Although no work can express the totality of a culture, this text describes how Gibalis are constantly shifting between preserving autonomy and signaling membership in family, tribal and national communities.

other publications

“Questions About Food and Ethics,” in Emanations: When a Planet was a Planet. Brookline, MA: International Authors, 2021. 403-408.

“What’s in Your Bag?” Anthropology News. American Anthropological Association. Oct. 30, 2019. http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/07/23/whats-in-your-bag-2019-edition/

“Generosity, Gift-giving and Gift-avoiding in Southern Oman,” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 45 (Oxford: Archeopress) 2015: 289-296.

presentations

“The Costs and Benefits of Fishing in Southern Oman.” Fish as Food: Lifestyle and a Sustainable Future, annual conference of the International Commission on the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, hosted at the University of Liverpool. Sept. 1, 2021.

“Ethical Eating in Southern Oman.” Just Food, virtual conference of the Association for the Study of Food and Society; Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society; Canadian Association for Food Studies and the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, hosted by the Culinary Institute of America and New York University. June 12, 2021.

“Foodways in Southern Oman.” for the session “Uncovering Truths, Building Responsibility in A Pandemic: Insights from Emerging Monographs at the Nexus of Culture, Food, and Agriculture.” American Anthropological Association, on-line conference. Nov. 9, 2020.

“Foodways in Southern Oman” (June 23) and “Overview of Community and Autonomy in Southern Oman” (June 16) for the Language and/or Nature in Southern Arabia Workshop, sponsored by Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Leeds. 2020.

“Foodways and Society in Southern Oman.” British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Leeds. June 26, 2019.

“Accounts from the Journeys of the Brig ‘Palinurus’ Along the Dhofar Coast in the mid-1800s.” Maritime Exploration and Memory Conference, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England. Sept. 15, 2018.

“‘Words Mean Nothing’: Fluency in Language and Fluency in Culture in Anthropology Fieldwork in Southern Oman.” British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Wales. July 15, 2016.

“‘A Man Was Always Catching Fish’: Fairy Tale Elements in the Ali al-Mahri/ Johnstone/ Rubin Gibali Texts from Southern Oman.” American Comparative Literature Association Conference, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. March 18, 2016.

“Generosity, Gift-giving and Gift-avoiding in Southern Oman.” British Foundation for the Study of Arabia’s Seminar for Arabian Studies, The British Museum, London. July 27, 2014.

research in partnership with other members of the Dhofar University community

“Culinary Examples,” photographs by Salma Hubais as part of the Foodways in Southern Oman project, 2019-2020.

“Fishing Boats,” photographs by Onaiza Shaikh as part of the Fishing Practices in Dhofar project, August-December 2021.