Raʾs al-Jinz (; formerly known as Cape Rosalgate as named by the Portuguese, a

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

of Raʾs al-Hadd; ) or ''Raʾs al-Junayz'' (), located in Ash-Sharqiyyah South Governorate,

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, is the easternmost point of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. It is a nesting site for

green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exte ...

s, as also is the beach at the local village of Ras al Hadd. It is home to a well-known turtle reserve. Important archaeological discoveries have also been made at this site, demonstrating connections to the

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the disp ...

in ancient times.

Bronze Age harbour

At Ras al-Jinz, since 1985, a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(approximately 2200 to 1900 BC) harbour site has been excavated by a Franco-Italian team. There was a large mudbrick building with seven rooms. These rooms opened onto a corridor. The building seems to have served as a manufacturing workshop. There is evidence of processing of shellfish, turtle shell, flint, and the cosmetics, which was extracted from magnesium ore. Among the finds, about 20% of the ceramics came from the Indus Valley culture. There were also ceramic fragments inscribed with the

Indus script The Indus script, also known as the Harappan script and the Indus Valley script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whe ...

symbols. Among the Indus wares, large ceramic jars were found in Oman. Their presence at Ras Al Jinz is seen as a clear indication of overseas trade. Thus, during the 3d millennium BCE, Oman must have been part of a great trading systems linked with the Indian Ocean. These jars as interpreted as cargo-shipment containers for dry goods being transported over water.

Remains of boats

The discovery of impressed

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

fragments and slabs at the site provides information on procedures for reed and wooden boat construction. These objects are dated to the mid-3d millennium BCE. The bitumen pieces carry traces of ropes, reed mats, reed bundles and other details of boat construction. Many of them are also encrusted with sea

barnacle Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass (taxonomy), subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacean, Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar Nauplius (larva), nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebra ...

s. Based on these finds, a mid-3rd millennium 12-m long boat replica was built and tested. These are the indications that this was a Bronze Age port serving the ships from the Indus Valley. Ras al-Jinz still remains an important landmark for merchant ships coming from Pakistan and India.

Metallurgy

Copper smelting and metal working workshops dating to 3000-1200 BCE have also been discovered.

Gallery

Image:green_trurtle_at_ras_al_jinz_oman.JPG, Beach File:green_trurtle_at_ras_al_jinz_oman_detail.JPG, Females laying eggs Image:green_trurtle_at_ras_al_jinz_oman_hatchling.JPG, Freshly hatched young Image:Baby Chelonia mydas 20060319.jpg, hatched

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exte ...

References

External links