Oman Culture & Language

Omani culture is Arabian with an Indian Ocean layer, and both halves are live rather than historical.

Frankincense

The resin that made Dhofar wealthy for three thousand years is still tapped from trees in the Nejd behind Salalah, sold by the bag in the souq, and burned in homes, shops and offices every day — you smell it constantly. The Land of Frankincense, taking in the trees, the caravan oasis at Shisr and the port at Sumhuram, is UNESCO-listed.

Forts

Oman has over five hundred forts, castles and towers. Bahla is UNESCO-listed, with twelve kilometres of mudbrick wall; Nizwa’s round tower was built to mount cannon; Jabrin was a seat of learning as much as a stronghold.

The sea

Dhow building continues at Sur, worked by eye without plans. Omani sailors traded to India, Africa and China for centuries, and the reconstructed ninth-century ship that sailed from Muscat to Singapore in 2010 was built here.

Music and craft

Omani music carries East African rhythms and instruments alongside Arabian forms. Silver work, particularly khanjars and jewellery, is a serious craft; Bahla makes pottery; Jebel Akhdar distils rosewater each spring.

Poetry and the majlis

Nabati poetry — composed and recited in dialect rather than classical Arabic — is a living competitive form here, performed at gatherings and broadcast. It sits alongside the majlis, the sitting room where anyone may bring a matter to whoever is hosting, which remains a real institution rather than a ceremonial one and is UNESCO-listed across the Gulf.

Coffee and dates

Kahwa — pale, cardamom-heavy Arabic coffee — with dates is how a guest is received, and refusing is awkward. The date varieties are numerous and discussed seriously.

Arabic is the official language, and the local dialect is Gulf Arabic with distinctive Omani features. Swahili is spoken in families who returned from Zanzibar, and several small south Arabian languages — Mehri, Jibbali and others, unwritten and unrelated to Arabic — survive in Dhofar. Baluchi and Urdu are widely heard.

English is widely spoken in Muscat, in hotels, shops and government offices, and by younger Omanis everywhere. Road signs and official information are bilingual, and a visitor rarely has difficulty.

A few Arabic words are warmly received: as-salamu alaykum as a greeting, shukran for thank you, min fadlak for please, and inshallah, which is used constantly.

Omanis greet at length — a sequence of enquiries after health and family — and cutting it short to get to business is read as brusque.