- 1 hour ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:01I'm on the trail of wonders to treasure.
00:05Precious clues from the past.
00:08I can't quite believe they've let me down here.
00:11With unmissable experiences.
00:14They're free! I adore dolphins so much and they're playing with us.
00:18Hidden sights in unexpected destinations.
00:22No way.
00:23I've never seen anything like that before.
00:26Okay, ready? Let's go.
00:28I'm on a global voyage of discovery to explore our shared heritage
00:34and how our past shapes all of our lives.
00:38This time I'm in Oman, a distinctive land on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
00:43I'm on the trail of the story of how nature makes human culture.
00:49With nearly 2,000 miles of coastline spanning mountains, oases and deserts,
00:54this diverse landscape has a unique variety of stories.
01:00Oh, sorry!
01:02I keep on getting a nip from this one!
01:04Is that okay to hold?
01:06Yeah.
01:07Look at that.
01:09I just adore camels. I'm completely head over heels in love with them.
01:15I'm seeking out gleaming treasures, brand new archaeology and ancient mysteries.
01:21He was ripping this super powerful sword.
01:24Welcome to the wonderful treasures of Oman.
01:29Oman's position on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula made it a strategic stopping point for ships crossing the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia.
01:56It's many natural harbours providing shelter to international traders and travellers for millennia.
02:05This is such an exciting sea to be on, particularly with a swell like this.
02:12But luckily I'm heading to a safe harbour that's protected on the inland by these mountains and by reefs out at the shore.
02:19I'm on the approach to the Omani capital, Muscat, first written about by European voyagers in the 2nd century CE.
02:29This place was described by an ancient geographer called Ptolemy, and you can see what he's talking about here on this medieval version of his original maps.
02:39That place is what's now Muscat. It's called a crypto port, which means a hidden port.
02:45And it is, isn't it? It's just concealed by all these rocks. So cool.
02:50Waves of visitors left their mark on Muscat, including the British who began trading with Oman in 1646.
03:02That's great. I've heard about these. So can you see those sort of monumental bits of graffiti up on the rock there?
03:09Those are left by British sailors. So you've got HMS Falmouth, HMS Fox, right up at the top, and HMS Perseus, I think, down here.
03:21And it just tells you, doesn't it, what a cosmopolitan place this was, and count how proud people were that they'd actually arrived after journeys across those incredible stormy seas.
03:33It's very generous of the Omanis that they allow this graffiti still to be here.
03:38Known as the Sultan's visitor's book, the rocks preserve the names of hundreds of ships that once docked here in front of the Sultan of Oman's Al Alam Palace.
03:51The trail of my first treasure starts here in Muscat. It's not a place, but a person.
04:06Who lived an incredible life 2,000 years ago. And the clues are kept here in the National Museum.
04:15There's some truly remarkable evidence in here. So this is him. This is the remains of his skull.
04:30Dubbed the Desert Lord of Sinau, his grave was discovered by chance in 2014, on the edge of the Sharqia Sands.
04:41A vast expanse of desert covering 4,800 square miles.
04:46His life shaped by these exquisitely imposing surroundings.
04:53The bones reveal a man in his forties.
04:58His grave packed with mysterious clues to an extraordinary life of adventure.
05:06Precious objects carefully placed alongside him. Signs of great prestige.
05:15What you're looking at are two daggers that were laid on the man's thighs.
05:23And in his hands he was ripping this super potent, high status, powerful looking sword that's actually made of iron.
05:34It's decorated with a strip of silver here.
05:38And then on the pommel, on the handle, there's ebony and probably ivory that could have come all the way from India.
05:46It's also this beautiful bronze bowl that was left as a kind of ritual offering in the grave.
05:52And he wasn't buried alone.
05:54Next to the man there were two camels that were buried and they hadn't died naturally.
06:00They'd actually been slaughtered in the graves with their throats slid.
06:05But the evidence doesn't stop there.
06:10So just have a look at his skull.
06:13And here's his jaw.
06:15And you can see that he's missing his teeth.
06:18The actual bone has been worn right away.
06:24And he does just have three teeth left on the other side.
06:27And that would have been because he'd have held the reins of the camel in his mouth so that his hands were free to fight.
06:37There are some remarkable clues here.
06:40We've just got to take a moment and think that this is a real human who clearly had an adventurous, exciting, exhilarating life.
06:51So we've got to respect his memory and try to get to the bottom of his story and learn about his world.
06:59I'm venturing to where the Desert Lord was found to delve into the evidence and its mysteries, the significance of the powerful sword and daggers, the sacrifice of his camels and the condition of his skeleton.
07:15I want to uncover more about how this man lived and how he died.
07:20To really understand the Desert Lord, we need to understand his environment.
07:35This is the epic landscape that he'd have operated in.
07:41Deserts like this are often described as seas of sand.
07:45And, of course, the creature who is your closest ally in a place like this is the animal sometimes called the ship of the desert, the camel.
07:57And camels still play a huge part in the landscape and life around here.
08:07So, I'm heading to the market town of Seenal, close to where the Desert Lord was found.
08:13Every Thursday, it hosts camel sales for the local Bedou, who still prize these remarkable animals.
08:23It's actually one of the oldest camel suits in the region and it goes right back possibly to antiquity.
08:30It could have been around at the time of the Desert Lord and these guys have been here since dawn, negotiating and selling.
08:37It's serious business.
08:40Oman has a Directorate General of Camel Affairs, who organises camel races and beauty contests.
08:52A good racing camel has been known to fetch 800,000 Omani rials.
08:57That's over one and a half million pounds.
09:03I just adore camels.
09:04I'm completely head over heels in love with them.
09:07And people here are saying that Omani camels are the most beautiful of all in the Arabian Peninsula.
09:12And I'm kind of coming round to think that.
09:17So, when they're sold, you have to look out for the curve of their neck and the exquisite beauty of their eyes with those multiple eyelashes that stop the sand going in.
09:29And their lower lips have to be floppy and that's also considered a sign of great beauty.
09:36And I'm seeing all of those things around here.
09:40You're actually beautiful.
09:42You're completely beautiful.
09:45Camels remain in an essential part of life, supplying transport, milk and camel hair for survival in the desert landscape.
09:55Are there good camels here today? Good camels?
09:59Good, good, good.
10:00Good.
10:01Very good?
10:02Very good.
10:03Very good.
10:04Great.
10:05They're beautiful.
10:06They're Jamila.
10:07Did you buy any camels today?
10:08No, no.
10:09No camels?
10:10No.
10:11Did you buy anything?
10:12No.
10:13Goats?
10:14Goats.
10:16The reverence for camels and the status they bring sheds light on their burial alongside the desert lord over 2,000 years ago.
10:27Coming here has really put this evidence into perspective because, of course for us, imagining a camel being sacrificed for their owner feels horrific.
10:38But that happens because the desert lord adores his camel so much and wanted them to carry on travelling with him in the afterlife.
10:48And the name camel actually comes from the phrase al-Jamal, which means something to be admired.
10:55So there's this huge affection for them here and you really feel that these are animals who are partners with humans in this landscape.
11:05Evidence of how much the desert lord must have relied on his camels is found deep within his skeleton.
11:12Vertebrae from his back and neck have fused together, a sign of a lifetime in the saddle, riding and fighting.
11:23And you can see why these creatures were also used in war.
11:28I'm just watching mind your backs.
11:30Mind your backs.
11:31Mind your backs.
11:32So they can run 40 miles an hour and if they're walking they can cover 40 miles a day.
11:43And they don't need water, they don't have to actually drink water for up to six or seven months.
11:48This fella here by the way, the white one, this big boy is a male camel, a bull camel.
11:54Just imagine coming up against him in a combat, you would not mess with him, would you?
12:02The desert lord must have been a ferocious figure.
12:05Seated on his camel, brandishing a sword or dagger in each hand, possibly protecting a whole community or a trade route.
12:14Today, swords and daggers, along with camels, are living parts of Omani tradition.
12:21The khanja, a short curved dagger in a highly decorated sheath, has become a national symbol, emblazoned on Oman's flag along with two crossed swords.
12:35This one is 2,000 years old. 2,000 years.
12:40At one of the local blacksmiths, my photos of the ancient sword spark excitement.
12:48The pictures of the desert lord's burial causing a lot of interest here in this knife shop in Seenal.
12:55Oh, here we go.
12:57Yeah.
12:58Yeah.
12:59Yeah.
13:00It is!
13:01Yeah.
13:02Look!
13:03The same decoration with metal, and the original one had ivory.
13:10Oh, that's great, thank you!
13:12The sword that the desert lord was holding is this particular kind, which is called a coppice, and you actually get it all the way from Greece through to India.
13:20And it was often copied and made locally, or traded, which would have made it even more of a status symbol.
13:28But I just adore the fact that I've just popped into this market, and these guys are loving the fact that what they're making still uses the same techniques as they were using 2,000 years ago.
13:39I had to give his knife back.
13:43Hello?
13:44I'm just going to give you your knife back.
13:47The elite, coppice-style sword is a sign of high standing, indicating he'd earned the respect of his peers.
13:54Debate still rages over the desert lord's exact lifestyle, because this was a really vital channel of trade between the oceans and the interior of the Arabian Peninsula.
14:13It could be that he was a mercenary who was hired to protect somebody's economic interests, or to try to prevent turf wars between other tribes.
14:26So, a desert warrior in the true sense of the word.
14:32Over 2,000 years on, aspects of the desert lord's nomadic life are preserved by Oman's modern Bedou.
14:40Matriarch Umm Saeed and her sons, Salim and Ali, invite me over for some fresh coffee in the landscape he called home.
14:53How long has your family been here? For how many years?
14:56This is a long time. I've been from my grandfather.
15:00I've been looking at warriors who travelled through the desert thousands of years ago, and it feels like it makes you very strong in spirit.
15:09Very hard life in the desert.
15:11Yeah.
15:12Yeah.
15:13Sometimes we stay alone in the desert.
15:15Yeah.
15:17Only with my camels, always my coats.
15:21I love your mum. You're giving me lovely, beautiful, philosophical conversations. Your mum's like...
15:28Let's get the practicalities sorted out.
15:31Now it's ready.
15:32Coffee's ready.
15:34Oh, get out of the smoke. Quite right.
15:39Oh, nice.
15:41Is this incense?
15:42Laban, Laban.
15:43Laban.
15:44Oh, that's salty.
15:45Laban, Omani.
15:47Wow.
15:48Omani frankincense.
15:49Laban.
15:50And they...
15:51Oh, I love that smell so much. I'll tell you why they...
15:54Yeah.
15:55Oh, yeah. Under my scarf.
15:56I will.
15:57Why they call it Laban like this?
15:59Laban.
16:02Oh.
16:03That is so good.
16:05It's called Laban here because when the incense comes out of the tree trunk, it looks like milk.
16:10And Laban is also a word for white or milky, like Laban is a kind of cheese that you have here.
16:16Use this for medicine. Put it in the water and drink.
16:22Yeah.
16:23It's good, healthy.
16:24Very good.
16:25There's a sensory overload. I've got sweet, fresh dates in my mouth. The smell of coffee, Omani coffee, and incense perfuming the air. I'm sort of in heaven.
16:40You do that when you say, then you've had enough.
16:43No, thank you.
16:48Oh, thank you.
16:49Thank you so much.
16:50Ma'a salama.
16:51Ma'a salama.
16:52Salama.
16:53Tracing the footsteps of the Desert Lord has given me a unique insight into the landscape that shaped his life.
17:01But how did he die?
17:04The clue to his death may well lie under his three remaining teeth.
17:08There's a hole that indicates a huge abscess has eaten into his jaw. A bacterial infection that, in a time before antibiotics, could have been fatal.
17:20There's just one last thing to say about our Desert Lord. We think he probably died because of that abscess on his tooth. And it's really tragic because we actually now know that incense has antibacterial properties.
17:34So maybe if he'd used it like a kind of compact or chewing gum, he might have been alive for more years.
17:41It is extraordinary coming here and thinking of him living in this place. This was his world. And you get the sense that he would have lived a rich and probably a pretty exciting life.
18:02And this desert was his home.
18:17Hello. Hi. Hi, hi. Is that good to come on?
18:21Yes, sure.
18:22Great. Thank you.
18:24My next treasure, a biodiverse wonderland, reveals the fascinating lives of some of the very first travelers to reach this part of the Omani coastline back in prehistoric times.
18:36I'm heading out across the Indian Ocean to this remote island, and it's supposed to be very beautiful, but it also plays this incredibly important, mysterious part in the story of the journey of humankind across this gorgeous planet of ours.
18:55So I am super excited to get there.
18:58Missyra, 12 miles from the mainland, with white sand beaches and a turquoise sea, is the archetypal desert island.
19:14As the light fades, Captain's Isle powers us across the channel.
19:19Arriving at Missyra's port in the dark, we're immediately scooped up by unexpected new friends.
19:36Hello.
19:37I'm hoping to meet these guys tomorrow, and I've bumped into them.
19:50We go fishing tomorrow?
19:51Yes.
19:52Yeah.
19:53Fish.
19:54Fantastic.
19:55What an awesome experience.
19:58How are we going to have this job out?
19:59Good.
20:00How are we going to have this job out?
20:01Great.
20:02I'm up early in the morning, tracing the island of Missyra's fascinating history.
20:24Boats have been landing here since the Neolithic.
20:27And some of the very first historical accounts mention it.
20:33This place actually crops up in lots of ancient sources, including one called the Peripolis of the Erythraean Sea, which was basically a guide to marine voyages around the Red Sea and the oceans beyond.
20:48And in that, it was called Serapis, and that's the name of a Greco-Egyptian and then Roman god, who was all about nature and the cycle of life and abundance.
21:03So that feels completely right for this island.
21:07These are rich waters, whose profuse sea life includes four species of turtle that nest on Missyra's sandy beaches, a feature that attracted eager traders.
21:24The Romans were obsessed with turtle shell, and so they used it really highly polished to decorate things like beds and tables and little baskets for their jewelry.
21:39Julius Caesar, for instance, were said to have had a whole warehouse full of turtle and tortoiseshell, and recently they discovered two Roman amphora, so two Roman vases here.
21:54So we know that the Romans were coming here to trade and exchange goods.
22:03Today, the turtles are protected, while the waters around Missyra sustain a huge variety of wildlife, including endangered Arabian humpback whales.
22:16Its shallows and islets are feeding grounds for flamingos, once also a highly prized Roman delicacy.
22:29With so much on offer, I can't wait to get back out on the water for a closer look at the maritime riches that have shaped this island's history.
22:37And as soon as we're out at sea, we get some company. Dolphins.
22:51Dolphins?
22:52They're too bright though, just two.
22:53Not much.
22:54Right underneath us here.
22:55Three!
22:56Three!
22:57Five!
22:58There is five underneath us.
22:59Hey guys!
23:00Beautiful!
23:01Hello!
23:02Oh, since I ignore dolphins so much, they're playing with us.
23:05They're right underneath us.
23:06There, look.
23:07They're just having a loving that they're coming towards us.
23:08Like us.
23:09There, look.
23:10Oh, yeah.
23:11Hey!
23:12Hey!
23:13Hi!
23:14That was pretty awesome.
23:16There was a Portuguese writer.
23:17He was ecstatic about that one.
23:18Oh, yeah.
23:19He's ecstatic about playing.
23:20Oh, yeah.
23:21Oh, yeah.
23:22Oh, yeah.
23:23Oh, yeah.
23:24Hi!
23:25Oh, yeah.
23:26Yeah.
23:28Oh.
23:29Yeah.
23:30Yeah.
23:31That was pretty awesome.
23:33There's a Portuguese writer.
23:35writer he was ecstatic about the oceans here and he said that the fish were so thick in it that if
23:41a cat dipped in her tail she'd pull it out they'd be just like covered in fish and you'd get that
23:46sense of my lovely dolphin friend hey there's over a thousand species of fish out in these waters
24:00still providing a livelihood for the islanders
24:05how are you what's the name what room what room
24:14it's the incredible bounty of this sea that attracted the earliest settlers to masira
24:20and the island's natural resources became a magnet for trade
24:27fantastic to see all these traditional boats on the coastline
24:30here um because right back in the bronze age so around 4 000 years ago this part of the world was
24:36really famous for what were called black boats and they had that name because they were coated in
24:43bitumen that makes things waterproof and they traded all kinds of stuff from masira island including
24:50copper which of course is an essential part of bronze so copper and tin makes bronze so it was like the
24:55kind of fuel of the bronze age um and these little boats were so important to culture and civilization
25:02that they end up in in the great works of literature of the day so so the very oldest work that we have
25:09surviving from humanity is called the epic of gilgamesh and in that these little boats are describing as
25:16helping people to escape from the great flood no less
25:25archaeologists have recently been excavating evidence of masira's earliest maritime pioneers
25:32which can be found scattered across the island if you know where to look
25:37so this must definitely be it okay so this might look like a giant sand dune but actually it is a huge
25:50prehistoric rubbish dump so where shells that were used and and the shellfish were eaten were left here
25:58dating back 8 000 years so although we might think of rubbish as you know just something where you throw
26:06away things for archaeologists and historians this is pure gold i mean it's just everywhere this is
26:14solid shell i'm standing on radiocarbon dating proves these middens go back to the sixth millennium bce
26:24making them some of the earliest evidence of human habitation on this side of the indian ocean
26:30in that midden they didn't just find shells they also found jewelry like this it's 8 000 years old
26:40so it wasn't just that they were using it kind of locally to kind of eat shellfish lunches they were
26:46mass producing this jewelry this place was a buzzing commercial center right the way back in the stone age
26:54bronze age shell objects found on the mainland offer further proof of those stylish ancient omani's
27:05ingenuity turning everyday cast-offs into timeless adornments this shell has got ancient frankincense
27:16still in it and this one i know it looks a little bit mucky but what that actually is is makeup
27:22it's coal you know the kind of black eyeliner that people still use and it was made either with
27:30the kinds of the oil of a fish or with burnt frankincense wood so you've got to think of the
27:36people here with this beautiful smell of frankincense in the air wearing this gorgeous jewelry both both
27:42men and women and having these ferocious coal-rimmed eyes
27:53with the tide out my new friends from last night are foraging the shallows and rock pools searching
28:00for more gifts of the sea
28:05salam
28:09thank you chagran
28:12these are some of these amazing um women i met uh last night these these bedwin women bedu normally
28:19means a desert dweller and people think of it as being associated with sands but these are the bedwin
28:24of the sea salam hello hi how are you sorry to bother you so these women there are only about 400 or
28:34so left and they've been fishing for generations and generations i love your this amani amani beautiful
28:44oh this is uh coal yeah yeah coal coal amani perfect all from masira but beautiful against the sun
28:52shams fantastic they have this natural sun cream which is made of sandalwood to prevent you getting
28:59sunburns from the shams very hot the sun is very hot here it looks beautiful it looks beautiful i need
29:08some do you want me to carry this for you do you want me to help i'll help
29:12hi how are you it's a good day do you get many hi yeah yeah lots of shells full full
29:24completely which is this one they're a clam what's this i don't i don't know my shellfish
29:32yeah
29:33uh-huh and so you can eat eat this and then yeah
29:44a little bit of a nip there from the catch yeah for the cool but they make the beautiful makeup that's
29:55oh that's awesome so thousands and thousands of years ago they did the same thing here so that's
30:02been carrying on that's incredible who taught you to fish like this oh sorry i keep on getting a nip from
30:11this one yes are your daughters learning to fish as well will it carry on yes the whole family
30:19but it's good makes for very strong women because this is really important work yes i've i've never
30:28before in my life met a bedouin fisherman woman so it's my honor to meet you from neolithic jewelry
30:38makers to traditions preserved for generations there is so much to love about being on this
30:46magical island but i think of all the things i've discovered probably my favorite is the fact that
30:53both in the present here and in the really distant past the people of masira have loved to wear omani
31:01coal this eyeliner which they hold in these lovely shells which are gifts from the sea so it's the most
31:09brilliant example of nature nourishing culture
31:23i'm back on the mainland for my next treasure oman's wadis across the centuries travelers have written
31:42about these stunning lifelines of human culture i'm on the trail of their unique story the wadis are these
31:52miraculous arteries of nature that connect the mountains to the sea wadi means river valley in arabic
32:03oman's home to hundreds of these channels that provide life to the desert interior i'm exploring one
32:12of oman's most significant and stunning wadi tiwi which hides clues to a hidden history
32:21wadi tiwi winds from the hajar mountains across to oman's northern coast extending for over 20 miles
32:36unlike most wadis tiwi flows with fresh water all year so life has flourished here for centuries
32:49the medieval explorer ibn batuta who originally came from morocco who traveled all over africa and
33:01asia came to wadi tiwi around 13 30 and he said it was one of the loveliest places of striking beauty
33:11flowing streams and an abundance of orchards he wasn't wrong
33:17watered by a communal irrigation system perfected a thousand years ago the gorge is still thick with
33:33bananas mangoes and dates by the way you can survive on just 15 dates a day and with dried fish coming up
33:43the wadi from the sea these were channels that sustained life and trade connecting ancient coastal settlements
33:52with inland villages
33:56the wadi also leads me to new archaeology that promises to uncover a historical enigma
34:03the truth behind a mysterious people that ancient greeks called the ichthyophagi
34:09the fish eaters i've arranged to meet somebody who i've never met before by the side of the road
34:15which is obviously not something you should normally do but it's because he's excavating this very
34:20exciting site this must be them romolo loreto is the archaeologist leading the investigation
34:27this is this this is the site yeah yes yes the site the later in age site of tiwi is up there
34:35amazing just the very top of the hill yes and we can get up there yes yes okay good
34:43i'll follow you romolo and his team are surveying a 2 000 year old settlement once home to these so-called
34:50fish eaters well life was not easy but they were in shape yeah that's for sure they were definitely
34:58more in shape than we are it's definitely a good workout these ancient people are depicted in greek
35:08and roman sources as sure dwelling savages without tools technology or even fire you can see on the
35:17that side of the cliff the houses you see they're right here they're right here
35:23uh huh i didn't realize we were so close 50 houses for around 300 people so you have these oval
35:31shaped small houses yeah one close to the other you can see all there where the the team is
35:39that the houses are cut inside the slope the ancient historian diodorus siculus dismissed the
35:47ichthyophagi as barbarians who go about entirely naked it is very exciting being here because
35:58you're discovering something that that tells a different story yes we can tell a different story
36:03you see the the architecture of these houses we are inside one of them yeah and that's already
36:10something because according to the sources they just lived in caves they are not
36:15uh such barbarians as they are depicted in the sources they have their own dignity they have their
36:22uh economy a complex society and this is a testimony of this kind of link i mean the trade to get
36:30shells beautiful shells like this yeah this is the mother pearl used to to make earrings
36:38it's amazing that you've got this that it shows that they had a sense of themselves they're wearing
36:43beautiful earrings they had a style you know they were stylish after all yeah well exactly i mean
36:49that because these are beautiful i'd have earrings made out of that so you imagine them here and they
36:55cared about how they looked and how they appeared yeah sure we know that they wear something and they
37:01should have been very smart because to survive in this landscape it's not an easy task yeah so this is
37:08also really fascinating here because these naughty guys from the west they say oh they didn't even know
37:14how to cook they said that they can't even use fire they just eat uh sushi yeah but not and you can see
37:22from outside of the base it's totally burnt so this is of course a cooking pot yeah well you see it's so
37:29brilliant that's how you like an archaeology can give people back their voices so they're going like if they
37:34if they if they were able to speak then of course we can cook look at this you know we loved our meals
37:39there's such a kind of like amazing wealth of stuff here so that one it's called the pilgrim flask
37:46is it okay sir hold yeah take it from the inside yeah from here do you want to take that please
37:53look at that look and this is for travelers yes use it on a camel horseback it's a sophisticated life you
38:03know they're traveling and they're meeting new people and exchanging ideas and understanding the
38:09world around them yes just this alone proves that those fish eaters had a had a bigger sense beyond
38:15these horizons of the sea and the mountains it's beautiful and thank you for letting me hold this
38:24fresh evidence of how the fish eaters shaped a culture from their landscape just keeps coming
38:30there are just two things i had to show you before i left this shell and this is really really special
38:38it's a species that only comes from masira island so that's around 150 miles away so this proves to us
38:47that these guys were traveling and trading but more than that it's one of the murex family and murex are
38:55basically um shellfish that naturally produce a really rich purple dye so just maybe the guys here
39:04are using this to dye their clothes and their scarves and their kind of head decorations this gorgeous royal
39:12purple and the excitement doesn't stop there because when we were here up on the site another archaeologist
39:19found this which is a lovely little um it's a pendant so just imagine the woman or man or child even who wore this
39:32in this beautiful place having a real sense of themselves and touching this two thousand years or so
39:40after it was dropped just short circuits you straight back to ancient history
39:49it's brilliant to see the life made possible by these wadis and to puncture ancient propaganda
39:58the people here actually lived complex lives harnessing the natural world around them
40:04and it's oman's brand new archaeology that's proving this
40:21i'm heading back to the capital muscat to find how all these treasures created by human interaction with
40:27nature travel through time a city made abundant by gifts of the earth and their trade across continents
40:40still sold in the city's souks from fish
40:46to fruits
40:48can i have a date yeah thank you
40:51can i can i look around okay does it smell nice
41:03oh it's very fruity isn't it that one fantastic thank you
41:10in the markets here you can actually buy gold frankincense and myrrh
41:21muscat is a fretwork of cultures from east and west south and north present and past bearing
41:33witness to foreign powers and its own maritime empire which stretched as far as iran and pakistan
41:40uncovered much of the east african coast a magnet for treasures born of global trade
41:51uh
41:58yeah so is it okay to open okay great when oman had a second imperial capital
42:04in zanzibar it's it's amazing to get a chance to be up this close to something so precious
42:10Chakran, chakran, chakran.
42:24So this represents a whole lifetime of this princess
42:28from Santa Bar.
42:29So as soon as she was born, she had a silver comb put
42:33under her back to keep it straight.
42:35And then after seven days, she was given a gift
42:38from the royal treasury.
42:42And then she'd be given a bit of silver every year after that.
42:48I love the fact you get coins put in as part of the necklace.
42:55So each one of these bits tells a story.
43:02That story isn't just told in the jewelry of princesses.
43:08Because there was so much wealth and so much trade
43:12from all over here, fashion started here of actually using coins
43:16from different places in jewelry.
43:18So if you look at this, for instance, you've got Indian rupees
43:22and a Maria Theresa Tala.
43:26A coin originally minted in Austria.
43:30So the Omanis are physically wearing their wealth.
43:36It's more evidence of how Omanis have always looked out
43:45to the world beyond their shores.
43:47Before I leave, I want to ask old friend and booker,
44:03prize-winning author, Yoka Al-Hadi, about what I've seen.
44:07We meet for a cup of tea at the city's Royal Opera House.
44:11I really wanted to talk to you because it's felt to me,
44:16travelling around the country, that this is a place where
44:20you really see nature creating culture.
44:24Yes, definitely.
44:26Sometimes I imagine Oman as a big shell,
44:31and it's open to the sea from everywhere.
44:35So all the waves came into it and brought people, goods, ideas,
44:43cultures, and eventually became part of Omani culture and Omani music.
44:50And this shell also has a gem, a pearl inside.
44:56And I think of it as a pearl because for the first glance,
45:01the beauty is not obvious to everybody.
45:04But if you go deeper, if you have a careful eye,
45:09then you can see its beauty, like a pearl inside a shell.
45:13That's such a beautiful way to put it.
45:15And it's so true that it's almost like the, as you say,
45:18sort of the spirit of the place.
45:19This is a hidden treasure.
45:21So, it's a city, but it's a city in nature.
45:35From the secret ports of its capital,
45:38the beaches of Masira Island,
45:41the stunning shifting sands of the deserts and lush ribbons of life in the wadis,
45:48Oman is a place where nature makes history.
45:52It's just extraordinary coming here when you think of the wealth that's being brought here from journeys like this across the sea and by land to create this real cornucopia of cultures here.
46:09And think about it, 5,000 years ago on tiny, tiny boats, sailors could have braved this Indian Ocean.
46:18These are adventures and quests and stories of human endurance and ingenuity that shaped civilization here and right across the world.
46:30Sandy Toksvig lives her dream as she joins extraordinary digs on the brink of discovering hidden wonders.
46:43Stream or watch Tuesday at 9 on War 4.
46:45Tonight on Channel 4, can experts identify Hitler's DNA for the very first time?
46:51And what will it reveal?
46:52Blueprint of a dictator at 9.
46:54Next up, glowworms and hot springs in New Zealand by train.
Recommended
46:38
|
Up next
58:48
52:22
20:46
43:12
43:11
21:25
21:21
47:18
45:55
21:21
21:25
1:30:07
45:29
46:40
46:30
46:05
47:05
50:07
54:30
Be the first to comment