Daily Diary: I kicked off Muscat Festival in Qu'rum Park and traditional Omani architecture facts to do with mud bricks and sarooj

So, last night I headed out to Qu'rum park to kick-off Muscat festival with a visit to the Omani heritage village there.

My intention was to learn to do half-tanjeem's for my Omani Kuma embroidery (I suck at these little traditional knotted stitches), to weave a palm mat to the embarassment of some, and to learn how to restore a traditional Omani house that is falling down.

I know, not your AVERAGE Muscat-Festival go-er, but this was my OPNO agenda.

First off though, I did the tourist bit and got some yummy traditionally made Omani food, and bought some freshly made laban. Not a fan of it, but some of those I was with totally are. I also nearly bought traditional Omani dresses from Dhofar, Al Wusta, and Ad Dakliyah because the prices were good, and an Omani silver anklet. But I resisted. I will be back so do not waste all my pay check at once was my thinking.

I also watched the (minscule) firework show, and strange laser neon thingies parade. I had to, because I wanted to leave at the time of both and was stuck in the traffic.

At the heritage village I plopped myself down with some Omani ladies weaving blankets and embroidering kumas. If you want to learn traditional crafts, Muscat Festival is the free-est tuition for the old arts that you can get.

After my kuma half-tanjeem embroidery was improved, and I was espousing my favourite abaya shopping haunt in MQ to a group of women "MashaAllah-ing" my abaya, I headed to the area close to where they had some rather skinny donkies pulling the traditional style well. Don't they usually use the ox for that?

Here, I found Omani men making bricks the traditional way.

First off, I learnt that once the grains were stripped from the wheat shafts, the straw was put in a pile hacked and whacked by men in a circle with heavier date frond tips smacking it into small pieces.

To make a traditional mud brick, the kind used to build the houses in Al Hamra in Ad Dakliyah region for example, you take this hay, and mix it with mud, about 60% straw and the wet clay-like mud. This is cut with a mould that slices the bricks into squares. While still wet, these mud bricks are stacked on/and with stones and they bake together in the sun, to make your structure. I need to go back for more on this, because my structure skills are weak, and I neglected to ask the precise ammount of time before another layer of bricks is added/ ie how dry do they have to be?

I also learned how to make the stronger building component in traditional Omani architecture, sarooj. Sarooj is made by making mud into cakes and burning them a series of times between coals of searing palm bark. After the mud is baked and the fire is out, it is smashed into powder and then water is added to it to make the right consistancy and thus you have a cement stronger than cement to be used to secure stones together. This is what is used to repair old falaj systems and to make Omani fortresses. I intend to diagram/sketch and label the process, as I will be, within two summers, working on repairing some old village houses belonging to MOP and his wife.

Who were with me at the festival, BTW.

MOP threatened OPNOother with divorce if she jumped on a donkey with the kids, so that SERRIOUSLY tempted her to do so, but all was well, since she was wearing a designer abaya and she didn't want to get donkey on it, and MOP would never divorce my girl.

Afterwards, we got icecream, and played with street cats in Al Qu'rum since it was a long, long walk to the car. By Omani standards anyways.

Bahla- Ad Dakliyah Region

My husband's tribe used to war alot with the folks at Bahla. Why? I don't know really, nor does he, but I am sure it had to do with water or good farms or something. Either way, my husband's tribe is rather superstitious about the people of Bahla, mumbling alot of stories about witches and Jinn [which I love to hear because some of them are SOOOOOOOOo funny, and others give you chills] and attributing them to the ill will of those from Bahla towards those from [____]. Yet, being that the family farm sold dates in Bahla souq, it remains one of his favourite souqs. Yet I am not allowed to go, because apparently it is not a souq Omani women frequent. Which just means I will go without him with my Western friends;). Best of both worlds, I tell you. MOP will ask us "What are you OPNO girls doing this weekend?" "Going to the tailor in such-and-such place near Bahla" we will recite innocently, then head down to the souq, where he will never hear tell of it, because those folks at Bahla don't care much for him anyways:). Actually, I think that whole tribal blood feud thing died out with MOP's father, but I'll ask the folks of Bahla how it all started. MOP's stories of Jinn and witches, while colourful, are probably not the most historically accurate rendition of Bahla's tribal past. ***benefit of not going with MOP: we will be allowed to eat & drink things/foods cooked by the people of Bahla without fearing poison or spell craft*** Old Bahla really fascinates me. It was quite important to Oman historically.The ruins of the immense fort for which Bahla is famous, with its walls and towers of unbaked brick and its stone foundations, is a remarkable example of this type of fortification and attests to the power of the Banu Nebhan. At the foot of the Djebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) lie the fortresses of Rustaq to the north, and Izki, Nizwa and Bahla to the south. These have all been capitals at some time in their history, and as a consequence have played an important role in the history of Oman. It was here that the Kharijite communities resisted all attempts at 'normalization' by Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, and put into practice their religious concepts, which were at once radically puritanical and democratic. [Alot of that copied directly from Wikipedia :D] . OPNO wouldn't write "puritan". I tend to like Puritans so long as they are hypocritical persecuting 'Scarlet Letter" kinds :)

Not far from the capital of Oman, the oasis of Bahla owed its prosperity to the Banu Nabhan who, from the mid-12th to the end of the 15th centuries, imposed their rule on the other tribes. Only the ruins of what was a glorious past now remain in this magnificent mountain site.

Yet the town and village is very much alive, as the souq being MOP's favourite attests to, and Bahla pottery being some of the most prized in Oman... Turn left – just opposite the Fort and visit the old Souq and Market place – many Omanis believe (including MOP & KH), that the huge Sycomore Tree in the centre of the Market place is bewitched and spreads its power over the village. However, should you dare to enter the village, and explore the narrow old lanes, they will lead you to the famous pottery. Many families still make their living out of designing and burning clay for Water buckets (to be seen all over the country), Flowerpots etc… Bahla Fort is an outstanding example of the characteristic military architecture of the Sultanate of Oman.
Built on a stone base, the adobe walls and towers of the immense fort probably include some structural elements of the pre-Islamic period, but the major part of the constructions dates from the prosperous time of the Banu Nabhan, with the latest reconstruction dating from the beginning of the 16th century. At the foot of the fort, to the south-west, lies the Friday Mosque with its beautiful sculpted mihrab (prayer niche) probably dating back to the 14th century.
These monuments are inseparable from the small town of Bahla and its souk, palm grove and adobe ramparts surrounding the oasis, a remarkable work with towers, doors and underground irrigation channels. The monuments of Bahla were in a critical state when it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. It had never been restored (thereby conserving a high degree of authenticity), and was not protected by any conservation measures. The terrace of the Friday Mosque had not undergone maintenance work, and it collapsed between 1981 and 1983, causing the arches to cave in and the wall plastering to be torn away, thus endangering the mihrab (prayer niche) in the building, which the Ibadite community had abandoned in favour of the new mosque. A detailed survey was made in 1977 by the Omani Archaeology Department, but restoration work did not make any headway until 1988. This was entirely financed by the Omani Government, with photogrammetric recording by the Mining Museum in Bochum (Germany). By 2005 it was virtually complete. I am also a fan of Bahla's giant new-ish Mosque/Masjid.

Omani Architecture: OPNO's favourite Mosques, for the eye, and the soul

My favourite Mosque from the highway, driving as a teen non-muslim, was always Al Zulfa Mosque, in Seeb. I have never gone to pray there yet, but my husband promised to take me. He laughs that I like this Masjid (aka Mosque so much) having never been inside and not knowing what sect of Islam it is for (Ibadhi, shia, sunni ect). Whoever is there, lol, I like the buidling.

OPNO hates... this style of decorating, ick:p

I really, really hating overly guilded furniture in a faux-french setting, ie the Arab home. It NEVER comes across as classy to me, but reminds me of a badly staged soap opera about catty rich & famous that I'd be ashamed to watch (good thing I don't other than in arabic, which I don't understand, so when i translate, it is more SCRUBS than whatever Kuwaiti drama about a stolen dress it happens to be in actuality).

I must admit, the majority of classical furniture in Oman is of this kind, so it IS part of the culture, but I don't like it, nor do I accept it. I don't know why but OPNO finds it rather preposterous and strange. And usually it is not complete, the gilded furnished room has a fan beating overhead, not a crystal chandelier. Or the gilt furniture has a cheap plastic-y looking brocade on it. Egyptian and Kuwaiti soap operas, here we come, imitating a commercial Arab pop culture.

Some people see all that marble and guilding as lux, but I see the maids and the cheap fabric on the couch pillows, and I don't see it as anything close. Luxury is effortless, and comfortable, in order to be just that. Elegance is refusal, not ostentation. And I am no minimalist.But when your entire house is covered in marble like below, it kind of looks like a bathroom. No offense. Just my ignorant, NOTREALLYOMANI opinion.