Inqitat

A promontory in Dhofar with numerous traces of human presence: a local settlement (HAS1), traces of South Arabian occupation and an Early Islamic settlement (HAS2) involved in Indian Ocean trade activities.

Location

The promontory of Inqitat, also named Khatiya, is located ca. 2 km from the South Arabian city of Sumhuram in the Archaeological Park of Khor Rorī. The promontory is about 30 metres above sea level, and located on the east shore of the mouth of the Wādī Darbāt, in the region of Dhofar.

History of research

The area was surveyed by the Missione Italiana in Dhofar (MID) and the Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO) from 1996 to 1998 and in 2006. J. Zarins also mentioned the Islamic settlement in the area (Newton & Zarins 2019).

In 2000/2001, an excavation campaign was carried out in order to clarify the chronology of the Islamic settlement (called HAS2) (Rougeulle 2008).

In 2016, the IMTO returned to the plateau, and the excavation was followed by the DHOMIAP project after 2018. The new investigations, however, focused on the zone outside the area of the previously mentioned Islamic settlement.

Archaeological remains

The HAS1 settlement is located in the western part of the northern plateau, while the HAS2 settlement is located in the eastern part of the northern plateau. The area of HAS1 is covered with several circular megalithic structures that appear to extend over an area of approximately 2 hectares. These structures are circular or semi-circular in shape (3-4.5 m in diameter) and are made of megalithic stones.

The entrances consist of two parallel, upright megalithic stones with a threshold in between them. Usually, a step leads to the floor, made of virgin rock and sometimes levelled by stone slabs. The upper part of the structures has not been preserved, but the findings indicate that it probably consisted of wooden beams covered with light organic materials covered with clay. In the excavated area, structures can be juxtaposed, interconnected or not related to each other. The materials found inside suggest a livelihood based on family production, with specialised activities, such as beadmaking. The pottery finds include imported materials such as amphorae and Indian pottery, alongside locally produced handmade pottery. The study of the midden on the southern edge of the northern plateau is also of fundamental importance for understanding the activities and use of the settlement (Lischi 2019).

Recently, a South Arabian building was found in the eastern area of the northern plateau (Lischi 2021).

History/Chronology

Some lithic materials (Hilbert & Lischi 2020) suggest a probably sporadic human presence during the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods. The Iron Age and the Classical period are clearly represented by the HAS1 settlement and the middens. The presence of a South Arabian building points to settlement after the 1st/2nd centuries CE. Subsequently, the area was abandoned until the Early Islamic period (10th-11th centuries CE), as evidenced by the HAS2 settlement.

Silvia Lischi

References and suggesting readings

• Hilbert, Y.H. & S. Lischi. 2020. The lithic industry from the Iron Age coastal settlement HAS1 (Inqitat), southern Oman, in Stone Tools of Prehistoric Arabia (Supplement to Volume 50 of the PSAS): 177–191. Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Lischi, S. 2019. Risultati preliminari delle ricerche archeologiche presso l’insediamento HAS1 di Inqitat, Dhofar (2016-2019). EVO 42: 119–134.
• Lischi, S. 2021. Notes on the South Arabian occupation of Inqitat, in G. Hatke & R. Ruzicka (eds) South Arabian long-distance trade in Antiquity. ‘Out of Arabia’: 228–244. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Lischi, S. 2023. A First Definition of the Dhofar Coastal Culture. Archaeological Exploration on the Inqitat Promontory in the Khor Rori Area (Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman). Ancient Civilizations and Cultural Resources 1: 23–38. https://isac.w3.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/publication/doc/accr1-2_lischi.pdf.
• Newton, L.S. & J. Zarins. 2019. Dhofar Through the Ages: An Ecological, Archaeological and Historical Landscape. Oxford: Archaeopress. DOI: 10.2307/j.ctvndv7n0.
• Rougeulle, A. 2008. A medieval trade entrepôt at Khor Rorī? : the study of the Islamic ceramic from Hamr al-Sharqiya, in A. Avanzini (ed.) A port in Arabia between Rome and the Indian Ocean (3rd c. BC - 5th c. AD). Khor Rori report 2 (Arabia Antica, 5): 645–667. Rome: "L’Erma" di Bretschneider.

_{Alternate spellings: Khatiya}