Oman

Where the name comes from

Oman may continue Omana or Omanon in classical accounts, possibly meaning Sohar; its origin and meaning are uncertain.

First people

Arabian societies lived here and traded across the Indian Ocean, and Bronze Age Magan supplied copper to Mesopotamia.^1,2

Known for

Oman is known for frankincense, harvested from trees in Dhofar for thousands of years.³

Outside contact

Portugal seized Muscat in 1507, and Omani forces drove out the Portuguese in 1650.¹

The modern country

Oman then built a sea empire with ports along East Africa, and in the 1800s its sultan even moved his court to Zanzibar.⁴