The Maritime Archaeology of Al Hallaniyah, Khuriya Muriya Islands, Oman
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2018
Al Hallaniyah is the only inhabited of the five Khuriya Muriya Islands located in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Oman. They lie on a number of historic global maritime routes are mentioned by several early writers. Research conducted by Blue Water Recoveries in 1998 indicted that the island may also be the site of the wrecks of two Portuguese Naus, lost during the fourth Portuguese Armada to the Indies. In 2013-215 Blue Water Recoveries led a team from the US, UK and Oman to survey the underwater cultural heritage of, Ghubbat ar Rahib Bay, off the coast of Al Hallanyah and later to conduct an excavation with Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Culture of a 16th century European shipwreck located during this survey. The symposium details the capacity building within Oman that has resulted from both the survey and subsequent multidisciplinary research that resulted from this work.
Other Keywords
Esmeralda •
Shipwreck •
Oman •
Conservation •
Burials •
Material Culture •
Shipwrecks •
Human Remains •
Ordnance •
Portuguese
Temporal Keywords
1498-1503 •
16th Century •
sixteenth century •
1500 •
Early Modern Period •
16th-20thCentury
Geographic Keywords
Western Europe •
Isle of Man (State / Territory) •
England (State / Territory) •
Wales (State / Territory) •
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nort (Country) •
Scotland (State / Territory) •
Northern Ireland (State / Territory) •
Ulster (State / Territory) •
Leinster (State / Territory) •
Isle of Man (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)
- Documents (7)
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Analysis Of Artefacts From The Portuguese Nau Esmeralda (1503) (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Following the recent discovery and identification of the wreck site of two Portuguese naus from Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India lost in 1503 off the coast of Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman, a series of scientific analyses were conducted to better understand the origin, manufacture and use of certain types of the recovered artefacts. The artefacts studied include stone shot, composite lead/iron shot, breech powder chambers, coins and a rare copper-alloy disc that has the appearance of an...
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Conservation of artifacts from a Portuguese wreck: An opportunity for learning (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The wreck of the Esmerelda, a Nau from Vasco da Gama's second voyage to India was discovered during survey in 1998 and excavated over two seasons. The Omani Ministry of Heritage and Culture (MHC) worked with Bournemouth University and Blue water recoveries to create the project, the first of it's kind in Oman. The project is now part of the development of a marine archaeological department within Oman training archaeologists within the MHC in the survey, excavation and protection of marine...
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Identification of Vasco da Gama's Lost Ships Esmeralda and São Pedro (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
In 1998 the search began for two Portuguese vessels lost off the coast of Oman in 1503. Detailed analysis of primary and secondary sources describing the sinking included topographic, climatological and demographic information led to a bay on the NE coast of Al Hallaniyah Island. Visual searches revealed types of shot only known in 15/16th century contexts. Excavation in 2013 /2014 yielded 975 composite shot found within a large concretion in a shallow gully together with 20 powder chambers...
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Material Culture from an early 16th century Portuguese Indiaman wreck site (Oman) (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
In early 1502 Vasco da Gama left Lisbon commanding an India Armada. During the voyage, the group of ships stopped in different locations along the West and East African coasts, such as Mozambique, finally sailing to India where they stayed until early 1503. Before departing back to Portugal, some of these ships remained on the Indian Ocean to disrupt maritime trade between India and the Red Sea. Two of those vessels, the Esmeralda and the São Pedro, wrecked off the coast of Oman in 1503. The...
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Portuguese East Indiamen Shipwrecks Of 1503. Al-Hallaniya Island, Oman. The Land Archaeology Survey And Excavations (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
In the spring of 2013 and 2014 I participated in the "Portuguese East Indiamen Shipwrecks of 1503" project conducted by Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Culture and Blue Water Recoveries Ltd. (Midhurst, UK). The focus was upon identifying the shipwrecks associated with the 1503 Portuguese East India expedition. The work described here was an archaeological survey and excavation on Al-Hallaniyah Island in areas where potential Portuguese burials might have occurred. Initial results identified 60+...
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Public-Private Partnership Model For Excavation Of The Portuguese Nau Esmeralda (1503) (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The financial, technical and logistical challenge of a long-term project to survey, excavate and scientifically analyze important cultural heritage material from the wreck site of Esmeralda, a Portuguese nau from Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India lost in 1503 off the coast of Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman, was only possible through the combined and cooperative efforts of a number of public and private entities, including Oman’s Ministry of Heritage (MHC) and Culture, Blue Water Recoveries,...
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The Search for Vasco da Gama’s Lost Ships - Esmeralda and São Pedro (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
Two Portuguese ships from Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India, left behind to disrupt maritime trade through the Red Sea, were wrecked during a storm in 1503 on the coast of Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman. The remains of at least one of the ships was found in 1998 prompting a search for the second ship that was undertaken in 2013 as a collaborative project with Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Culture. A marine geophysical survey of the area identified a number of targets which were investigated...