HvWO 025

Antique Omani pounder 500 to 4000 years old
!
Steatite Soapstone Omani pounder.

 

Very rare hammer / pounder made of steatite or doriet. One side shaped rounder than the other.  One similar pounder was found during the Julfar excavations in a layer from around 1500 (could also be a reused item from much earlier date) see reference 1. In museum Al Ain several identical examples are shown dating from the second Millennium BC (3000-4000 years old). Length 33 cm diameter widest section approx 7,2 cm

 

 

 

 Ancient Pounder

Name: "Antique Omani pounder" ?

Period: Second to third millennium  BC (according to Al Ain museum based on findings Um-an-nar ) to around 1500 ( based on one archaeological find at Julfar). The pounder from Julfar is about 10 cm longer than this pounder and the pounders in the Al Ain Museum, but the shape and material seems identical.

Origin:  Oman (similar item discussed in the archaeological excavations at Julfar). Purchased in Nizwa  (old copper souq) early 1980´s.

    References:
  1. Museum Al Ayn has several identical examples dating from the second Millennium BC. See slide-show for photo.
  2.  John Hansman Julfar an Arabian port Its settlement and far eastern ceramic trade from the 14th to the 18th century page 6 (see text bottom right Level III) Plate 4.a, page 91 fig d.  Found in a layer dating from the fifteenth century. Dating based on Chinese pottery sherds in that layer. Length 43 cm 10 cm diameter. The stone was probably used to crush grain a a stone mortar.
  3. 2016 The bronze age towers at Bat, Sultanate of Oman Researched by the Bat Archaeological Project 2007-2012 edited by P. Thornton etc. Published by University of Pennsylvania 330 pages

Together the Unesco  world heritage sites of Bat, al Khutm and Al Ayn  form the most complete collection of 3rd  Millennium BC settlements and necropolises in the world.

Below you find a Youtube film about the Al Ayn necropolis in the UAE  similar to some of the beehive graves found in Oman e.g. in Baht: