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The rock art of Ẓufār, consisting of both engravings and paintings, was first documented through the pioneering work of Ali Ahmad Mahash al-Shahri in the early 1990s. He reported the presence of painted caves in the monsoon- affected coastal area and subsequently identified engraved rocks in the semi-desert region of the Nejd. Despite their significance, these paintings and engravings—including several rock inscriptions in the South Arabian alphabet (27- 29 letters) with a local variant that can be called ‘Omani script’, whose earliest traces date back to around the 4th-3rd century BCE —have not yet been the subject of systematic scientific study. The iconographic context includes animals (mainly ibex, camels, dogs, snakes), anthropomorphs, footprints, ships and inscriptions in Ancient Arabic alphabet. Two fieldwork campaigns, conducted in 2023 and 2024 by the CNRS–CEFREPA (Centre Français de Recherches de la péninsule Arabique) with the authorization of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism of Oman, mark the beginning of such an effort. The project included the complete recording of a boulder from Wadi Lahjeej, now housed in the Oman Across Ages Museum, carried out with the support of the museum’s directorate. A multi-level documentation process has been initiated, comprising the inventory of engraved rocks with GPS coordinates, a photographic survey, plastic-sheet tracings of the engravings, the compilation of a figure catalogue, and the establishment of a relative chronology leading to preliminary interpretative hypotheses. Particular attention is devoted to identifying and characterizing the figurative styles represented in the rock art of Ẓufār—both in the cave paintings and in the Nejd rock carvings. In addition, a comparative study of the inscriptions is underway to determine whether the painted scripts found in the caves differ from those engraved on rocks in the Nejd. The language of the rock inscriptions will also be determined: Old South Arabian epigraphic as Hadramatic epigraphic, Old Shahri, or Old Arabic, or another unknown local language. Finally, the project seeks to investigate the possible connections between the rock art of Ẓufār and that of Central Oman (Al-Wusta Governorate) and the northern regions of the Sultanate of Oman.
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The discovery in 2020 of the Nafūn rock art complex, located in al-Wustā Governorate in south-central Oman, has emerged as one of the most extensive rock art sites in south-eastern Arabia. To date, the archaeological investigations led by the Institute of Archaeology Prague and the permission of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, has brought to the discovery of 61 flat limestone panels, bearing approximately 1000 engraved figures and 200 rock inscriptions offering further evidence of the regional use of South Arabian writing traditions (abecedary of 27-29 letters) used in South Arabian kingdom who are Sabaic, Qatabanic, Minaic and Hadramatic inscriptions, as is the case with the North Arabian variants (Dadanite, Lihyanite, Thamudic, Safaitic, etc.). This variant - Omani script - was also used in the Ẓofār region and in the north of Sultanat of Oman, whose earliest traces date back to around the 4th-3rd century BCE (in the Khôr Rôrî in Ẓofār region). The engravings depict a remarkable variety of subjects, including maritime fauna such as sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), sperm whales, squid, jellyfish, ray fish, and mola mola, alongside the more characteristic representations of dromedary camels—sometimes mounted—horsemen engaged in hunting scenes featuring oryx and wild canids, and other terrestrial motifs. The Nafūn assemblage attests to a long and complex rock art tradition that can be tentatively dated from the 5th millennium BCE to the 2nd millennium CE, providing an unparalleled window into the evolution of cultural expressions and lifeways in the Arabian Peninsula over a span of more than six millennia.
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