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Abstract The article provides a brief overview of the Omani mosques that the Italian archaeologist P.M. Costa classified into two groups in the 1970s based on their floor plans, architectural features, and decorative elements: those from the northern inland regions and those situated along the Indian Ocean coast. A new mosque recently brought to light by the Italian Archaeological Mission to al-Balīd of the University of Naples L’Orientale belongs to this second group.
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The archaeological site of Al-Baleed (ancient Ẓafar), located in the Dhofar region of southern Oman, is one of the most important Islamic port cities of the Indian Ocean. Since 2021, the University of Naples L’Orientale has been conducting research at the site in collaboration with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, with the aim of understanding of its urban development, economic role, and long-term occupation within the broader framework of Islamic settlement in southern Arabia. As a major hub along the maritime routes of the Indian Ocean, Al-Baleed offers a privileged perspective on long-distance commercial networks linking southern Arabia with other Islamic lands, the Indian subcontinent and China. Archaeological evidence allows the reconstruction of the urban settlement, as well as patterns of exchange, circulation of goods, and economic strategies typical of a medieval port city, highlighting its central role within regional and interregional trade systems. After addressing these broader commercial dynamics, the research has progressively shifted towards the investigation of everyday life practices. Recent excavations have brought to light religious and productive spaces that provide insight into how the city functioned on a daily basis. In particular, contexts related to food preparation and consumption shed light on diet, subsistence strategies, and shared practices within the urban community. These data also open new avenues for exploring social and communal behaviours, including shared meals, coffee drinking, shisha use, and betel chewing, as integral components of daily life in a cosmopolitan port environment. Alongside research activities, the project places strong emphasis on heritage valorisation. One of the main challenges lies in communicating the complexity of Al-Baleed in an effective and meaningful way, capable of conveying both its role within Indian Ocean trade networks and the lived experiences of its inhabitants. Digital documentation, interpretative tools, and narrative strategies are therefore conceived as core components of the project, essential for presenting the site’s history in a coherent and engaging manner.
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The Italian archaeological mission of L’Orientale in the Dhofar region was established several years ago and has carried out some short surveys and two excavation campaigns (December 2021-January 2022 and December 2022-January 2023). The main objective of the mission is to continue research at the archaeological site of Al Baleed (ancient Ẓafār) –located in the Salalah area, which has been the subject of numerous archaeological investigation since the middle of the last century. The site covers more than 1.5 km × 800 m, but a large part still remains unexplored, and questions concerning its foundation, stratigraphic sequences and the materials that have been brought to light still require in-depth investigation. In order to gain a deeper knowledge of the occupation of the area in the medieval Islamic period, it is considered equally necessary to undertake research and study of the numerous burial spaces in the Salalah area. Within this context, the mission began a survey aimed at documenting the large cemeteries located in the western part of the site of Al Baleed (outside the boundary wall) and at Al Robat, two areas which, on preliminary investigation, appear to preserve the oldest funerary evidence.
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