Fulayj: A Fortified Stronghold on the Batinah and an Archaeological Window into the Formation of the Islamic Polity of Oman

We are pleased to invite you to this upcoming event at the British Omani Society. Fulayj: A Fortified Stronghold on the Batinah and an Archaeological Window into the Formation of the Islamic Polity of Oman.

Fulayj Fort is located on the Batinah coastal plain of Oman, 30km to the southeast of the famous medieval port of Sohar. It is a square, regularly planned and heavily defended, stone-built fortification with projecting corner towers. Fulayj bears all the hallmarks of a professional military construction. Its size, at 30m2, it is too limited to have housed a significant military detachment. It may therefore have formed part of a wider defensive system designed to control the economically important coastal Batinah and Sohar hinterland. Excavations at Fulayj in 2015 and 2016, supported by the European Research Council, confirmed our suspicion that it was built in the late pre-Islamic period around the 5th century AD, as part of the effort to military control the region and settle a Persian population under the authority of Oman’s powerful northern neighbour: the Sasanian Empire (224-651 AD). The rapid growth and consolidation of political power marked by the Islamic conquest of Arabia during the second quarter of the 7th century, also marked the reassertion of Arab rule over the whole territory of Oman. In many ways, this established the construct that endures as the Islamic polity of Oman today.

Significantly, Fulayj was reoccupied and internally modified in the decades leading up to a following the Islamic conquest. As such, Fulayj represents one of the most relevant contexts currently known for a detailed archaeological analysis of this historic transformation in Eastern Arabia. A renewed investigation of the site began in 2022 with the support of the British Omani Society. Results from the current investigation shed further light and detail on the complexity of the fort’s occupational history. The presentation will outline the significance and importance of Fulayj, and detail some of the latest findings from our investigation. We will also consider the broader significance of the Sohar region and the Batinah as the historic breadbasket of Oman.

Seth Priestman is an archaeologist and ceramic specialist with over twenty years of experience and publication track record across Arabia, Iran, the Caucasus, East Africa and Japan. His main research, including his doctoral study, focuses on long term changes in the maritime economy of the Indian Ocean region and the Gulf using ceramic finds as a proxy for wider historic reconstruction. This work culminated last year in his major two-volume publication on Ceramic Exchange and the Indian Ocean Economy published by the British Museum. Dr Priestman has previously held research positions with the British Museum, and the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Southampton. He has also worked widely in private consultancy for museum development and heritage protection projects across the GCC. He currently holds the post of Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University. His work in Oman, support by the British Omani Society, is the subject of the present lecture.

Date: 16th November 2022
Time: 5:30pm reception for 6:00pm start (UK)
Location: 34 Sackville St, London