Page 120 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
238

Physical Character

The Sultanate is divided by natural features into several distinct
tracts, or districts, which have recognized names. The dominant-
physical feature of the country is a range of mountains, begin-
nin" at Ras Musandam, the entrance of the Persian Gulf, and
sweeping round in a curve parallel to the coast to Ras el-Hadd,
which divides the Gulf of Oman from the Indian Ocean. The
mountainous point of the northern promontory, from Ras Musandam
to Dibah, is known as Ras el-Jebel, or Ru’us el-Jibal. The remainder
of the hill country is the Hajar of Oman ; immediately to the S. of
•Tebel Akhdhar, a group of lofty mountains to the SW. of Muscat,
the range is cut across by the great Wadi Sema’il, which divides it
into Western and Eastern Hajar. Between Western Hajar and
the sea is a populous coastal plain, known as Batinah, across which
a number of valleys descend, most of them thickly populated in
their upper courses. Behind Western Hajar are the two inland
districts of Dhahirah and Oman Proper, separated from each other
by the lateral range of Jebel Kor, and both of them fronting the
Great Desert. Inland of Eastern Hajar are the sandy districts of
Sharqiyah and Ja‘lan, bordering the desert, and not separated
from each other, nor from the more stony region of Oman Proper,
by any prominent natural feature. The desolate coastal tract,
from Ja'lan to Ras Nus, has no general name; off it lie the island
of Maslrah and the Kuria Muria group. Beyond Ras Nus lies the
district of Dhofar, consisting of a maritime plain embraced by the
crescent of the Samhan hills.
The two largest valleys are Wadi Sema’il and Wadi Halfein,
which rise on opposite sides of the same pass and form the chief lines
of communication between the coast and the interior. The Wadi
Sema’il is densely populated, and, with the Batinah coast, is the
principal seat of date cultivation ; the Wadi Halfein carries the
drainage of all the inland districts to the Indian Ocean and is the
longest, valley in Oman. The rocks are mainly of limestone, which
in places is metamorphic, but around Muscat there is a remarkable
outcrop of volcanic serpentine which extends for some ten miles
along the coast. In the hilly districts and in Ja'alan springs
and streams abound, many of them having a high temperature ;
but in the Batinah plain the water-supply is entirely from
wells, which are also found in some parts of Oman Proper and
Sharqiyah.
The deep water off the Oman coasts renders navigation com­ }
paratively simple, but there are few harbours or safe anchorages

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