Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient tomb dating back 2,300 years in Oman, which contains weapons that trace back to the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization, according to a report in the Times of Oman . The discovery reveals the far reaching influence of the Indus Valley Civilization.

The tomb was found during an excavation located around 22km south of Sinaw in Oman. The underground chamber, which dates back to 300 BC, contained the remains of a middle-aged man with a robe, woollen cap, and leather boots, along with his personal arms – a sword and two daggers. The sword has an intricate handle partly covered with textured ivory shaped like an eagle's beak. The daggers were tied on the right and left sides of his waist, and nearby were the remains of three camels which had been slaughtered. The man’s garments and sword suggest he was a chieftain of a tribe.

The weapons were found to be made of iron and steel and scientific analysis has linked them to the Indus Valley civilization, a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BC) which extended from what is today northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. It is one of the three oldest urban civilizations, along with Egypt and Mesopotamia, but it is the least understood. Its script is yet to be deciphered, and the knowledge of social structures and life during that period is scant.

Tehsil Phillaur, Indus Valley site. Image: Wikimedia

Sultan Bensaif Al Bakri, director of Excavations and Archaeological Studies of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture has said that this finding may prove the influence of the Indus Valley civilization on Oman. The Ministry of Heritage and Culture will restore these arms and will display these models in the proposed national museum scheduled to open at the end of this year.

Featured image: The tomb of the two millennium old site. Credit: Ministry of Heritage and Culture

By April Holloway