496 REPORT — 1895. 



the utilising of them to erect mosques, many of which are now standing 

 in a fair state of pi-eservation. 



We tried to find the site of the oracle of which Ptolemy S23eaks, but 

 could not come to a satisfactory spot until we visited the mountains, and 

 in the Wadi Nehaz, about 9 miles from the capital, just at the foot of the 

 mountains, we found a curious natural hole, about 150 feet deep and 50 feet 

 in diameter. Around this there was a wall of Saba?an origin which had a 

 massive gatepost, and in the immediate vicinity were traces of many 

 ruins. For several reasons I am inclined to believe that this is the site 

 of the oracle mentioned by Pcolemy. In the first place, the hole resembles 

 in character the site chosen for an oracle in the ancient world, bearing a 

 remarkable resemblance to the holes which existed in Cilicia, the oracles of 

 the Corycian and Olbian Zeus, and several other spots in Greece. Secondly, 

 Yakout tells us that the abode of the Adites was half a day's journey 

 from Mansura, the term Adites generally being given to the adherents of 

 the ancient cult ; and, thirdly, because there is no other spot on the plain 

 of Dhofar where one can say there is a probability of an oracle existing. 



Yakout further tells us that 20 parasangs from Mansura wns the ex- 

 cellent harbour, frequented by the crafts on the way to and from India, and 

 by merchants in search of frankincense. The author of the Pei'iplus refers 

 to this harbour, and calls it Moscha, and Ibn Khaldun also speaks of it as 

 Merbat. As we journeyed along the coast we were constantly on the 

 look out for this harbour, and on the second day, after leaving the ruins 

 of the capital, we reached the village of Takha, in the vicinity of which 

 are traces of many ruins scattei'ed about, but inferior in architecture to 

 those at Al Balad. Next morning we were conducted by the natives 

 round a headland, and there saw a long sheet of water stretching inland, 

 but silted up at the mouth by a sxnd belt, over which the sea flows at high 

 tide. This same sand belt now separates from the shore a rocky island 

 with traces of fortifications on it. There can be no doubt but that this is 

 the harbour, and the island rock guarded the double entrance to it before 

 the invasion of the sand. The harbour is deep, and extends inland about 

 a mile and a half, and there are many ruins around it. Here we have 

 the partus nohilis of the Periplus, the harljour to which the frankincense 

 merchants came, and it is, as Yakout tells us, just 20 parasangs from the 

 capital. The term Moscha, given to it in the Periplus, is a common term 

 given to bays and inlets on the AraVjian coast. Merbat, the name given 

 it by Arabian writers, is still retained in the headland 12 miles east, 

 where Arab dhows find a shelter during the north-east monsoons, but 

 it afTords no other harbourage, and Ptolemy's name for this place is 

 Abyssapolis, a name which I consider to be derived from the great abyss 

 which I have already described as existing a few miles inland, and which 

 must have been a conspicuous and well-known object to all merchants 

 who frequented this port. Ptolemy, as it will be seen fi'om the name 

 given to the capital, gave Greek names, or equivalents, to the places on 

 this coast, and in naming this place he evidently used the most con- 

 spicuous object in its vicinity. Thus we were able to recon.struct on fairly 

 probable lines the geographical features of this frankincense district, and 

 fix the position of the sites of its towns. 



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