The Medieval Town and Port of Damā (As Sib) on the Southern al-Bāṭinah Plain, Oman: Archaeological Fieldwork of the Italian-German-Omani Project in 2013

In May 2013 Göesta Hoffmann and Maurizio Tosi had the opportunity to document some surface clusters of Islamic period remains in the wilayāt Sīb, along the coastal area between Wadi Al Lawami and Wadi Al Khars. This consisted mainly of pottery dated between the early to late Islamic period (8th to 20th centuries CE). In June 2013, on behalf of the then Ministry of Heritage and Culture, a first survey allowed us to recognise more archaeological materials focused around al-Rawḏah Roundabout and the remains of a fort made of mudbricks and heavily obliterated by vegetation further to the south. In light of written sources referring to the ancient settlement of Damā as located in the southern al-Bāṭinah plain probably identifiable as As Sib (Seeb), further field analyses were undetaken in September 2013 in order to define the geoarchaeological landscape via systematic survey, investigative excavations, and the definition of the paleo coastline pertaining to the fort. The results of the project support the hypothesis that the ancient town and harbour of Damā is indeed to be located in present day As Sib.