First Occurrences of Scorpion Decorative Patterns in Oman. Implications for such a Symbolic Display among the Wādī Banī Ḫālid Late Iron Age Ware

The 2024 campaign of the University of Naples L’Orientale project in wādī banī Ḫālid, ash-Sharqiya North, Sultanate of Oman, started the investigation of Fort WBK49, a mighty 80 x 40m site discovered in 2023. Among the materials that emerged, two fragments of large storage jars decorated with the scorpion motifs, an iconography first attested in an Iron Age Oman context, stand out. The type and fabric of the vessels allow the site of WBK49 and its materials to be attributed to the 4th-2nd centuries BCE. Therefore, this paper introduces the artefacts found and proposes an initial interpretation of them in the context of their discovery. Indeed, the reason for the adoption of such an iconography may vary according to its meaning and function, whether of a religious nature, of power or as a symbol for seasonal forecasting, especially in light of the polyvalence of the scorpion as a symbol as well as an element with an apotropaic function in the surrounding regions (Mesopotamian, Iran, Anatolia, Egypt) and later Islamic culture.