Culture
| This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. |
Outwardly, Oman shares many of the cultural characteristics of its Arab neighbours, particularly those in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Despite some superficial similarities, important factors make Oman unique in the Middle East. These are as much a product of geography and history as of culture and economic change.
The relatively recent and artificial nature of the state in Oman means that it is difficult to describe a national culture. Furthermore, there is sufficient cultural heterogeneity within its national boundaries to consider Oman differently from other Arab States of the Persian Gulf. It is also claimed that Oman's cultural diversity is much greater than that of its Arab neighbours, given its historical expansion to East Africa and the Indian Ocean.
The shipbuilding industry is traditional in Oman, as ships have played a major role in the Omanis' ability to sail to stay in touch with the civilisations of the ancient world. Sur was one of the most famous cities overlooking the Indian Ocean to manufacture ships. The Al Ghanja ship takes one whole year to build. Other types of Omani ship include As Sunbouq and Al Badan.
Read more about this topic: Religion In Oman
Famous quotes containing the word culture:
“Our culture is ill-equipped to assert the bourgeois values which would be the salvation of the under-class, because we have lost those values ourselves.”
—Norman Podhoretz (b. 1930)
“The best hopes of any community rest upon that class of its gifted young men who are not encumbered with large possessions.... I now speak of extensive scholarship and ripe culture in science and art.... It is not large possessions, it is large expectations, or rather large hopes, that stimulate the ambition of the young.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Sanity consists in not being subdued by your means. Fancy prices are paid for position, and for the culture of talent, but to the grand interests, superficial success is of no account.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)