Culture
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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:
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)
“Everyone in our culture wants to win a prize. Perhaps that is the grand lesson we have taken with us from kindergarten in the age of perversions of Dewey-style education: everyone gets a ribbon, and praise becomes a meaningless narcotic to soothe egoistic distemper.”
—Gerald Early (b. 1952)
“If you’re anxious for to shine in the high esthetic line as a man
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You must get up all the germs of the transcendental terms, and plant
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You must lie upon the daisies and discourse in novel phrases of your
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—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)