Situated at the north end of the Musandam peninsular the village of Kumzar is hemmed in by mountains but for centuries has maintained a seafaring presence in the area providing sailors for amongst others the Portuguese during the 16th century. The Kumzari dialect is quite unique and has been studied by a few individuals, in particular Bertram Thomas. There is an aerial view of the village which may take some time to upload and a commentary from Ruy Freyre, at the time the Portuguese were attempting to retake Hormuz and forts in the Musandam that they had lost to the Persians. An account by the Turkish historian, Haji Khalifeh, of the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis at Hormuz together with an image of his map.
Some research projects and expeditions that relate directly or indirectly to the area are covered. The Boats of Oman is a project conceived in an attempt to document in detail the existing traditional boats of the Sultanate of Oman. The project has now also developed a dimension of underwater archaeology, with surveys being made in the hope of discovering significant ancient artefacts or wreck sites. The RGS Expedition to the Musandam (Northern Oman) 1971-2 undertook an archaeological survey under the auspices of Beatrice De Cardi, Claudio Vita-Finzi and Anne Coles. The Coastal Survey is a part of the Transarabia Expedition, an ongoing regional survey of Dhofar sponsored by His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos and the Ministry of Information. For the Lost City of Ubar two expeditions to Oman were mounted; one in 1990 and one in 1991. The expedition team included Nicholas Clapp, Dr. Ronald Blom, archaeologist Dr. Juris Zarins, and British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who had been on previous Ubar searches. The team investigated the area around Ash Shisr, and soon an archaeological excavation began.
There
are illustrations of Hormuz and a number of satellite images (taken from
Challenger courtesy of NASA), thumbnail and full size, including the
Strait of Hormuz, the Musandam, the Iranian coastline, the Persian
Gulf, Oman and the Middle East in general.