The long journey of acquiring historical mementos and manuscripts

Passion and love for acquiring and owning collectables and ancient heritage manuscripts are just some of the interests of engineer Harith bin Saif al Kharousi from Al Awabi in the South Al Batinah Governorate.

Al Kharousi says, “My passion for collectables and heritage manuscripts began since I was young influenced by my father who was a historian and writer. My attention was drawn by ancient coins, manuscripts, and other tools and productions of human civilisation. I continued to collect them with the aim of studying them and providing cultural material for those interested, especially at the present time, where modern means of communication have brought people of interest closer to each other.

Regarding the method of his acquisition of these holdings, he says: The method differs, as part of the holdings belong to the family, we have inherited it from one generation to another. some of the holdings were purchased from traditional markets or through modern means of communication, which brought the distance closer and provided easier and faster ways. Studying these holdings takes time and effort and I also don’t have enough references that would help me to study and classify these holdings.

Regarding the oldest and most important holdings he has, Al Kharousi said that the holdings are varied between ancient coins, the oldest of which belonged to Emperor Khosrow I, some Arabized coins dating back to the first century AH, the coins of the Kingdom of Hormuz that were circulated in the region, in addition to a number of manuscripts dating back to different eras and centuries. all the holdings I own are important because each piece has a uniquely human story and is an important human product.

I participate in exhibitions inside the Sultanate. I cooperated with a number of private educational and academic institutions in order to provide information to the community and also to obtain correct scientific information about these holdings and provide them to researchers and those interested in this field.

Concerning his future ambitions, Engineer Harith says, “I aspire in the near future to inaugurate my own museum, which is a long-awaited dream. But there is great hope that it will see the light soon, especially since I have obtained approval from the competent authority in the Sultanate. I would also like to point out that I receive continuous moral support from the Memory of Oman project, which is a special cultural project.