ABSTRACT
Recent archaeological work conducted in Oman has traced the existence of settled agriculture in the country to the late fourth century bc and confirmed the long-held theory that Oman was ancient Magan, the principal supplier of copper to Sumer. Omana was the principal port in Persian maritime province of Ard al-Hind as well as one of the traditional market centers of pre-Islamic Arabia. During early medieval times Dhofar's main port seems to have been located near the present town of Mirbat. While the tribes and imams quarreled over the interior, coastal Oman began to flourish under foreign rule and Sohar became the principal entrepot for the western Indian Ocean trade. The final era in Oman's medieval history is marked by the arrival of the first European threat to the country, the Portuguese. The disruptions in the Gulf brought about by Abbasid civil war and constant power struggle in southern Iraq and Iran meant that few ships would venture there unescorted.
