26
EDUCATION
OMAN DAILY Observer
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009
Discovery
indicates that
such stones
can also
be climatic
indicators
Discovery of hunting stones in Al Mudhaibi
dated to the Seventh Millennium BC
S
aid bin Salem Said al Jahafi, a
student in the College of Engineering at SQU was not aware
that his decision to take an elective
from the College of Arts would lead
him to contribute to an important
archaeological discovery in the Al
Mudhaibi district. In one of the most
recent archaeological studies executed by SQU, an archaeological team
headed by Professor Ali Altijani al
Mahi, Head of the Department of Archeology conducted an archaeological survey of the Al Mudhaibi area after Al Jahafi found by sheer accident
kinds of stones that was used in hunting animals called Tethering Stones.
Such stones were first discovered
in North Africa in Algiers, Tunis,
Chad and Northern Sudan. The archaeological survey conducted by the
SQU team revealed the existence of a
number of these stones scattered over
a large area in Al Mudhaibi.
Professor Altijani says that SQU
has graciously accepted to finance
this important study by providing the
needed means and facilities to conduct the field work. He goes on to say
that tethering stones can be viewed
as an advanced hunting device since
they represent an amalgamation of
inventiveness, knowledge and experience arrived at through experiment.
Indeed they are the work of the hunter's imagination.
The study explores a new aspect
of human lifestyle at that time as well
as the nature and climate of that area.
The archaeological survey conducted
by the SQU team proved that the Al
Mudhaibi stones belong to the seventh millennium BC; this discovery
was arrived at through the analysis
of the soil in which these stones were
found. The seventh millennium BC
is known as a wet phase, which suggests that the coastal area of Al Mudhaibi had a dense vegetation cover,
and thus was inhabited by different
kinds of animals hunted for food.
D
r Ihsan al Lawati opens a window onto
modern Persian short story. His book is
considered the first Omani attempt to
translate narrative Persian texts into Arabic.
A Window on the Modern Persian Short
Story is hailed as one of the few pioneering
studies which survey various patterns of modern Persian short story translated into Arabic
by Dr Ihsan al Lawati of SQU’s Department of
Arabic. The book consists of nine short stories
written by most prominent Iranian writers of
this form covering several generations.
Reading this volume is a unique experience
especially for those who are fond of world
literature, as they will discover that there are
many worlds that they have not yet fathomed.
Persian literature appears in its full glory in
the wonderful texts carefully chosen by Dr Al
Lawati to give the reader a panoramic view of
Iranian daily life concerns.
He does this in a charming language which
combines simplicity with richness, a phenomenon found in nineteenth and twentieth century
Russian writers like Turgenev, Dostoyevesky,
Tolstoy, Chekov, Gogol, and indeed in other
great writers whose masterpieces have enriched world literature.
Not only narratives' emphasis on details
raises the readers' wonder, it also makes them
change their time and place and takes them
to join another world, and become part of its
events. This is what real literature does when it
is absorbed by the reader, and it is certainly the
case when reading Dr Al Lawati's book.
Dr Ihsan al Lawati says that his text is a
window through which Arab readers can view
the modern Persian language innovations within the realm of the short story. This concern is
important for Arab short story readers, especially authors or critics among them, because
of the strong historical associations which exist
between Persian and Arabic.
Dr Al Lawati has chosen to translate from
Africa which were used
for hunting. The elongated
rocks are grooved in the
middle, and a rope was fastened around the grooves.
The other end of the rope
was tied to a noose which
formed a loop by means of
a slipknot. The loop could
instantly tighten if the rope
was pulled. Thus the movement of the trapped animal
would be slowed down
making it easier to hunt.
The length of the rope depended upon the weight of
the stone: the heavier the
stone was, the shorter the
rope.
The study located about
twenty specimens of tethering stones of different
sizes and weights. The
geological analysis of the
soil in which they were found indicated that they belong to a wet phase
of the Holocene. After the hunting
traps were reconstructed, the stones,
their geographical locations, and
their weights were examined. These
investigations indicated that these
stones were taken away from their
natural location, placed elsewhere
and grooved in the middle in order to
be used for hunting.
Dean Thuwayba al Barwani discusses
research in the College of Education
O
Big game
As to whether big game like giraffe, elephant and rhinoceros existed
in the Al Mudhaibi area, where the
tethering stones were found, Professor Altijani explains that the variation
in weight and size of the stones (the
smallest weighed 4 kilograms and
the heaviest weighed 55) theoretically indicates the presence of such
huge animals. Furthermore, the study
mapped out the location of these
Al Gadaf ropes
stones, and the metrical distance beThe study explored the possible tween the traps showed the hunters'
plants which could have been used ability to reach and examine these
for making such ropes. Elderly in- traps in single day's tour.
formants reported that a plant locally A new study
known as Al Gadaf was used for makProfessor Altijani adds that some
ing such ropes. These ropes were used
for restraining camels. Therefore, the foreign expeditions in Dhofar found
study suggests that it was quite possi- similar stones, but neither the stones
ble that the pre-historic hunters used nor their locations were studied in
similar types of plants to make ropes detail. He adds that the Department
of Archaeology at SQU is planning
for their tethering stones.
The role of the tethering stones to conduct similar studies in different
as traps, Professor Altijani explains, areas of the Sultanate, especially in
was clearly delineated by pre-historic the coastal areas, as these were more
rock scenes found in Northern Africa lush and more favourable for the exA huge similarity
dating from the seventh millennium istence of animals which could be
Professor Altijani goes on to say BC depicting rhinoceros, giraffes, an- hunted by the use of tethering stones.
that the rocks found in Al Mudhaibi telopes and buffalos trapped by simi- The Al Wusta region would be the
object of this future study.
are similar to rocks found in North lar hunting stones.
A book and an author
Persian literature because of
his knowledge of Farsi, and because he has noticed that Arab
translation efforts have concerned themselves mostly with
translating literatures written in
English, ignoring other world
languages.
An important book
Arabic before, the book offers
Arab readers a chance to learn
about their writings, and about
the stages of development in
the modern Persian short story from the beginnings to the
present time.
Difficulties
Dr Al Lawati faced some
Dr Al Lawati also believes
difficulties while dealing with
that his book is important for
the language of some Iranian
the Arab libraries because it ofwriters, especially Sadiq Hidafers a small contribution to fillyat whose language is known
Dr Ihsan al Lawati
ing what seems to be a big gap
for its depth and rich associain their holdings of modern Iranian literature. tions, but he finally came up with an excellent
Dr Al Lawati adds that while the Iranians are collection which combines selected narrative
making major efforts to translate literary and patterns representing several generations of
other texts from Arabic to enrich their libraries, Iranian short story writers.
eg translation of the complete works of Gibran
This accords with his desire to provide the
K Gibran, Nizar Qabbani and others, there is a Arab reader with a panoramic view of the moddearth of counter efforts, to translate new Ira- ern Persian short story and thus fill a deplornian literature into Arabic.
able gap in this field. That is why he has read
He adds that his book is a small contribution several stories from each generation of writers
to a dialogue of cultures whose importance is and selected the best for the Arab reader.
known to all. Ancient Arabs were fully aware
of the need to draw from the rich Persian herit- Several stages
age in arts and literature and they familiarised
Dr Al Lawati explains that he worked hard
themselves with every available form of it , as to achieve two objectives: first, to select Iraexemplified by Al Gahith, Abu Hilal al Askari, nian narrative texts which represent the variand Abu Hayyan al Tawhidi etc.
ous stages of development in the Persian short
Nowadays, it has become a necessity for story, though all were taken from the modern
the modern generation of Arab authors and period. Hence he started with a text by the real
innovators, especially short story writers, to father of the Iranian modern short story, Sadiq
read the latest types of stories written by non- Hidayat, then moved to successive writers, and
Arabs. This will help them improve their writ- ended with the writings of some young authors
ing skills and the quality of their literary work. still struggling to establish their presence in
Since most of Iranian authors included in Dr the Iranian literary arena. He believes that this
Al Lawati's book have not been translated into variety will give the reader a sense of the artis-
Educating
for future
success while
preserving
history and
heritage
tic development of the Persian short story. His
second objective was to introduce the reader to
the several literary styles in which the stories
were written, though the stories are translated
into the Arabic.
This arises from Dr Al Lawati's conviction
that the real task of the translator is to offer
an accurate rendering of literary masterpieces
from their original languages into others, ie Arabic, keeping the integrity of the source texts,
and not to reproduce them in what looks like a
new text which lacks any connection with the
source text except in terms of general ideas and
overall content.
ur children are our future. Therefore the research
at the College of Education forms the foundation
for the future of Oman. Our ultimate mission is
to prepare children to assume productive roles in Omani
society. Over the last 39 years His Majesty Sultan Qaboos
has outlined what such an education should encompass.
Students must meet international academic standards
while they understand the Muslim religion, the history
and heritage of our country and remain committed to the
preservation of our rich Omani culture and traditions. Simultaneously, their education should help build a personal
ethical character needed to make wise choices in the application of vocational and/or professional skills required for
personal and national economic security. Further young
people should develop active participation skills vital to
protect a free society. These are complex goals requiring
the efforts of many agencies working with the College of
Education.
Since the College began in 1986 we have worked
closely with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry
of Higher Education to prepare and train teachers and
professionals needed for the expansion and development
of the Omani education system. We cannot educate teachers without understanding the worldwide educational research and then conducting research specifically related to
Oman, our teachers and our children.
Research conducted by the education faculty examines the needs of children, families, communities and
the workplace. We want to know how to best teach every
child and adult so that they can achieve personal goals and
contribute to the competitive global market conditions
that face Oman.
At the same time that we are educating our children
with the communication skills, technical skills, and world
knowledge for the twenty-first century challenges, our
schools and universities face the same dilemma parents
do. How do we educate modern global citizens who still
maintain, appreciate and pass along to their children the
rich history and culture of Oman?
The research conducted by the international faculty
contributes to understanding the problems related to the
development of children, education of professionals and
education change and reform. For example, faculty research projects explore the effectiveness of recently implemented Basic Education Curriculums, the health and
fitness of university students, learning differences, and
early childhood education models.
A current project examines the integration of Omani
cultural topics into English language classes. In this study
we found that both students and their teachers were so excited to learn about 41 different aspects of Omani culture
that both students and student-teachers improved their
English skills significantly.
Through the visibility of their research, faculty members have accepted leadership roles in Oman, Gulf region
and international research organisations. Faculty share the
passion for research with students as exemplified in the
recent Autism exhibition presented by a student society.
Several funded projects have forged collaborations
with other institutions. For example, one Middle East
Partnership Initiative (MEPI) includes researchers from
the United Arab Emirates, Yale and Northern Kentucky
Universities. Another MEPI grant provides funding for
a pilot project to make classrooms more focused on student academic growth than on passive learning — or
book learning. Students are treated as active participants
in their own learning, capable of building knowledge for
themselves. The teacher encourages and guides students
towards becoming independent and critical thinkers. Ten
education faculty members are analysing how best to educate new and old teachers to work effectively in this new
environment.
Another collaborative funded research venture with the
University of Minnesota is a tracer study that examines
the self-efficacy of graduates of the College of Education.
Results are expected to help us make important decisions
regarding how we can improve our courses to ensure the
effectiveness of our graduates.
These research efforts often culminate in presentations and reports. The College of Education publishes the
Educational and Psychological Studies Journal created to
share new information about child development, education and learning.
The College also helps create new ideas and analysis
by hosting research conferences. Four conferences are
currently scheduled. They are: International Council for
Education on Teaching to be held in Oman this month;
Advances in Physical Education, December 2009; Student
Centred Learning Conference, March 2010; and Mathematics Teaching, Spring 2011.
Research is the foundation of the work at the College
of Education as it is the foundation for the education of
our children.