The Firearms Collection
Bait Al Zubair Museum houses an impressive collection of firearms and accessories. The oldest pieces are the matchlocks, known as Abu Fatilah in Oman, that were introduced in the 15th and16th centuries.
The museum also has a display of gunpowder flasks, called Al Talahiq and Al Qura, which were often fashioned in silver or featured silver adornments.
The curved silver Al Talahiq is believed to imitate earlier gunpowder flasks made from goat or ram horns. Foreign breech-loading rifles, such as the Martini Henry and Lee Enfield, were introduced into Oman in the late 1800s/early 1900s and were used and traded. Once customised and decorated with silver, these weapons were considered Omani and an exceptional selection can be viewed in the Swords and Firearms Gallery in Bait Al Bagh, the main museum building. The most significant pieces in this collection are the two canon presented by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
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