الرسوم الصخرية في وادي الجفر بسلطنة عمان: الدلالة والمعنى

This paper presents the petroglyphs discovered in Wadi al-Jifr in the area of Ja’alan Bani Bu Hasan, located at the eastern part of Oman. The Study of these petroglyphs has raised a number of questions concerning the role and distribution of the geographical dimension of petroglyphs, and to what extent it presents the aim and philosophy of the people who made them thousands years ago. Thus, this paper deals with these petroglyphs in a different way from
previous investigation attempts. The paper considers territoriality in its inquiry. The most distinguished and frequent figures represented in Wadi al-Jifr petroglyphs are hands, foot and a man riding a horse. This study suggests that
these petroglyphs were made in order to define the wadi territoriality that was controlled by its inhabitants. There must had been a need to sustain the domination and control over this wadi, and announcing the ownership and privacy of its boundaries. This territoriality announcement is to control natural resources of the wadi. Furthermore, the wadi petroglyphs emphasized the human and cultural values symbolism by drawing hands and foot as well as a man riding a horse, which is an art appointment to define boundaries, ownership, domination and identity-