Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his accompanying delegation visited on Saturday the National Museum in Muscat.
During the visit, he viewed Syrian archaeological artifacts mainly from the ancient city of Palmyra.
Up to 131 Syrian artifacts were destroyed during the Syrian war, and nine artifacts from Palymra will be restored in coordination with the Hermitage Museum, Oman News Agency reported.
Mekdad received a guided tour in the National Museum, including the Maritime History gallery where the Manuscript of “The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship” is on display.
The Museum had recently inaugurated the manuscript for the Omani Navigator, Shihab al-Din Ahmed bin Majid as-Sa’adi. The manuscript was borrowed from Syria’s al-Asad Library for one year.
Within the joint cultural and museum cooperation, the Museum signed in 2019 an agreement to preserve the damaged Syrian relics.
The relics embody the human history and cultural heritage not only of Syria but of all humanity.
Oman’s National Museum had participated in the Syrian Culture Day in November 2019.
Discussions at the National Museum’s headquarters in Damascus tackled art and management-related topics to preserve the Syrian damaged artifacts.
Mekdad arrived Friday in Oman on a visit that will last a couple of days.
On Monday, the UK government imposed sanctions on six senior Syrian regime figures including Mekdad.
