Slated to open in 2020 and postponed due to the Covid pandemic, the Oman Across the Ages Museum, formerly the Oman Renaissance Museum, represents a culmination of Sultan Qaboos’ heritage agenda initiated in 1970. Despite a report on national identity in the Gulf that ignored Oman’s heritage achievements, heritage investment held economic and rhetorical significance within Sultan Qaboos’ campaign to build Omaniness: the modern sense of being Omani that unfolded over his reign (1970–2020) and attempted to supplant the more local, tribal, ethnic, or religious identities previously present prior to the modern state. Qaboos drew on historic structures, cultural symbols, and narratives about the past to support his broader modernization campaigns in ways that evolved and developed over five decades.

No evaluation of Oman since 1970 can start without discussing the contested role of Sultan Qaboos himself. For some scholars, Qaboos was the fount of legitimacy and authority, an idea reinforced by the 1996 Basic Law in which the Sultan was declared “the symbol of national unity and the guardian of its preservation and protection.” Other scholars have taken a less Qaboos-centric approach and recognized additional factors in his decision making. In fact, heritage institutions and programs did not emerge fully formed from the mind of Sultan Qaboos, nor were they entirely independent of his influence. Oman’s heritage development reflects Qaboos’ broader attitudes and approaches to his sultanic authority in that it was not fully centralized and reflected an evolving vision.

This chapter outlines the development of heritage policy and outcomes over the course of Qaboos’ reign by tracing Oman’s heritage structures, institutions, and narratives by period. Qaboos used heritage to create a more inclusive, flexible, and unifying Omani identity, one that made space for religious, sectarian, and tribal differences as a bulwark against division and conflict.

His agenda created an authorized heritage discourse (AHD) that acted as a legitimating force for the state. It was not simply about the consolidation of Qaboos’ authority, the simple legitimation of his dynasty’s rule or naive self-aggrandizement. His Omani AHD reinforced the very idea of being an Omani, celebrating a glorious past while naturalizing a shared present and future.