'Great Nuniya' by Ahmad ibn Majid in Memory of the World Programme

Observer

19-04-2025

Muscat: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included the Omani manuscript "Al-Nuniyah Al-Kubra (The Great Nuniyah) by the Omani navigator Ahmad ibn Majid in its Memory of the World program.
This is the second Omani manuscript to be included in this international program.
Al-Nuniyah Al-Kubra is one of the most important Omani manuscripts in the field of navigation and marine sciences. It records valuable information about ship movements and international shipping routes.
Its most significant feature is its scientific contribution to humanity, particularly its deviation from the work of earlier geographers. Scientists who preceded Ahmed bin Majid had divided the land into only seven regions, confining these regions to the northern hemisphere.
The Al-Nuniyah Al-Kubra manuscript added seven more regions in the south. The manuscript is a human legacy, offering realistic depictions of the societies the author and his navigational crew encountered during their journeys.
It also provides detailed descriptions of the marine environment, its creatures, including creatures such as whales, snakes, and coral reefs, as well as the methods used for docking ships.
The Omani navigator Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Majid ibn Muhammad al-Sa'di was born on the coast of Oman in 1421 and died in 1500.
He made Ras al-Hadd the base for his maritime activities. He developed the magnetic needle (the compass) and left a scientific legacy represented by more than 40 works, including the Nuniyyah al-Kubra. A copy of the original manuscript of manuscript is held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
In 2021, UNESCO included the Omani navigator Ahmad ibn Majid in UNESCO's program for the fiftieth and centenary commemorations of historical events and influential figures in the world.
The Memory of the World Programme was established by UNESCO in 1992 and aims to preserve and protect documentary heritage from deterioration and loss resulting from social unrest, instability, looting, illicit trade, and other factors, or from natural factors such as heat and humidity that may affect this heritage over time.
Documentary heritage includes stones, manuscripts, libraries, museums, national archives, audio and video discs, films, and photographs. In 2017, the Sultanate of Oman succeeded in including the first manuscript in the programme, which is the manuscript 'The Mine of Secrets in Oceanography' by the sailor Nasser bin Ali al Khadouri.