Omani doors at Fort Jesus, Mombasa, Kenya

At Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya, captured by the Omanis from the Portuguese in 1698, there are a number of Omani doors still intact.

After the 1850s, Omani doors were very common in Mombasa, and their incurved inscriptions were usually replaced by floral patterns. Later the step of the door had various designs and the palmetto patterns were also replaced with floral designs.

Omani doors have a thick square-shaped frame with a square-shaped crown and two shutters with a central pillar installed in one of the two shutters. Omani doors of east Africa were tall and designed to be opened toward the interior, in keeping with the doords in some Omani towns like Sur and Muscat.

The most common designs of Omani doors are flowers, chains, twisting lines, lotus flowers, rope, and palm trees. Some doors have verses from the Holy Quran or Arabic poems.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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