SHARE The demise of Sultan Qaboos bin Said on January 10, 2020 marked the end of an era. Since the beginning of the “Blessed Renaissance” in 1970, which took place under his stewardship, Oman achieved unprecedented development, growing massively in every socio-economic metric. For instance, total GDP increased from $256 million in 1970 to almost $77 billion in 2019. In the same timeframe, the sultanate went from having just 10 kilometres of paved roads, to 40,000km. The number of schools grew rapidly, from three to over 2,000. But Oman’s march towards modernity has not only focused on modern metrics of development. A key part of Sultan Qaboos’s vision was the importance he placed on the preservation of the country’s centuries-old spectacular heritage and culture as well.