Paris – Oman has received official recognition from Unesco for inscription of the manuscript Al Nuniyah al Kubra (The Great Nuniyah) by renowned Omani navigator Ahmad ibn Majid in the Memory of the World register.

The certificate was handed over during a meeting in Paris on Tuesday between H E Amna bint Salem al Balushi, Oman’s Permanent Representative to Unesco, and Dr Tawfiq al Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at the organisation’s headquarters.

Inclusion of The Great Nuniyah is the result of joint efforts by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, in coordination with the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, and Oman’s Permanent Delegation to Unesco. The manuscript is regarded as a landmark in the field of marine science and navigation.

Inscribed in April 2025, The Great Nuniyah is the second Omani manuscript to be recognised under Unesco’s Memory of the World programme. The first was The Mine of Secrets in Oceanography by navigator Nasser bin Ali al Khadouri, added in 2017.

Ibn Majid’s work documents maritime geography and ancient shipping routes in detail. It also records societies encountered during his voyages and provides insight into anchoring techniques and marine life. Significantly, while earlier scholars divided the Earth into seven northern regions, Ibn Majid extended the classification by introducing seven regions in the southern hemisphere.

The Memory of the World programme was established by Unesco in 1992 to safeguard documentary heritage at risk of loss. Manuscripts are selected based on criteria such as historical importance, rarity, authenticity and cross-cultural impact.