Oman’s oldest resident dies apparently aged 127, but would have outlived empires, countries and conflicts

Salim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Qassabi, who reportedly died aged 127-years-old

DUBAI: An Oman-based website is claiming the country’s oldest resident died on Tuesday at the impressive age of 127-years-old – that is five years older than Jeanne Calment who was officially verified as the world’s longest living person who died in France in 1997.
It is not uncommon for claims of longevity that, if true, would put the official record breakers to shame.
And if Salim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Qassabi’s story in the Oman Daily Observer is true, then he was born in 1890 in the district of Bahla, south of the Hajjar mountains and close to Nizwa city.
His life would have spanned 13 decades, across three centuries. He would have lived through two world wars, and countless others.
His lifetime would have seen the shifting of international borders, the creation of new countries and the end of empires.
If true, Qassabi was born long before most countries in the Middle East were even created.
During his lifetime there was definitely the creation of technologies that have changed people’s lives forever.
The atom bomb was created and used – with devastating effect. And international travel became common place thanks to the introduction of commercial air travel.
Travel was something Qassabi was familiar with according to the Oman Daily Observer.
He traveled to Zanzibar in 1940, when it was still under British rule, where he remained for 22 years, working in trade and was also said to be supportive of Omani immigrants living there.
The Oman Daily Observer website described him as a man who was known “for his good deeds, tolerance and (for) resolving disputes.”
The report added that he left Zanzibar in 1962 following a coup, and returned to Oman, but two years later traveled to Kuwait where he worked.
He eventually returned to Oman where he spent the rest of his life.