Potts 2012 in the Land of the Emirates T- في أرض الإمارات آثار وتاريخ الإمارات العربية المتحدة

emirates
In the Land of the
The ArchAeoLogy and hIsTory of the

UAE
D.T. Potts
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Co-published by: Trident Press Ltd, London and Sultan bin Zayed’s Culture and Media Centre, Abu Dhabi
Copyright ©2012: Trident Press Ltd; Sultan bin Zayed’s Culture and Media Centre, Abu Dhabi; and Daniel T. Potts
Production: Paula Vine

Design and typesetting: Noel Mannion
Photographs: copyright held by individual photographers and/ or Trident Press Ltd: H & J Eriksen, Nick Wood,
Mike Charlton, Mark Beech, Georgia Britton, Adelina Kutterer, Adam Woolitt, Peter Vine, D.T. Potts, Erik Smekens
courtesy of Ernie Haerinck, Hans-Peter and Magarethe Uerpmann, Reinhard Westphal, British Library,
Bridgeman Art Library, Royal Geographical Society, BP Archives, UK Hydrographic Oice, Getty Images.
he Publishers would also like to thank the following for their assistance with photographs:
Peter Magee, J.M. Cordoba, Sabah Jasim/Sharjah, Michel Mouton/CNRS Mission,
Ernie Haerinck/Univ. of Ghent, Hussein Suleiman Qandil/Dubai Museum
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written
permission of copyright holders. Applications should be addressed to the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Trident Press Ltd Sultan bin Zayed’s Culture and Media Centre
175 Piccadilly, Mayfair Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street, Villa 4/417
London WIJ 9TB POB 5727 & 6420 Abu Dhabi
United Kingdom United Arab Emirates
Tel: +44 207491 8770 Tel: +971 2 666 6130
E-mail: admin@tridentpress.com administration@cmc.ae; info@cmc.ae
Website: www.tridentpress.com Website: www.cmc.ae
ISBN: 978-1-905486-57-1 ISBN: 978-1-905486-57-1
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foreword
In a country like the United Arab Emirates, which has seen such rapid and dramatic progress over the course of less
than ive decades, it is natural that it seems at times as though what was present before that change is of little current
relevance. Recently-constructed buildings, ports, airports, highways and the rest of the infrastructure capture the eye
and fascinate the mind. At irst glance, almost everything seems to be ‘new’ in terms of human history.
he environment of the UAE – at least for the last ive or six thousand years – has not been conducive to extensive human
settlement. Temperatures are high and the climate is arid. In most years, there is little rain and sometimes several years
pass without any rain at all. Agriculture has been limited to a small part of the country, with much of the rest of it being
vast sandy or gravel deserts.
Given the absence of the great monuments that characterise many of the other countries in the Middle East it is hardly
surprising that the UAE’s role in the emergence and development of civilisation in the region was long overlooked.
Over the last ity years, however, the study of the country’s archaeology has shown that the UAE, despite its small size,
has much to ofer in terms of its past. Over 200,000 years ago, for example, it served as a stepping-stone on the migrations
of early Man out of Africa into Asia. More recently, less than 8,000 years ago, its inhabitants were already engaged in
trade by sea with Mesopotamia and had initiated a pearling industry that was to last until the middle of the twentieth
century. Five thousand years ago the ancestors of today’s Emiratis were mining and smelting copper and trading with
India and by the beginning of the Christian era, 2,000 years ago, they knew how to sail to and from China and were
exporting pearls to Imperial Rome. All that was just the precursor of developments to come – much more was to follow.
Little of that history is recorded in documents and it has taken decades of painstaking excavation and study for it to
become clear that, rather than being a ‘blank on the historical map of Arabia’, as it was once described, the UAE has
played an important role in the evolution of human settlement in the region.
his book, by one of the world’s leading experts in the history and archaeology of the region, Professor Dan Potts, explains
some of the story. It will prove fascinating both to Emiratis and to others with an interest in the area.
he founding father of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, once said that ‘History
is a continuous chain of events. he present is only an extension of the past. He who does not know his past cannot
make the best of his present and future, for it is from the past that we learn.’ I am delighted to present this book as a
contribution to that process of learning.
Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

H.H. he President’s Representative,
Chairman of Sultan bin Zayed’s Cultural and Media Centre
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In the Land.indb 4 28/02/2012 12:13
contents
1 Witnesses of the past 6
2 The irst inhabitants 16
3 The appearance of monumental tombs 34
4 Magan 44
5 restructuring in the Middle and Late Bronze Age 70
6 The Iron Age 88
7 ‘Abi’el and the polities of the pre-Islamic era 106
8 The centuries leading up to the arrival of Islam 134
9 The irst centuries after the coming of Islam 142
10 From the Portuguese to modernity 160
epilogue 194
Bibliographical essay 198
Index 212
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IN Th e L AND o F Th e eMIr AT es ch APT er 1> WITNe s s e s o F Th e PA s T
chapter 1
witnesses of
the past
When we look at a landscape each of us sees diferent things. It
is one of the enduring mysteries of life that, although we are all
Homo sapiens, each of us has a unique way of processing the visual
information that enters our brain, iltering it through a complex
series of sieves – some common to each and every one of us, but
many learned and cultural.
he families we belong to, the tribes and states in which we claim

membership, the socio-economic and religious ailiations that
inform our lives – all afect the way we see the world. When we think
he landscape of the UAE is a
about the past, it is more than ‘a foreign country’, as some writers
have suggested. Rather, it is a physical world that, in most cases, no
geological palimpsest, layer upon
longer exists – a world in which coastlines were almost certainly layer revealing details of times past.
diferent, the vegetation cover was not what we see today, animals
we rarely encounter nowadays were common, and the motivations
and desires of the inhabitants were driven by factors, some of which
are completely missing in our twenty-irst century lives. A physical
world in which the air smelled other than it does today, in which the
shadows at dusk bear no resemblance to those of our present, because
houses were built diferently, trees of species no longer common were
abundant, birds that have not been seen for years lew overhead –
that is the world in which the human actors of living and breathing
communities must be placed, not the otentimes sterile-looking sites
confronting the archaeologist and the tourist who visits the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) today. Computer animation or simulation can
help to overcome these barriers to understanding, but we must be
wary of replacing one igment of our imagination with another.
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IN T he L AND o F The eM Ir AT es
Mountains, gravel plains, sand Since 1959, when the irst archaeological excavations were undertaken on Umm
an-Nar island in Abu Dhabi, archaeological research in the UAE has progressed
dunes, coastal sabkha, shorelines,
at a remarkable rate. But before we turn to the actual discoveries made during
all have their own story to tell.
the past half century in the seven emirates that constitute the UAE, we should
consider the physical setting in which they were made – the environment and
its history – and examine what the UAE may have looked like in the past.
Wherever you travel in the UAE, you will see physical features – mountains,
gravel plains, sand dunes, coastal sabkhas, lagoons, oases – of widely difering
age. Scholars who have studied the UAE’s desert, for example, have long stressed
the fact that many of the most prominent features visible today, whether dune
ields or wadi sediments, are products of events that took place in the remote
past. Yet for anyone interested in the history of the country, it is important
to realise that not all of these features are contemporary – some were formed
long before others, some are recent, in geological terms, others pre-date human
settlement in the region by millions of years. What may today appear as a cluster
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1> WI TNe s s e s o F Th e PA s T
of adjacent landforms in the environment is in fact a geological palimpsest.

Scholars use this term to describe parchment, wood and other writing surfaces
that, through re-use, contain multiple, oten barely legible, ghost-like fragments
of texts that may have been written centuries apart. Some of the most famous
palimpsests contain excerpts from Greek philosophers, overlain by parts of the
Bible, with still later medieval texts on top. It is similar to walking down a street
in almost any town in the world. Buildings from the eighteenth century may
stand alongside those of the 1960s or new constructions from 2009, yet our eyes
see a streetscape that, while it all exists in the here and now, owes the origin of
every one of its components to very diferent sets of historical circumstances.
In the same way, the Earth’s surface preserves a series of features of difering
he UAE, along with the rest of
dates, each of which may have been formed at very diferent times. he oldest
geological features in the UAE, dating to the late pre-Cambrian period (c.4.5
Arabia, originally formed part of
billion–543 million years ago (Ma)), occur at Jebel Ali in Dubai and Jebel the mega-continent Gondwana.
Dhanna in western Abu Dhabi, where so-called ‘Hormuz salt’ was deposited
through evaporation as an ancient sea dried out nearly 600 Ma. Next in time
is a small area of shale and sandstone at Jebel Rann, south-west of Dibba, that
dates to the Palaeozoic Era (543–248 Ma). Limestone and chert of the Hawasina
Series, dating from the Triassic (248–206 Ma) to the mid-Cretaceous (144–65
Ma), can be seen in Fujairah and eastern Ra’s al-Khaimah. Cenozoic rocks (65
Ma to present), on the other hand, can be seen at Jebel Qamar, near Jebel Hait,
while miliolite (a shell-rich form of limestone) dating to 64–99,000 years ago
is visible around Hameem, near the eastern side of the Liwa oasis.
Each of these features was the product of a speciic set of circumstances in

the UAE’s geological history and although the picture is a complicated one,
the broad outlines of it may be summarised as follows. he UAE, along with
the rest of Arabia, originally formed part of the great mega-continent known
as Gondwana. Located south of the equator and relatively close to the South
Pole, the Arabian part of Gondwana (which also included South America,
Africa, India, Antarctica and Australia), was separated from Asia for much of
the Palaeozoic Era (543–248 Ma) by the ocean known as Tethys. Between the
Late Permian (c.260 Ma) and Late Miocene Period (c.10–5 Ma) Arabia moved
northwards through the tropics, but the landmass of which the UAE is part
did not emerge from beneath the sea until 40–20 Ma. Nevertheless, the UAE,
particularly Abu Dhabi, is underlain in places by a crystalline basement dating
back some 950 Ma, overlain by sediments of shallow marine origin that are
roughly 640 Ma.
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he Hajar Mountains, such a dominant feature in Fujairah, Ra’s al-Khaimah

and eastern Sharjah, formed as a result of collision between the Indian and
Eurasian continental plates and the separation of the Arabian and African
plates, that began around 30 Ma. his mountain range, which extends for
over 700 kilometres from southern Oman to the Straits of Hormuz, consists
of seven major stratigraphic units that are both autochthonous (local, i.e. still
in the place where they were formed) and allochthonous (non-local, i.e. moved
to their present position by geological processes).
he last half million years have witnessed no fewer than six major periods of
glaciation. During these periods, each of which was c.45–70,000 years long,
global sea levels fell by up to 130 metres as vast amounts of the oceans’ waters
An ancient river once lowed
were drawn into the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps. When the last glaciation was
through the far west of the UAE. at its peak, around 18,000 years ago, a now extinct river, fed primarily by the
Tigris, Euphrates and Karun rivers, lowed from what is today southern Iraq,
through a waterless basin, and emptied directly into the Arabian Sea at the
Straits of Hormuz. A second river, now vanished, drained the plains of Saudi
Arabia’s Empty Quarter (Rub al-Khali) and lowed through the Sabkha Matti,
just west of the UAE port of Jebel Dhanna.
Imagine, therefore, that what is today the entire western coast of the UAE was
no coast at all, but a slightly elevated shelf overlooking the lower-lying plain
Stratigraphic Unit classiication Main components Age (Ma)
Basement autochthonous Pre-cambrian sedimentary rock 850-650
Lower Autochthon autochthonous limestones, dolomites 650-270
Upper Autochton or hajar supergroup autochtonous limestones, dolomites 270-90
Aruma group allochthonous limestones, shales, conglomerates 90-70
The hawasina allochthonous calcareous sandstones formed 270-70,
semail Nappe/ophiolite allochthonous oceanic crust formed 105-95
Neo-Autochthon autochthonous limestones 70-30
after Weeks 2003: Table 2.1
10
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1> WITNesses oF The PAsT
Geologic map of the

northern Hajar Mountains.
to the north, as far as the eye could see. he islands ofshore of Abu Dhabi did
not exist. Rather, they were raised hills that stood higher than the surrounding
countryside, itself dominated by sand dunes. here were no lagoons at Dubai,
Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain or Ra’s al-Khaimah. Only the east coast,
Fujairah and the Sharjah enclave of Kalba, Khor Fakkan and Dibba, was a
maritime province at that time, although here too the shoreline would have
lain further east than it does today.
But there were other diferences as well that would have made the UAE a diicult
place in which to live. Areas of high atmospheric pressure surrounding the
polar icecaps had the efect of concentrating other air-pressure zones near the
equator. his, in turn, created winds of enormous velocity, strong enough to
transport sand during much of the winter. Whereas winds of this strength
occur nowadays for only a matter of hours each year, the high winds of the
last glacial period would have made life in the UAE virtually intolerable for
human communities. During the last glacial period, sand dunes dotted the
area north of the UAE coast and migrated southward under the inluence of
Latest cretaceous and Tertiary
the strong, northerly wind (shamal) that transported the sand in the direction
ophiolite (semail Nappe)
of the Rub al-Khali.
Metamorphic sole/exotics
Deepwater sediments (hawasina)
hajar supergroup
About 10,000 years ago the last period of glaciation came to an end and as the
Pre-middle Permian
earth’s polar caps began to melt sea levels worldwide began to rise, generally
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Approx sea level (m) averaging between 1 and 4 centimetres per year. Islands like Dalma, Marawah
-150 -100 -50 0
and Sir Bani Yas began to appear of the coast of Abu Dhabi as the area became
inundated. he low-lying trough between Qatar and Bahrain illed with water,
cutting Bahrain of from the mainland.
50 By about 6000 years ago, sea levels were approximately 0.5 metres higher than
they are today, and rising. In another 2000 years (about 4300–4000 years ago)
Years before present (ka)
the sea level stood a full 2 metres above modern levels, evidence of which can be
found in raised beaches on the coasts of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar
100
and the UAE. Local variations, of course, occurred as well. In the area of Umm
al-Qaiwain, for instance, a sea level comparable to that of the present day was
reached about 7000 years ago, rising to 2.5 metres above modern levels at about
150
6000 years ago, and then falling an average of 40 centimetres per 1000 years until
167
today. About 6000 years ago, the sea level in the area between Qatar and Abu
Dhabi may have been even higher, possibly up to 3.5 metres above modern levels.
200
Anyone who has lived on or near the coast between Abu Dhabi and Ra’s al-
Khaimah will appreciate just how lat the landscape is today. hat latness, of
course, equates to a low elevation above sea level, and it is clear that with even
250
slightly higher sea levels in the past most of the area today occupied by such
major cities as Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi would have been under water 4000
283 years ago. But the winds played a part in the evolution of the coastal landscape
300 as well. As the sea level rose, the northerly winds no longer transported sand
southward. Yet the winds continued to blow, scouring the coast and delating
the sand to the level of the water table. At the same time, the water table itself
> 1.8 ma
was rising, a by-product of the melting of the polar icecaps, and the water-logged
surfaces exposed by the wind along the shoreline became the sabkhas that are
such a prominent feature of the coastal environment today.
below: Dubai Creek in 1950.
he coast is and was an active feature, however. In recent memory, for example,
the creeks of Dubai and Sharjah have had to be dredged because the iniltration
of sand over time had made it impossible for boats with a deep draught to enter
them. In Ra’s al-Khaimah a series of longshore sand bars, modiied by wave
action, relect the changing history of human habitation as settlement moved
further and further away from the mainland due to the buildup of new sandbars
that efectively blocked settlements from access to open water. Given the high
rate of change along the coast of the UAE in the recent past, we can be certain
that the actual coniguration of the shoreline 5000 or 2000 years ago was very
diferent than it is today. Relict lagoons and inlets near the archaeological sites
12
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of ed-Dur and Tell Abraq, in Umm al-Qaiwain, and Muweilah in Sharjah, Waterlogged surfaces exposed by
and elsewhere along the coastline of Dubai, near the archaeological sites of
scouring winds became the sabkhas
Al Sufouh-1 and Al Sufouh-2, for example, relect a time in which those sites,
or salt lats that we know today.
currently far from the water, were in fact located along an ancient shoreline.
Rainfall, too, played its part. Today, rainfall in the UAE is minimal. Statistics
for the period between 1966 and 2001 show that annual rainfall has luctuated
between a low of 15.2 millimetres in 1985 to a high of 334.8 millimetres in
1982. Wind velocity decreased in the period between 10,000 and 5000 years ago,
resulting in an increase of convection-induced thunder storms and conditions
that were more humid than they had been. his so-called Climatic Optimum
led to an increase in vegetation cover that provided more biomass for animals
to feed upon, thus increasing the amount of game available for hunter-gatherer
groups, that in turn provided the basis for an increase in carrying capacity (the
ability of the land and its wildlife to sustain a human population) and hence a
rise in human population.
13
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14
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In the interior of the UAE, particularly in the south, sand dunes and inland
sabkhas are a prominent feature of the landscape, but this was not always the
case. During glacial periods, when sea level was low, the great Sabkha Matti
and smaller sabkhas around Liwa did not exist. Some sand dunes in these areas,
formed from the sand transported southward by strong, northerly winds, have
been dated to 40–141,000 and c.12,000 years ago, respectively. he rise in sea
level ater the last Ice Age eliminated much of that sand supply and the increase
in rainfall during the Climatic Optimum stabilised the sand dunes in the desert
by enabling the growth of increased vegetation cover.
As archaeological research programmes develop in the UAE, more and more

detailed environmental studies are being carried out, showing that there was
certainly variation from region to region. It is always diicult to generalise
about the environment and signiicant climatic and ecological diferences can
occur over quite short distances. he main thing is that anyone interested in
the UAE’s archaeology must be sensitive to these issues and aware that what
they see nowadays is not necessarily the way it was in a given period in the past.
Most of us are quite prepared to accept the truth of a statement like this when
it comes to culture and society, but it is equally important to bear this in mind
when thinking about the past environments in which the ancient inhabitants
of the UAE lived and died.
15
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IN Th e L AND o F T h e eMIr AT es ch APT er 2 > Th e FIrs T I Nh AB ITA NTs
chapter 2
the irst
inhabitants
Until recently, little evidence suggested that the UAE was populated
before about 8000 years ago. Stone tools found near Jebel Barakah,
in western Abu Dhabi, were reminiscent of Middle Pleistocene
types that, elsewhere in the Near East, were dated to up to 200,000
years ago, but in isolation it was diicult to say whether these were
correctly dated. Recent survey in the same area recovered handaxes
and lakes made using the so-called ‘Levallois’ technique, a style of
lint-knapping used both by Neanderthals and by anatomically modern
humans (Homo sapiens) that involves striking lakes of a prepared
stone ‘blank’ or core. Recently, however, important discoveries have
been made at Jebel Faya, in the interior of Sharjah, where stone tools
let: Excavations at Jebel Faya.
have been found in strata dated to between 125,000 and 90,000 years
ago. he technology used to make these tools suggests that they were above: A core from Jebel Barakah
the work of Homo sapiens. he earliest tools, around 125,000 years in western Abu Dhabi.
old, difer from those of a similar age found in the Levant, suggesting
a migration directly ‘out of Africa’ when lower sea-levels meant that
the Red Sea trough could easily be crossed. hese early groups would
have proceeded eastwards, crossing Yemen and Oman before reaching
the Emirates. An increasingly arid climate may have killed of or driven
away these early groups who were eventually replaced by people whose
tool-kit shows ainities to the industries known in the Levant and
the Zagros mountains between 90,000 and 34,000 years ago.
Striking evidence of this arid phase was found in one of the Jebel Faya
excavations. his took the form of a layer of sterile sand separating
deeper levels with Upper Palaeolithic stone tools from higher layers
with later, Neolithic-type stone tools (see below). his later phase
17
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seems to have begun right at the end of the Pleistocene, or in the beginning
of the Holocene – conventionally dated to 8000 BC. A marine shell found at
Jebel Faya, together with an early type of lint arrowhead known as a ‘Fasad
point’, has been radiocarbon dated to around 8500–7500 BC. Fasad points are
arrowheads with retouched tangs (the base of the arrowhead, which is usually
straight and is hated or attached to the arrow shat), but largely smooth, blade-
like surfaces. Both the marine shell, which had to have been brought to the site
by human agency, and the arrowhead are clear indicators of a human presence
in the interior of the UAE by this time. Aside from Fasad points, which have
now been found at several sites around Jebel al-Emalah and Jebel Faya as well
as in the Sultanate of Oman, we have little evidence of these early Holocene
settlers of the UAE.
he subsequent inhabitants of the UAE, who lived during the seventh and sixth
millennia BC, are much better documented. hey let behind them distinctive
stone tools, remains of houses, burials and jewellery. heir bones are well enough
preserved to tell us what sort of diseases they sufered from. his evidence
comes from sites scattered all over the Emirates – from the Umm al-Zumul
region of southeastern Abu Dhabi to the gravel plains on the east side of the
Hajar Mountains in Fujairah, and from the islands of Dalma and Marawah of
Finely retouched arrowheads are
the coast of Abu Dhabi to the sands around Jebel Hait – and represent the irst
characteristic of the Late Stone
really widespread population in the UAE.
Age in the UAE.
Stone tools made of lint, chert and quartz constitute the most widespread and
abundant evidence of this period in the UAE’s history. Many scholars refer
to this period in Arabian prehistory as the Late Stone Age, while others call
it the Neolithic. Elsewhere, in Eurasia, this latter term carries with it a whole
range of implications. Farming, herding, the use of ceramics, the manufacture
of groundstone objects and a settled village life are all characteristics of the
Neolithic or ‘New Stone Age’. In the speciic case of the UAE only some of these
features are found. here is no evidence yet of farming (there is later, but not
until the Bronze Age), but there is of herding. In fact, all of the sheep, goat and
cattle bones recovered at sites of this period in the UAE are those of domestic,
not wild, animals. A small amount of pottery was used, but in all cases this
was imported from Mesopotamia and not made locally. Groundstone was
certainly used, but not necessarily for grinding grains. Some stones were used
for opening shellish. Finally, villages were settled, but not necessarily year
round. It is highly likely that people moved seasonally between the coast and
the interior, perhaps returning always to the same place and hence not living a
18
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2 > T he FIrs T INh AB ITA NTs
truly nomadic existence, but with the exception of some fairly solid houses made Palm-frond houses or ‘arish are
of beach rock (Ar. farush) in Marawah, there is little evidence of permanent
eminently suited to the climate
architecture. Given the climate, however, palm-frond houses, similar to the
of the UAE.
‘arish of the recent past, were probably far more comfortable and practical.
Most of the Late Stone Age tools found in the UAE belong to what has been
called the Arabian Bifacial Tradition. In this case, the term ‘bifacial’ refers to
the fact that the stone tool – oten an arrowhead, scraper or longer point – was
worked on both sides (hence ‘bifacially’ – on both ‘faces’). he working consisted
of ‘retouching’ the surface of the tool by means of various types of blows with
another tool, which might be made of horn (for example, from gazelle, goat or
cattle), wood or stone. he result was a surface, on both sides of the object, in
which many individual facets of diferent size and depth can be seen. Stone tool
specialists describe the entire process of tool manufacture as one of ‘reduction’
in the sense that an unworked ‘core’ or ‘blank’ – usually a lint or chert pebble –
is taken and gradually reduced by numerous blows until the desired outcome –
a tool of a particular size and shape – has been achieved.
19
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Arrowheads of this period are covered on both sides with ine retouch. Some
have distinctive barbs at the base of the blade and tangs – thus looking like a
classic arrowhead – while others are slender and leaf-shaped without a separate
tang, or broader and tangless, so-called ‘foliates’, that are common in the desert
around Al Ain. At some sites, such as KHM0035 (Kharimat Khor al-Manahil,
in southeastern Abu Dhabi), an abundance of small lint chips – the of-cuts
or debris let from retouching, oten referred to by the French term débitage –
show that the site was actually a place where stone tools were manufactured.
Detail of artefacts on the surface

In addition to arrowheads and projectile points, sites near Jazirat al-Hamra in
of KHM0035. Ra’s al-Khaimah have also yielded groundstone axes. Tools such as these, while
originally roughed out from a core in much the same way as an arrowhead, were
then ground through abrasion with another stone and eventually polished so
that the surface is as smooth as glass.
Jewellery is another category of ind from this early period, which is in many
ways remarkable. A cemetery, known as BHS 18, near the foot of Jebel Buhais,
in the interior of Sharjah, has yielded a wide variety of beads used in headbands,
loin cloths, bracelets, anklets, belts and necklaces. hese were made of a variety
of locally available and imported stones, such as agate, anhydrite, carnelian,
chert, jet, limestone and serpentinite; as well as from marine shell and coral. It
seems unlikely that these were all imported to Jebel Buhais ready-made, and far
more likely that the bead-drilling technology existed to make them on the spot.
By far the most common bead type was the simple disc, thousands of which
were discovered, measuring generally 5–6 millimetres in diameter and 1.5
millimetres in thickness. More oten than not, these were made of serpentinite,
coral or shell. Tubular, black serpentinite beads, 10–30 millimetres long, and 5
millimetres in diameter, were also common. Used in necklaces, they were oten
intermixed with white, tubular beads made of coral, creating an intentional
decorative efective of alternating black and white. Barrel-shaped limestone
beads, pierced shells (Engina mendicaria, Marginella sp., Naticidae, Conus sp.,
Planaxis cf. niger, Collumbelidae cf. Anachis zebra, Ancilla cf. farsiana) and even
pearls were found. Large, leaf-shaped pendants were made of mother-of-pearl.
he evidence from BHS 18 reveals some interesting diferences in the jewellery

worn by men and women. Women wore strands of disc beads and pearls in
A bifacially retouched, tanged their hair; bracelets around their wrists; necklaces; beaded loincloths; and in
arrowhead. one case a carnelian bead beneath the nose. Men, on the other hand, wore head
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In the Land.indb 20 28/02/2012 12:13

bands; bracelets; and belts decorated with shells. Children were buried wearing
necklaces, bracelets and anklets. It is not certain whether jewellery of this sort
was reserved for burial, or was part of daily life. It is interesting, however, to
see how much beading – of headbands, loincloths and hair ornaments – was
used. Body decoration clearly involved much more than the use of necklaces
and bracelets.
Sites of this early period are now known on the coast and islands of the UAE,
as well as on the gravel plains of the interior and even deep in the desert. For
climatic reasons it seems likely that people moved seasonally, spending the
winter on the coast, the spring on the gravel plains of the interior and summer
in the mountains. Each of these regions had its own set of natural resources and
the archaeological evidence recovered on the sites of this period leaves us in no
doubt that those resources were fully exploited. Along the coast, it is clear that
ish, shellish and marine mammals (for example, dugong) were the principal
sources of protein. On Dalma island, for example, a wide range of ish were
caught, including some, like tuna, that are ‘pelagic’ (inhabitants of open sea
waters), as well as bream, which would have been caught closer to shore. Large
groupers (Ar. hamour), some nearly 1 metre long, as well as 2–3-metres-long Bones of the Socotra cormorant
sharks, were probably being caught with lines and large hooks, examples of
are common in archaeological
which are known from other sites. Oten, these were made of mother-of-pearl.
he residents of Dalma also enjoyed over twenty species of shellish, including sites located near the coast.
clam (Circenita callipyga), oyster (Pinctada radiata) and turban shell (Lunella
coronatus), as well as crab, dolphin and sea turtle (Chelonia mydas).
Other discoveries, however, conirm that life on Dalma depended on more than
marine resources. Carbonised date stones, amongst the earliest found anywhere
in the Middle East, suggest that the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) was being
exploited by about 5000 BC. It is not yet clear whether the dates consumed on
Dalma were brought from the mainland or grown on the island, nor is it certain
that these were the fruit of domesticated, as opposed to wild, palms. In either
case, however, it is clear that dates provided the inhabitants of Dalma with sugar,
Vitamin C and ibre, thus supplementing the sea in their diet.
Additional evidence of a more varied diet is provided by the remains of sheep

Carbonised date stones from
and/or goat; gazelle; and Socotra cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis). he
archaeological sites demonstrate
presence of mammals like gazelle might suggest that Dalma was not yet an
island when site DA 11, from which most of our evidence comes, was occupied. that the date has been a staple of
On the other hand, Dalma may already have been cut of from the mainland the UAE diet for thousands of years.
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22
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as a result of the sea level rising, and a small gazelle population might well
have survived on the island for a time before being hunted out of existence.
Domesticated sheep and goat could have been brought over by boat if Dalma
was an island by this stage. Gazelle would have provided a ready source of
protein, while sheep and goat would have produced secondary products like
milk and hair or leece. Indeed, sheep and goat were highly valued in the past,
since they are able to convert brackish water, which is widely available along the
UAE coast today and undrinkable by humans, into milk that was drinkable by
human populations. Milk, of course, can also be made into a variety of other
products, such as ghee (clariied butter) and cheese. Rather than slaughtering
sheep and goat for their meat, the Neolithic inhabitants of the UAE probably
conserved their herds so that secondary products – milk and leece or hair –
could be regularly ‘harvested’ from them, relying on ish, marine mammals
and terrestrial mammals, like gazelle and Arabian oryx, for meat.
Other sites on the coast, such as Al Madar, in Umm al-Qaiwain, have also
yielded a similar range of animal remains. On Akab island, in the lagoon of
Umm al-Qaiwain, however, a unique site was found by French archaeologists
who discovered a ishing settlement and the world’s earliest shrine to the dugong
consisting of dugong skulls and other bones, as well as votive oferings, arranged
let: he dugong has been hunted
on a low platform dating to 4700–4100 BC. As one of the main marine mammals
in the region, the peaceful dugong is thought by many to be the inspiration for in UAE waters since prehistory.
the legendary half-human, half-aquatic mermaids. From what is known of their above: Sea turtles provided both
behaviour and dependence on marine grasses, it is likely that dugongs were
shell and protein for ancient
most abundant in the shallow waters of the UAE coast. Although oten caught
coastal populations.
using harpoons, dugongs are sometimes netted or trapped close to the coast. he
presence of ive net-sinkers at Akab suggests that netting may have been used
to catch them in the ancient UAE. hese would have been extremely valuable
quarry for ancient sea hunters. An adult dugong can supply up to 150 kilograms
of meat and 20–35 litres of oil (noted for its medicinal powers), while its skin
produces a ine leather and its bones and teeth can be made into beads and tools.
Over a dozen pearls have also been recovered on Akab, suggesting that dugong
hunting was not the only activity being seriously pursued by the population
there. As for their houses, these were probably of the ‘arish or palm-frond type,
judging by the many small postholes found in the sand. In a case like this, the
Pearls have been prized since the
only indication of ‘architecture’ found by the archaeologist may be circular
discolourations of the sand or soil, where the long since decomposed palm beginning of human occupation
fronds or trunks were set into the ground. along the coast.
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But it would be wrong to consider the earliest inhabitants of the UAE hunter-
gatherers or principally ishermen. hese were people who herded as their
principal occupation and did a bit of hunting and ishing or shellish gathering,
on the side, not the other way around. If people keep animals, then herding
is a year-round occupation, even if other economically important activities
can be slotted in on a seasonal basis. All of the excavated sites of this period
in the UAE have yielded remains of domesticated sheep and goat, and some
have yielded cattle. Since over 90 per cent of the animal bones from the
BHS 18 site at Jebel Buhais were of domesticated sheep, goat and cattle – with the
cattle, because of their large size (despite their smaller numbers), representing
substantial contributors to the diet – it is clear that the inhabitants were herders.
Interestingly, most of the sheep and goat remains were of older or mature
individuals, primarily females. his suggests that they were kept principally
for their milk, since animals kept for their meat are usually slaughtered at a
younger age.
Where did the inhabitants of Dalma and Marawah go in the spring if they let
the coast? Like the earlier marine shell from Jebel Faya, the discovery of a net-
sinker at BHS 18 is a small, but important, pointer to a connection with the sea
coast. Year-round settlement on Dalma, which has a good supply of freshwater,
and Marawah, with its substantial beach rock houses, was probably possible. But
seasonal migration may have been motivated as much by social as by economic
concerns. Hans-Peter and Margarethe Uerpmann, for example, suggest that
BHS 18 may have been a seasonal gathering place for mobile herders who came
there in the spring, during the lambing season, having let their seasonal ishing
and shellish-gathering existence on the coast at the end of the winter. his
movement may have been as much about periodic gatherings of tribes or clans,
about the renewing of ties with related kin groups, of arranging marriages for
young men and women, and bartering pearls or shell ornaments, as it was about
economic or ecological imperatives.
KHM0035 and sites like it, on the other hand, in the southeastern desert of Abu
Dhabi, may have been inhabited in the summer by groups that spent the winter
on the coast, much like pearl-ishing families of the Bani Yas and the Manasir in
the nineteenth and early twentieth century who spent their winters on the coast
and their summers in the Liwa oasis. he site shows evidence of three circular
he large mammals hunted in
depressions in the sand surrounded by unworked pieces of limestone. Each of
prehistoric times included the these depressions is about 5 metres in diameter and roughly 4–5 metres from
Arabian oryx. the next. hese are most probably the remains of a campsite and the stones were
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possibly used to weigh down the lower part of the tent covering. Shell beads, he importance of the date palm
of the sort found at Jebel Buhais, also point to the possibility of another axis of as a source of both food and multi-
contact – towards the north.
purpose materials (wood, fronds for
Similar sites have been found in many parts of the Arabian desert, from Yemen ‘arish, mats, basketry, etc) should
in the south to the Hijaz in the north. he fact that sites such as KHM0035 have not be underestimated.
been found deep in the desert suggests that during the Climatic Optimum,
when there was more rainfall than there is today, the desert may not have been
quite as forbidding and seasonal pasturage for herds may have drawn herders
to this region for several months of the year. he possibility that seasonal lakes
formed in the interdunal troughs during this wetter phase of the mid-Holocene
would also help to explain the presence of human settlement in this area. Sweet
water is available in the Umm al-Zumul area and game, such as gazelle, oryx,
wild camel, hares, houbara bustard and the spiny-tailed agamid (Ar. dhub),
was probably suicient to keep the visitors supplied with fresh meat during
their desert sojourn.
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here is little evidence available on the actual houses inhabited by people along
the coast and islands of the UAE at this time. On Dalma there are concentrations
of shells, known as middens, and a hearth, where food may have been prepared.
But as for houses, the most we can say is that a series of seven post-holes and
what appears to be a door socket suggest the presence of huts, possibly palm-
frond houses (‘arish) of the sort still used in the UAE in the recent past.
On Marawah the situation is very diferent. here, a roughly oval, dry-stone

structure, built without mortar and measuring c.2.4 x 1.2 metres, with an
obvious doorway in one of the long sides, reveals a plan that is unparalleled in
the region. he walls, over 50 centimetres thick in some places and preserved to
he prehistoric oval building
a maximum height of about 1 metre, are substantial. Other, as yet unexcavated,
on Marawah. mounds on Marawah may conceal similar structures and an entire village. But
palm-frond houses (‘arish) were probably always the norm along the coast at
this time, and the apsidal structure on Marawah remains a unique building that
may have had a special, as yet unidentiied, function. Although a male skeleton
was discovered in the southern end of the building, this does not mean that
the structure is in fact a tomb, since the skeleton was associated with the third
phase of occupation and not with the irst use of the structure. In fact, it appears
to have been buried ater the building had been abandoned.
Precisely how the people at BHS 18 lived is diicult to say since, apart from
ireplaces, no signs of any structures that might be interpreted as houses have
been found. It is probable, however, that the inhabitants lived in temporary huts
or tent-like structures near the base of the Jebel, but structures such as these
can be very diicult to detect archaeologically. Recent studies have shown that a
spring existed near the base of Jebel Buhais. his must have been an important
attraction for herders looking to spend part of the year there.
In addition to stone artefacts, pottery also occurred on some sites. In this period,
pottery was not what we could call a ‘normal’ part of the culture of the inhabitants
of the UAE. he local population of this period did not know how to make
pottery, and probably did not require it in their daily lives. hey seem to have
lived perfectly well using other sorts of containers, made of perishable materials
that have not survived, such as wood or basketry. Limestone may also have been
used to make vessels, as recent inds at KHM0035 suggest. Nevertheless, small
numbers of pottery fragments, referred to as ‘sherds’ by archaeologists, have been
found on many sites along the coast, from Jazirat al-Hamra (Ra’s al-Khaimah) in
the north to the Abu Dhabi islands (Dalma, Marawah, Al Aryam) in the south.
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What makes this pottery so signiicant is the fact that it was not locally made.
he pottery found in the UAE from this period is usually a greenish-buf colour,
oten over-ired, and decorated with geometric motifs using a glassy, black,
manganese-based paint. In all cases, where the sherds have been analysed, it
is clear that the pots from which these fragments came were imported from
southern Iraq. Stylistically, they belong to an era in Mesopotamian history
known as the al-‘Ubaid (or more simply, Ubaid) period. Many scholars have
speculated about just why Ubaid-type pottery occurs on coastal sites in the
UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, eastern Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Although the answer is
not completely certain, it seems likely that Mesopotamian sailors visited these
regions seasonally, perhaps to trade for something they desired from the local
inhabitants. Pottery, an innovation that must have seemed extraordinary to the
herders of the UAE, may have been exchanged for pearls, beads, mother-of- above: A painted jar of
pearl or other commodities. Whatever the case may be, one interesting point Ubaid type from Marawah.
about this exchange is that it did not lead to the emergence of a local pottery
below: One of the burials
industry. Ater the period of contact with Ubaid Mesopotamia, it would still
be several thousand years before a local tradition of pottery production was excavated on Marawah.
developed in the UAE.
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he single male skeleton found buried in the stone building on Marawah is only
one of many burials known from the period. Elsewhere on the coast a cemetery
containing a minimum of 42 individuals was excavated by Carl Phillips in
Umm al-Qaiwain, at a site known as UAQ 2, while at Jebel Buhais the cemetery
excavated at BHS 18 contained over 350 individuals and was in use for more
than 500 years. A second cemetery has now been located at Jebel Faya (FAY-
NE15), only about 17 kilometres away from Jebel Buhais. Careful excavation at
these sites has aforded archaeologists insights into the earliest burial practices
known in the UAE.
Hundreds of individuals were
Although the UAQ 2 burials were placed in sot sand and the BHS 18 burials
buried at BHS 18, many with
were dug into the hard mix of gravel and soil near the base of Jebel Buhais,
there are similarities between them. In general, ‘primary’ burials – skeletons
elaborate necklaces.
that were buried and never again moved – were set into the ground in a ‘lexed’
position. Generally, this means that the body was put in the ground lying on
its side, with the arms bent at the elbow, hands close to the face, and legs bent.
he knees were thrust forward slightly, and the lower legs angled backward just
a bit. his is a common burial position that can be found all over the world in
many diferent periods. It usually implies, however, that the individual was not
buried in a container (coin) of any sort, since burials of that sort are far more
likely to be extended, usually lying lat on their backs.
At BHS 18 it was clear that each primary burial was placed in a shallow pit about
50 centimetres below the surface. Over the course of 500 years, so many graves
were dug that later burial pits oten cut into earlier ones, resulting in disturbance
and damage to older bone. he presence of animal bones and lint tools in the
soil around the graves suggests that the cemetery at BHS 18 was established
in a normal living area. At UAQ 2, on the other hand, it has been suggested
that hearths, ash and animal bones associated with the burials represent the
remnants of funerary meals, consumed as part of the burial ritual.
BHS 18 also contained ‘secondary’ burials – skeletons that were not found
in their original position, but which had been picked up and moved from
somewhere else. he evidence for this consists of bones that are not in the correct
anatomical position – that is, they are not in the position we would expect to let: Jebel Buhais has proven
ind them in if the body had simply been buried and let undisturbed. Typically,
to be an important site with
such secondary burials include skulls and clusters of leg and arm bones, as if
they had been gathered up in a bundle, with none of the smaller hand and feet prehistoric remains dating to
bones, back bones, and ribs. How could such a deposit have originated? here many diferent periods.
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are several ways. For example, if a member of the BHS 18 community died far
away in the mountains and was buried on the spot, it is possible that when the
time came to migrate to the spring camp, the body was dug up, and the long
bones and skull were taken to BHS 18 and reburied. his would account for the
absence of many of the smaller bones and for the discovery of the long bones
in neat rows, next to the skull. On the other hand, secondary burial can result
in situations where the dead were not buried initially, but let to decompose,
perhaps in a cave, ater which the larger bones were gathered up, transported
and eventually buried. Such a scenario could explain why some of the bones in
the secondary position at BHS 18 show scratch marks made by rodents. Birds
and small animals oten play a role in removing the lesh from exposed bodies,
and in the process their teeth and beaks oten leave marks.
Secondary burials at BHS 18 oten contained the bones of more than one
individual. In one case, as many as ive diferent individuals were found
commingled (mixed together). Even primary burials at BHS 18 sometimes
contained the bones of more than one person buried simultaneously. In one
instance, a cluster of ive individuals was buried, each partly in the arms of another.
Whether these clusters, both secondary and primary, represent family groups,
or simply groups of people who died at the same time and were therefore buried
in one ‘event’ remains a mystery.
Based on present evidence, it seems that men, women and children were
represented in roughly similar ratios among both primary and secondary
burials. Primary burials at BHS 18 were comprised of 37 per cent males,
42 per cent females and 21 per cent children, while secondary burials consisted
of 45 per cent males, 40 per cent females and 15 per cent children.
BHS 18 is our main source of information on the health, stature and diet
of the UAE’s earliest inhabitants. Although much of the bone was heavily
mineralised and generally in a poor state of preservation, some interesting
conclusions may still be drawn. he adult males of BHS 18 had an average height
of 1.65 metres and the females 1.55 metres. Marked facets on the distal tibiae
(lower shin bone) suggest that people squatted a great deal, while generally
robust long bones suggest a population of muscular individuals. Males had
generally long (dolicocephalic) skulls while females were more gracile (slender).
Non-metric traits shared within the population suggest a high degree of
inbreeding or endogamy. Changes visible on the right arm in a number of
cases suggest repetitive actions of some unknown sort. his could have been
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caused by using a certain type of tool, such as a grinding stone, or repeatedly

undertaking a particular kind of activity, such as hauling heavy loads. Many
times a repeated activity causes detectable changes to the bones involved, even
if there is oten a multiplicity of explanations for the cause of such changes.
Between 3 and 4 per cent of the adult population showed signs of cribra orbitalia
(lesions on the eye socket) and porotic hyperostosis (lesions on the cranial vault),
two conditions caused by anaemia. Generally, this is caused by an iron-deicient
diet or infection, such as malaria. In both cases, the infant rate was higher
(14.3 per cent and 22.2 per cent). Lamellar bone formation (parallel or concentric
layers) on 22.2 per cent of all infant long bones examined relects malnutrition
in the infant population. Wear on teeth was generally extreme and it is therefore
possible that some tell-tale signs of stress may have been worn away, but 1.1 per cent
of the teeth examined showed signs of enamel hypoplasia (pitting or furrowing
of the enamel), which is a condition generally relecting malnutrition.
he skulls from BHS 18 show a relatively high incidence – 7.2 per cent of the
skulls examined and 11.9 per cent of the better preserved ones – of head injuries.
hese were usually the signs of blows to the head with a blunt object. In most
cases they had healed. heir presence, however, suggests that a fair amount
of ighting went on, either within the community or with its neighbours. Nor
were these blows limited to male skulls. At least four female skulls bore signs
of injuries. One of these was fatal, one caused inlammation and two required
surgery. Nowadays, when we think of surgery we tend to think of sterile
conditions in modern hospitals, but it is remarkable how widespread the practice
of ‘trephination’ (surgical opening of the skull) was in antiquity. In Europe
trephination was practiced 10,000 years ago, and evidence of it has been found
in North Africa, Russia, Melanesia, New Zealand and the Americas (especially he skulls from BHS 18 show
in Peru and Bolivia). In the case of the three injured females, it appears that a relatively high incidence of
two of them were sufering from fractured skulls caused by a heavy blow, while
head injuries.
the third had porotic hyperostosis at the time of undergoing trephination. Very
sharp lint tools were probably used to perform these operations, and it is likely
that the patients were anaesthetised with some sort of drug, perhaps an opiate.
One of the BHS 18 females who had already received a blow to the skull bore the
scar of a 3.5 x 5 centimetre hole in her skull over the area of the original injury.
Evidence around the edges of the hollow showed that the surgery was a success
and the wound had healed before the individual eventually died. In another
case, an adult male, aged c.50–60 years old, bore evidence of a trephination in
the right side of the skull. Associated evidence, such as extra bone growth and
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increased grooves made by the middle meningeal artery, could indicate that
the individual was sufering from a tumour. Whatever the cause of the surgery,
it is also clear in this case that the individual survived.
In broad terms, the BHS 18 population was evenly balanced in numbers of males
and females, as was the UAQ 2 population, which included 18 males, 14 females
and three subadults. About 30 per cent of the BHS 18 population died before the
age of 20 and 45 per cent before the age of 25. Only 39 per cent of the population
lived beyond the age of 30. Pregnancy and childbirth took its toll on the female
population, where mortality was highest during the late teens and twenties.
About 36.5 per cent of all males who survived to the age of 14 ended up dying
between 30 and 40. In comparison with other parts of the ancient world, child
mortality seems low. Infants up to the age of four comprised 12.7 per cent of
the deceased at BHS 18, and 60.7 per cent of the deceased population under 15.
here are, of course, other factors that might have afected our understanding
of demography at BHS 18. Most importantly, infant bones do not survive as
well as those of older individuals, so that the statistics on age at death may be
skewed away from infants and younger children. Similarly, cultural practices,
involving burial rites, may also have played a role in altering the real incidence
of infant mortality.
Where did the early population of the UAE originate? Given that there is no
evidence of continuity between the makers of the earliest stone tools from Jebel
Barakah or Jebel Faya, and the ‘Neolithic’ population just described, the latter
must have entered the region from somewhere else. he archaeological material
– lint tool types, groundstone, stone structures and jewellery – does not point
to a particular place of origin. he Ubaid pottery, moreover, does not imply that
the colonists came from Mesopotamia, since too little of it has been found to
support the suggestion that the earliest inhabitants of the UAE were emigrants
from southern Mesopotamia. Nor would such an hypothesis be supported by
the other kinds of artefacts discovered in the UAE. he beads, pendants and
stone tools recovered are not at all Mesopotamian in style.
What does point in the direction of a source, however, is the evidence derived
from the animal remains. Southeastern Arabia was home to many wild animals
– gazelle, Arabian oryx, camel and a host of smaller mammals – but every
Although leet of foot, gazelles
excavated site with the remains of early settlements has also yielded the bones
have been hunted for millennia of domesticated sheep, goat and, less oten, cattle. Wild sheep never lived in
in the UAE. the Arabian peninsula. Wild goat once lived in the Hajar Mountains and wild
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cattle (aurochs) probably lived along both the eastern and western margins
of Arabia. Nevertheless, a local process of domestication seems unlikely, and
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from a cattle bone excavated at BHS 18 suggests a
link with the southern Levant (Syria/Palestine). It is logical therefore to assume
that all of these animals were introduced by the irst settlers to colonise the
UAE, and in addition to the mtDNA evidence, the stone tools of the UAE’s
earliest Neolithic inhabitants also show clear similarities to blade arrowheads
of the so-called ‘Pre-Pottery Neolithic B’ (PPNB) cultures of the southern
Levant. he simplest explanation is an overland population movement from
this region into southeastern Arabia by groups that brought herds of sheep,
goat and cattle with them.
Just why this might have occurred is, of course, another matter. Did climatic
deterioriation – perhaps the widespread and now well-documented cold event
about 8200 years ago – impel villagers to move south to warmer climes? Probably
not, because this event happened well ater the date of the earliest inds from the
Jebel Faya area. Did favourable climatic conditions lead to population increase
in the southern Levant, and a movement outwards in search of new lands to
colonise? A third, complicating factor is the presence of some stone tools in the
UAE, such as bifacially retouched foliates and so-called ‘trihedral rods’, that are
not part of the PPNB toolkit. hese look far more like types known in South
Arabia, the area of modern Yemen or even the Horn of Africa. he possibility
must at least be considered, therefore, that people moved into the UAE both
from the north – from the southern Levant – and from the south – from the
Horn of Africa and Yemen. In future years, more mtDNA analysis, particularly
of human bone, may help to clarify this intriguing puzzle.
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In the Land.indb 34 28/02/2012 12:14
I N Th e L AND o F T h e eMIr AT es ch APT er 3> Th e APP eAr A Nce o F M oN UMe N TA L ToM B s
chapter 3
the appearance
of monumental tombs
What does it mean to talk of a ‘Dark Age’ in history? Oten, when

archaeologists refer to a dark age, it simply relects the fact that little
work has been done on that period, and, as a result, little information
is available. It does not necessarily mean nothing much was happening.
In other cases, the use of the term dark age genuinely relects the fact
that, try as they might, archaeologists have simply been unable to
discover much evidence from a particular era.
In the case of the UAE, the period between 4000 and 3000 BC
Reconstructed tombs of Hait-type
has been called the ‘dark millennium’ by German archaeologist
at the base of Jebel Hait.
Margarethe Uerpmann. In thinking about the use of such a term, we
must remember, of course, that the UAE is still a relatively ‘young’
country, one that has only been explored archaeologically for just
over 50 years, But it is certainly the case that, whereas numerous older
sites with stone tools have been identiied during the past thirty-ive
years, along with hundreds of tombs dating to around 3000 BC, there
is not much evidence from the interval in between.
Even if some of the prehistoric sites discussed in the previous chapter,

such as the site on Akab island, date to the 4000–3000 BC period –
on the grounds of their radiocarbon determinations – we still face
an apparent break in tradition. Archaeologically, we move from
settlements containing stone tools, pit burials (as at BHS 18), and
the bones of both domestic and wild animals – sites such as those on
Marawah and Dalma islands; at Hamriyah, Al Madar and Jazirat al-
Hamra on the coast; and at BHS 18 in the interior – to cemeteries with
monumental graves of stone and no apparent settlements. Because
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the irst graves from about 3000 BC were identiied near Jebel Hait, they have
been called ‘Hait-type’ graves by archaeologists.
In a sense, we cannot compare the earlier prehistoric period with the later Hait
period very easily, since we have no settlements from the latter era. All we can
compare are the burials, and these are clearly very diferent. Where the earliest
inhabitants of the UAE buried their dead in simple, apparently unmarked, pits in
the ground, the Hait tradition is one of large, monumental tombs. hese tombs
are massive, above-ground markers. hey are great concentrations of unworked
boulders, piled high to make a visible mound, which may have stood 1–2 metres
in height and measured as much as 11–12 metres across. Within this mass of
rock is a clearly deined passageway, oten only about 40–50 centimetres wide,
leading from the outer edge of the structure to a small, corbel-vaulted chamber
in the centre. his is the actual tomb chamber where the deceased were laid
to rest. Seen from above, the entrance passage and tomb chamber resemble an
old-fashioned keyhole, although the passageway was undoubtedly roofed and
thus the keyhole is really only visible ater excavation. It is not clear how the
Hait tombs had narrow entrances entrance was blocked. As no door sockets have ever been found in association
leading through a small corridor with such tombs, it is unlikely that a wooden door protected the entrance to
to a burial chamber in the centre. a Hait-type tomb. More likely than not, unworked stones stood at the mouth
of the passageway, preventing animals (and tomb robbers) from getting inside.
Unlike the majority of prehistoric graves excavated to date, the Hait tombs
were almost always collective in the sense that more than one individual was
buried in them. Collective graves are not to be confused with mass graves. he
term mass grave usually implies that a large number of people who died in one
‘event’, such as a battle or an epidemic, were buried together. Collective graves,
on the other hand, hold the remains of multiple ‘interments’, or burial ‘events’.
Such graves might have been used by an entire village or community over time.
Alternatively, they might have been the burial place for a family or lineage – a
group of families descended from a common, oten mythical, ancestor. Such a
collective grave may have been used over several generations, or even several
centuries. Hence, the individual skeletons within such a grave may not be
contemporary. he bodies buried in a Hait tomb may have been laid to rest,
one ater the other, over a long period of time.
In the UAE collective burial was practiced for another 2500 years, through
the Iron Age (i.e. until c.300 BC). Unlike some of the later graves in the UAE,
however, those of Hait-type never contained hundreds of individuals. In fact,
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3> T h e APP eAr A Nce o F MoN UM e N TA L ToM Bs
they rarely held more than half a dozen. Unfortunately, in most cases, the
graves were disturbed in antiquity, making it diicult to be certain whether
they once held more individuals. On the basis of the relatively small size of the
tomb chamber itself, however, it is not likely that these graves ever contained
more than ive to ten individuals. What seems beyond doubt, however, is the
fact that these tombs were not intended as the burial monuments of individuals.
he amount of energy expended in building a Hait tomb was considerable.

At Jebel al-Emalah, south of Dhaid, two large tombs of Hait type measuring
11.5 and 12 metres in diameter, respectively, represent literally tonnes and
tonnes of stone rubble. It is interesting to consider just how such tombs may have
been viewed by members of the society that built them. In the irst place, Hait
tombs are highly visible. hey stand above the ground and can be seen from
a considerable distance. One can speculate a great deal about the signiicance
of their placement. For example, their location may have implied something
about the territorial rights of the deceased and/or of their living descendants. Tombs at the bottom of Jebel Hait.
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If the collective nature of the tombs was more important than the identity of
the individuals within them, this would explain why they appear, in a sense,
‘anonymous’ with no obvious distinguishing markers to serve to diferentiate
tombs when they appear loosely grouped together – as they appear near Hatta
or on the slopes of Jebel Hait, or when they are strung along like beads on a
necklace on ridge lines in the Hajar Mountains. On the other hand, the relative
size of the Hait tombs – ranging from 1.5 to 12 metres in diameter – may be
an indicator of status or rank diferences between Hait-era families or lineages.
Equally, size may simply relate to the number of individuals for whom a given
tomb was intended. hese questions are virtually impossible to answer, but
experience in other parts of the world suggests that size, appearance, visibility
and placement were all factors that contributed to the impact of an above-ground
tomb upon other members of society.
Hait graves have not yielded large numbers of objects, but the few that have
been recovered do give us some information on the inhabitants of the UAE 5000
years ago. Personal adornment in the form of jewellery was certainly worn by
Prehistoric tombs are located near the deceased. Several thousand beads were recovered in the Hait-type graves at
Jebel al-Emalah, not far from Jebel al-Emalah, including examples made of a silver-lead alloy; a wide variety of
Jebel Buhais. shells (Conus catus, Peribolus arabica, Xancus pyrum, Oliva inlata, Dentalium,
Engina mendicaria); stone (carnelian, agate, soapstone, talc, jasper?); and even
ish vertebrae. It is interesting that at both BHS 18 near Jebel Buhais, several
thousand years earlier, and at Jebel al-Emalah beads made out of marine shells
and ish vertebrae were common. his is just one more bit of evidence conirming
the close connection between inland and coastal populations.
Several of the Hait-type graves have yielded small objects of copper – rivets
(perhaps for attaching handles of wood, bone or horn to the hilts of knives or
daggers?), pins, awls and possibly daggers or knives. Research in the Sultanate of
Oman has shown that at roughly contemporary sites of the so-called Bandar Jissah
facies (including Bandar Jissah, east of Muscat; Ra’s al-Hamra 1, 2/3 and 10) copper
ishhooks were being used at this date and although there is no absolute proof
that the copper objects there and in the Hait tombs were locally manufactured,
it is likely that they were. It is true that inished copper objects could have been
imported at this time from Iran or Mesopotamia, but the fact that small fragments
of copper have been found in Oman on coastal shell middens with typical Arabian
stone tools suggests that metallurgy developed locally in the region. Interestingly,
when it did develop in southeastern Arabia, copper metallurgy was put to use
making tools (ishhooks) long before any copper ornaments are known.
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One of the rarest categories of bead found in Hait tombs is a small, square bead,
made of bone or ivory, which is pierced diagonally. Similar beads are known
at several sites in Iran – from Tepe Hissar near Damghan in the north-east, to
Susa in the south-west and Tepe Yahya in the south-east – and at the sites of
Tell Gubba and Uruk, in Mesopotamia, where writing was irst invented. As
in the UAE, the contexts in which these beads have been discovered in Iran
and Mesopotamia date to about 3000 BC. Although the beads provide the
only indication of a strong connection with Iran at this time, a clear link with
Mesopotamia is also suggested by pottery found in some of the Hait graves.
In the previous chapter we saw that imported pottery of Ubaid-type appeared

at a number of coastal settlements in the UAE (and in Qatar, eastern Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait). Ater an interval of 1500 or 2000 years, pottery of
Mesopotamian type again appeared in the UAE, but this time in the Hait graves.
he pottery in question is very distinctive in shape and decoration. he form is
that of a squat jar with an everted (turned out) rim, short neck and carinated
body (a fairly clear ‘edge’ along the shoulder of the vessel). he shoulder (upper
half of the body, above the carination line) of the vessel is decorated with a band
of designs. his oten takes the form of a series of motifs – bunches of parallel,
diagonal lines; a vertical branch or wheat sheaf; and an hour-glass – running
around the body of the vessel and generally painted in black. Oten, however,
the vessels appear plain or undecorated, but this is probably because, over time,
the plum-red paint that covered most of the surface has worn of.
In every case where the composition of the clay used to make the vessel has
been analysed scientiically, it has been shown to be a product of Mesopotamia
where the predominantly montmorillonite clay, deposited by the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, is easily distinguished from the clays of southeastern Arabia.
Importantly, this means that none of the Hait grave vessels analysed to date is
a local copy of a Mesopotamian original. Rather, all of the Hait pottery seems,
at this point, to have been imported from the north.
Recently, an imported Mesopotamian cylinder seal dating to this period was

discovered in the Al Gharbia (Western) Region of Abu Dhabi, near Medinat
Zayed. he stone seal, which is only a couple of centimetres tall, has a scene
of stylised women, seated on a stool or couch, with their hair hanging down
Mesopotamian cylinder seal
behind them in a long plait, lanking a spider. his enigmatic scene has been
found on many Mesopotamian cylinder seals of the period c.3100–2900 BC. discovered in the Al Gharbia
How a seal like this found its way to the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, far from (Western) Region of Abu Dhabi.
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any known sites of Hait tombs, is a mystery. Because ancient cylinder seals
were oten used in later periods as beads, it is also possible that the seal did not
reach the UAE until thousands of years ater it was made.
What might have prompted contact between Mesopotamia and the UAE at
this time? Whereas pearls could well have been a commodity sought ater by
Mesopotamians during the Ubaid period, it seems likely that copper was the
desired item. he Oman ophiolite (a raised deposit of ancient oceanic crust) is
rich in copper. Both copper sources and areas of ancient smelting (the reining
of copper using heat to remove impurities) are known throughout southeastern
Arabia and it is possible that some of the slag heaps in the northern UAE, in
places like Wadi Ashwani and Wadi Hilo, represent the remains of smelting
in this period. Judging by the small quantities of copper found in Hait tombs,
Copper was extracted in the Hajar
the inhabitants of the UAE in this period were aware of copper, its properties,
Mountains of the eastern UAE, in utility and presumably its value. Mesopotamia had a need for metal. Although
Ra’s al-Khaimah and Fujairah. there are some copper sources in the mountains to the north of Mosul, in
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northern Iraq, the southern part of the country had no sources and all of the
copper used at the major cities of the Sumerians, such as Uruk, Ur, and Nippur,
had to be imported.
Because it weighed far less, reined rather than raw copper was imported into
Mesopotamia. Raw copper ore, when it comes out of the ground, is heavy and
unwieldy and for that reason it is usually reined close to where it is mined.
Impurities are removed through a process known as smelting, in which a
substance, such as iron, is added to the ore as a ‘lux’ and then heated. he
impurities bond with the lux and as the resultant ‘slag’ (the combination of
impurities fused with the lux) is lighter than reined copper, the slag rises to the
top of the oven or crucible (a ceramic container in which reining is sometimes
done) and is poured of or drained from a tap, while the copper settles in the
bottom, forming a semicircular, bun-shaped ingot. his is an expensive process,
however. In fact, it has been estimated that it took 100 kilograms of charcoal
to smelt 5 kilograms of raw copper, and 700 kilograms of wood to produce
100 kilograms of charcoal. It was not so much the human labour that was
expensive, but the cost to the natural environment. he UAE and Oman must
have had many more trees than they do today to sustain this kind of metal Excavations at Wadi Hilo.
production, and some archaeologists have blamed copper metallurgy for wiping
out much of the region’s ancient forest cover.
In principle, the better the smelting process, the more reined the ingot that
is produced. Many ingots of early date, when analysed, have been found to be
rich in impurities, indicating that the smelting technique used was far from
perfect. In fact, one could almost say that the raw copper was not smelted, just
melted and turned into ore-ingots that still had to be reined by their eventual
consumers. But all things considered, it was much easier and more cost-eicient
to ship ingots, however imperfect to Mesopotamia, than it was to send boatloads
of unreined ore. On the receiving end, copper ingots were again heated and
made molten so that the copper could be poured into a mould in order to cast
the desired objects. Moulds for the manufacture of tools, such as axes, adzes,
hoe blades, and jewellery, have been found at archaeological sites throughout
the Near East.
It is clear that human communities had been living for thousands of years
without consuming much metal, but, as the societies of urban civilisations like
Mesopotamia got more and more sophisticated, the use of metal was one more
way in which a ruling elite could display its command over natural resources Copper mine at Wadi Hilo.
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and access to wealth. In this regard, metals were not a luxury, but an absolute
necessity for a society in which social divisions were becoming more and more
apparent and diferences of family, profession, wealth, land ownership and the
like were becoming accentuated.
At about 3400 BC those factors became particularly clear in southern Mesopotamia.

It was also at this time that writing was invented there and one of the earliest texts
to survive is a list of professions, showing clearly just how well-developed the
division of labour was in Mesopotamia even at this early date. here are also lists
Jamdat Nasr-type ceramic vessels
of things – names of trees, metals, animals and so forth. Among the metal objects
in the Al Ain Museum. listed is a ‘Dilmun axe’. Later, we know that the land of Dilmun encompassed
the mainland of what is today northeastern Saudi Arabia (Dhahran, Tarut and
Hofuf) and Bahrain. Dilmun became an important trade emporium, much like
Dubai is today, and a place for the transshipment of goods originating further
south and east. Since we know that neither northeastern Arabia nor Bahrain ever
had any copper sources, it seems likely that the use of copper from the Oman
Peninsula is implied by these early references to a ‘Dilmun axe’.
And so we come back to our Hait graves. It is perfectly possible that the contact
with Mesopotamia, which resulted in the acquisition of some typical jars of
Jamdat Nasr-type that eventually made their way into Hait graves in the UAE
and Oman, was in fact initiated by Sumerians seeking to acquire copper around
3000 BC. We know that during the preceding centuries, southern Mesopotamia
had contact with northern Syria and Anatolia – a rich source of copper – and
that that contact came to an end, for unknown reasons, around 3100 BC. If
copper sources to the north were no longer accessible, perhaps Mesopotamian
institutions, like the temples and palace estates, began to look to the south in
order to ind an alternative?
Although some scholars have suggested that Sumerian metalsmiths themselves

came to the region and settled, this seems highly unlikely since the only
Mesopotamian material culture to be found in southeastern Arabia at this time
is a small number of pottery vessels; the solitary cylinder seal; and, perhaps,
the square bone or ivory beads described on page 39. Rather, it seems more
likely that just a small number of agents for the temple and palace estates may
have come to the UAE and Oman around 3000 BC, looking for partners from
whom they could acquire copper, and giving, in return, painted pottery and
perhaps other goods, like textiles (later traded to the region) or vegetable oil,
that have not survived in the archaeological record.
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3> T h e APPeAr ANce o F M oNUM e NTAL ToM B s
Unfortunately, only one settlement, Hili 8 near Al Ain, has been dated to the Map showing the locations of Elam,
period around 3000 BC by radiocarbon, but this date is not certain and most of
Dilmun and Magan.
the material associated with this early phase at the site more closely resembles
that of the subsequent period. For this reason, Hili 8 will be discussed in the
next chapter.
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In the Land.indb 44 28/02/2012 12:14
IN Th e L AND o F T h e eMIr AT es ch AP Te r 4 > M Ag AN
chapter 4
magan
In the spring of 1958, Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan, the ruler of Abu
Dhabi from 1928 to 1966, invited a group of Danish archaeologists,
then excavating in Bahrain, to visit the emirate. Temple (Tim)
Hillyard, the representative of Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Ltd in
Abu Dhabi, had discovered what he believed were stone graves on
Umm an-Nar island, and Sheikh Shakhbut in particular requested
that the Danes inspect these. P.V. Glob, who led the team of Danish
archaeologists during their brief visit from 8–11 March 1958, noted,
‘HH Sheikh Shakhbut is very interested in the prospect of excavating
let: A hollow-footed chalice
and investigating these various sites, and we hope to be able to put
of bronze from Asimah.
such a campaign into efect in the spring of 1959’. he rest, as they
say, is history. above: Carnelian beads from
western India were extremely
Since those irst excavations on Umm an-Nar island in February
popular all over the ancient Near
1959, our knowledge of the archaeology and early history of the
East during the Bronze Age.
UAE in the period c.2500–2000 BC has grown enormously. In
comparison to the earlier periods, there are many more sites, both
settlements and tombs; a much richer inventory of material on
those sites (architecture, ceramics, metals, stone vessels, animal
bones); more abundant evidence of contacts with neighbouring
regions, from India in the east to Syria in the north; and last, but
not least, a recognisable name for the area in the written records
of Mesopotamia. For the irst time in its history, the UAE can be
discussed alongside the other cultures of the Early Bronze Age
in the ancient Near East, and archaeologists and historians can
construct a more complex picture of life in the region than was
possible for the preceding periods.
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When the irst graves were excavated on Umm an-Nar island, the culture to
which they belonged seemed to have sprung out of nowhere. Glob noted the
presence of lint lakes and blades on the surface of Umm an-Nar, probably
examples of the sort we would now ascribe to the Arabian bifacial tradition, but
nothing else was known about the prehistory of Abu Dhabi and the Hait graves,
which might have been an obvious precursor, had not yet been excavated. Almost
forty years later, there are a few more clues about the origins of what is now
referred to as the ‘Umm an-Nar’ culture, but there is still much that is unclear.
One of the clues comes from Jebel al-Emalah where, as we saw in the previous
chapter, two large graves of Hait-type were excavated. A third grave that contained
a Mesopotamian Jamdat Nasr-style vessel of the type associated with Hait graves
was also discovered, but in this case the grave itself was not the standard type.
Although circular, it was smaller and had internal dividing walls, much like the
Umm an-Nar graves irst excavated by Glob and Bibby. To date, Jebel al-Emalah
is the only site identiied where we can see what seems to be a transitional grave
type that bridges the classic Hait and Umm an-Nar grave types.
But curiously, the sort of pottery found in the fully developed Umm an-Nar
graves bears no relation to the vessels found in the Hait graves. In fact, Umm
an-Nar pottery, which will be discussed in more detail later, is diferent in all
respects from that of the Hait period. Shapes, decoration, manufacturing
technique – all are completely unlike what we see in the Hait tradition.
What’s more, the Umm an-Nar pottery is not at all primitive. It represents a
sophisticated ceramic tradition. How can we explain this? If the Umm an-Nar
ceramic tradition did not evolve from an older tradition dating to the Hait
period, then it must have been introduced, fully formed, from outside the
Imported pottery from the Indus region. his is the conclusion that seems most plausible, since people who have
no tradition of making pottery are unlikely, once they come up with the idea or
Valley found in Hili North Tomb A.
recognise a need for ceramic containers, to suddenly begin making well-ired,
sophisticated shapes. If we accept this line of reasoning, then we must look
for an area outside the UAE from which the idea and technology of pottery
manufacture may have been introduced.
Mesopotamia was certainly one such area in contact with the UAE, but neither
the Ubaid pottery nor that of the Jamdat Nasr period is anything like that which
was used in the Umm an-Nar period. Could the people of the UAE have created
pottery that, while visually diferent from that of Mesopotamia, nevertheless
took its inspiration from that region? his is theoretically possible, but it would
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seem unlikely because there is, in fact, another area that produced pottery in Bronze rings were worn on toes
very similar shapes, with nearly identical decorations, and where pottery had
as well as ingers in the late third
been manufactured since about 6000 BC. In southeastern Iran – eastern Kerman
millennium BC.
and western Baluchistan – sites like Tepe Yahya, Bampur, Shahdad and the
cemetery near Konar Sandal in Jirot have yielded thousands of fragments and
complete vessels with shapes and decoration that are strikingly reminiscent of
Umm an-Nar pottery. Rather than suggesting that the Umm an-Nar pottery
was spontaneously developed by people who had no tradition of their own in
making pottery, people who were adept at making stone tools and jewellery, but
who never used clay, it seems far more likely that immigrants from across the
Straits of Hormuz introduced the idea and techniques of pottery manufacture
around 2500 BC.
his does not, of course, mean that a wholesale invasion or migration took place.
But, given the fact that open water ishing with nets was already well-established
in the UAE during the prehistoric era, it would seem that the sailing abilities
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Hili 8 is the main settlement of the population may have been such that contact between the two sides of
in the Al Ain region, dating the Straits of Hormuz had been taking place for some time. As such, it is easy
to imagine a slow trickle of settlers, including cratsmen skilled in pottery
to the third millennium BC.
production, moving into the area and eventually introducing their ceramic
technology. Even if this must remain, for the moment, speculation, it does
seem increasingly clear that the sophisticated ceramic tradition of the Umm
an-Nar period did not develop out of the social, economic and technological
milieu of the Hait period.
What makes the Umm an-Nar period so interesting? To begin with, it is not
just a question of tombs and grave goods. Sizeable settlements are known at
Hili 8 (Al Ain), Bidyah (Fujairah), Kalba (Sharjah) and Tell Abraq (Umm
al-Qaiwain). hese are dominated by circular towers that range in size from
about 16 metres (Hili 8, period I) to 40 metres (Tell Abraq) in diameter. Such
towers were made of locally available materials. his means that in areas where
stone was available, like Baat in the interior of Oman, they might be made of
stone. Elsewhere, as at Bidyah and Hili 8, they were made solely of mudbrick.
Interestingly, the tower at Tell Abraq, although far from a source of stone, was
built of a combination of stone and mudbrick.
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4 > M Ag AN
he tower at Tell Abraq, which is the best-preserved of them all, stands over
8 metres tall. In efect, it is a large, circular platform, made of mudbrick,
somewhat like a wheel with an outer, circular wall of mudbrick, faced with
stone, and a series of internal, parallel walls, separated by spaces illed with
gravel. he whole of this was a foundation (interestingly, in the 1980s a mosque
in Dubai was built with exactly this kind of foundation) that stood perhaps 6
metres high, but the outer wall rose even higher. Behind it, the upper surface
of this massive platform supported a series of rooms or small buildings.
he Umm an-Nar-type towers are broadly reminiscent of Martello towers, a

kind of defensive tower with an upper surface from which cannon could be
ired and walls so thick they could withstand almost any kind of bombardment.
Named ater Mortella Point on Corsica, this type of fortress dates back to the
iteenth century and although their internal arrangement of rooms, both for
the living quarters of a small garrison and for the storage of water, certainly
difered from their third millennium BC predecessors, they are remarkably
similar in general conception.
In the centre of all Umm an-Nar-type towers is a well extending right down
through the upper platform to a thin lens of sweet groundwater. When, in
1992, the Australian hydrologist Phil Macumber visited Tell Abraq, sweet water
was still seeping out of the ground close to the sabkha on the northern edge of Excavations at Tell Abraq.
the site. hat sabkha, and the lat stretch of ground that extends north to the
town of Umm al-Qaiwain, was probably covered by the sea when the site was
inhabited, making it easy to reach by boat.
Each tower of the Umm an-Nar period that has been excavated to date in the
UAE and Oman has a similar coniguration and it can hardly be coincidental
that each has a well in the centre. Water has always been a precious commodity
in the UAE and these buildings give the impression of being fortiications,
with massive walls reaching a considerable height above the surrounding
countryside, perfect for keeping watch in all directions and built, in part, to
secure a permanent water supply for their owners. It is not likely that all of the
inhabitants of Tell Abraq, Hili 8, Bidyah or Kalba lived in the circular towers. he Bronze Age towers of the UAE
Rather, it seems more likely that they lived around them and that the tower and Oman recall Martello towers
itself was perhaps the residence of the chief or sheikh of the community. At
of the more recent past in Europe.
Tell Abraq, for example, many metres of archaeological deposit outside and
Martello Tower by McConnell, James Edwin (1903–95).
around the tower have been excavated and, like a piece of Swiss cheese, this
Private Collection/ © Look and Learn/ he Bridgeman
deposit is full of postholes that, almost certainly, are the negative impression Art Library.
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of posts used to build palm-frond houses or ‘arish. In fact, the scene may have
been much like Abu Dhabi in the nineteenth and early twentieth century when,
as old photographs show, the only substantial building on the horizon was the
Ruler’s fort surrounded by a scattering of ‘arish houses. Reed houses of this sort
were perfect for the hot and humid coastal climate, but the tower, like the Ruler
of Abu Dhabi’s fort, was a diferent sort of building altogether. Charged with
political and ideological symbolism, it was able to withstand attack, endowed
with a permanent source of water, and was a beacon to all who owed allegiance
to the person and family in charge.
We have an unexpected source of information that may help us to understand the

sort of social and political system of the time, in the form of an inscription from
Iraq describing a military campaign conducted by a king named Manishtushu
who reigned c.2269–2255 BC. Manishtushu was an Akkadian king. he
Akkadians were a major power in Mesopotamia who, under their irst ruler Sargon,
established the irst world empire around 2350 BC. Whereas the Sumerians
before them had never managed to achieve a state or kingdom larger than a
city and its hinterland – the so-called city-state – the Akkadians succeeded in
Part of the ‘Standard Inscription’ conquering a larger area, creating a territorial state that, at its height, extended
from southern Anatolia to southwestern Iran. Not surprisingly, however, almost
of Manishtushu from Susa in
every time a new ruler came to the Akkadian throne, a general rebellion broke
southwestern Iran. out in the regions subject to them.
he irst Akkadian king, conventionally known as Sargon of Akkad, boasted

that ships from Dilmun (Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia), Magan (the
Oman Peninsula, including the UAE and the Sultanate of Oman) and Meluhha
(probably the Indus Valley or Harappan civilisation) docked at the quay of his
capital Akkad. But it is in the so-called ‘Standard Inscription’ of Manishtushu
that we ind the most interesting information on Magan (see text box page 52).
It is always dangerous to over interpret ancient inscriptions, especially when they

are fairly brief, as is the case here. Nevertheless, several points stand out in this
account. First, we are told that Manishtushu built a leet with which he crossed
the Lower Sea. Commencing somewhere on the Iranian coast at Sherikhum
(possibly north of Bushehr), a crossing towards Magan may have landed him
somewhere on the coast of the UAE and, although Magan also included the area
of modern Oman, nothing suggests that Manishtushu sailed through the Straits
of Hormuz and made landfall on the Batinah coast. Rather, it seems far more
likely that he struck land somewhere between Abu Dhabi and Ra’s al-Khaimah.
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4 > M Ag AN
Next, we learn that Manishtushu was met by a coalition of thirty-two cities. Maritime contacts in the third
In this case, the term translated ‘cities’ could just as easily have been ‘town’ or
millennium BC extended from
‘village’, or perhaps something neutral like ‘settlement’. here were no ‘cities’
in the sense of true, urban centres in the UAE or Oman at this time, but there
the Indus Valley in the east to
were plenty of sites dating to the Umm an-Nar period and it seems reasonable Mesopotamia in the west.
to suggest that what Manishtushu encountered was a coalition made up of
combatants from several dozen settlements. Interestingly, unlike other royal
inscriptions that name enemy generals and kings, Manishtushu’s is silent on this
front. But it is not surprising to ind no one leader singled out in the text. Rather,
given the dispersed, relatively small size of the towers described on page 49, it
seems far more likely that each was the power base of a local ruler and his family,
perhaps comparable to the ruling sheikhs of the emirates in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, who banded together to face the threat of an Akkadian
invasion, but who did not acknowledge any one of their number as a supreme
leader or king. Later this situation seems to have changed, since a ‘king of
Magan’ is said to have sent gold dust in 2069 BC to Shulgi, the powerful king of
the hird Dynasty of Ur, which succeeded the Akkadian empire as the greatest
power in Mesopotamia. his suggests that Magan may have undergone some
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Manishtushu, king of the world internal political changes in the roughly two centuries between Manishtushu’s
When he conquered Anshan and campaign and Shulgi’s reign. We shall return to this topic later.
Shirikhum, Had… ships cross the
Lower Sea.
Ater defeating this coalition, Manishtushu advanced to the silver mines and
quarried black stone (presumably diorite or gabbro) in the mountains – the
he cities across the sea, 32
preferred hard stone used for statues of kings and deities. He sent it back to
(in number), assembled for battle,
Mesopotamia where he had a statue fashioned in honour of the god Enlil. In
but he was victorious (over them).
view of another inscription of Manishtushu’s in which he says, ‘he god Enlil
made him great, called his name and granted to him the sceptre of kingship’, it
Further, he conquered their cities,
[st]ru[c]k down their rulers is scarcely surprising that Manishtushu would dedicate a statue to this extremely
and at[er] he [roused them (his important god.
troops)], plundered as far as the
silver mines. Moving beyond the Manishtushu text we have a wealth of evidence about how
the people of Magan lived. Not surprisingly, coastal sites like Tell Abraq and
He quarried the black stone of the Umm an-Nar have plenty of evidence for the ongoing exploitation of many of
mountains, across the Lower Sea, the same marine resources utilised in earlier times. A wide range of ish and
loaded (it) on ships, and moored shellish, along with a small amount of dugong and a good deal of sea turtle,
(the ships) at the quay of Agade. was eaten. he preferred ish at this time were jacks, barracudas and groupers,
all of which were probably caught from boats using hooks and lines. A small
He fashioned a statue of himself
breed of domestic sheep, comparable to that found at Hili 8; small numbers
(and) dedicated (it) to the
of goat; and larger numbers of cattle were kept. he sheep and goat may have
god [Enlil].
been valued more for their secondary products (milk and hair or leece) than
as sources of protein. he meat supply was supplemented by the hunting of
By the gods Shamash and Ilaba I
wild camel, gazelle and Arabian oryx. In fact, wild camels probably supplied
swear that (these) are not falsehoods
(but) are indeed true. as much meat as domestic cattle.
As for the one who removes this Interestingly, in the Umm an-Nar period the contribution of cattle to the diet at
inscription, may the gods Enlil and Tell Abraq and Hili 8 was greater than that of sheep and goat. What kind of cattle
Shamash tear out foundations and did the Umm an-Nar communities keep in this period? On the basis of animal
destroy his progeny. bone attributes, it is diicult to distinguish ‘taurine’ cattle – Bos taurus, the
standard Near Eastern, African and European variety – from zebu – Bos indicus,
Manishtushu, king of the world, the humped cattle associated with South Asia. But there is clear evidence for the
dedicated (this object) to the presence of zebu at Tell Abraq in the early second millennium BC and, given the
god Enlil.
hot and humid climate of this part of the UAE, it is likely that the cattle of the
Umm an-Nar period were zebu. hese would have been much better adapted to
Frayne, D.R. he Royal Inscriptions of
such conditions. Interestingly, a painted zebu decorates a pot recovered in one
Mesopotamia, Early Periods Vol. 2, Sargonic
of the graves on Umm an-Nar island by the early Danish excavators, though
and Gutian Periods (2334–2113 BC).
this may have been an import from eastern Iran or Baluchistan. Nevertheless,
Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1993: 75–6.
there is evidence for the presence of zebu from Mesopotamia to the Indus
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4 > M Ag AN
Valley in the third millennium BC, and it is entirely possible that, although
the earliest cattle found in the area may have been taurine cattle introduced
from the Levant, the cattle favoured during the Early Bronze Age may have
been zebu, originally brought there from the east.
Surprisingly, the Socotra cormorant was one of the best represented species
at Tell Abraq. We know nothing about how these birds were hunted, but they
certainly made a real contribution to the diet of Tell Abraq’s ancient inhabitants
he zebu (Bos indicus)
who may have eaten both their eggs and their lesh.
became important in the UAE
Finally, there is evidence in the settlement at Tell Abraq for the presence of ater its introduction from
some species of equid – possibly a wild ass or a donkey, but certainly not a southeastern Iran, Baluchistan
horse – and of some sort of canid – either a domestic dog or a wild jackal.
or the Indus Valley.
Interestingly, a single upper canine tooth from a domestic dog was found in the
Umm an-Nar tomb at Tell Abraq. More intriguing, however, was the discovery
of a nearly complete dog skeleton placed at the head of an adult female, twenty-
ive to thirty-ive years of age, in a tomb at Shimal in Ra’s al-Khaimah (Unar 2).
Extrapolating from the length of the dog’s let radius, which was complete, it
probably stood about 56.6 centimetres at the shoulder. he dog had certainly
not been eaten – the skeleton was not the remains of a funerary meal – and is
likely to have been a trusted companion of the deceased woman.
To supplement the diet of meat and milk products, the inhabitants of the Umm A painted ceramic vessel with a
an-Nar period also grew wheat and barley – both introduced from elsewhere, zebu from Umm an-Nar island
perhaps Mesopotamia or the Levant – and raised date palms. As we saw in
was probably imported from
Chapter 2, dates are attested thousands of years earlier on Dalma Island, but it
is not clear whether these were wild or domesticated fruits. By the Umm an-Nar somewhere to the east.
period, however, the date palm was certainly domesticated. A ireplace within
the tower at Tell Abraq yielded hundreds of burnt date stones, indicating the
consumption of what remains a favourite fruit throughout the region today.
Date palms, of course, are so important because they ofer such a wide array
of products. In addition to their fruit, date palms provide the shade in which
other kinds of vegetable and smaller fruit trees may be grown. he palm fronds
can be used to make baskets, mats and ‘arish houses. he ibre of the trunk can
be turned into rope, ish traps, brushes, sacks and mats – fragments of which
were found just outside of the tower at Tell Abraq – while the wood can be
used to make furniture, boxes, roof beams and many other things. Since date
palms usually yield good fruit for about thirty-ive to forty years, they could Dates remained important for the
have been routinely cut down ater reaching the end of their productive lives Bronze Age population of the UAE.
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and the timber used to make the sorts of wooden objects that have not survived
in the archaeological record.
hanks to the skeletal remains that have been recovered in their graves, we
know a great deal about the people of the Umm an-Nar period. he graves
themselves were normally circular (an exception is Alignment A at Asimah
in southern Ra’s al-Khaimah, see below), varying from 3 to 14.3 metres in
diameter. Judging by the grave at Tell Abraq, the loor of the tomb, consisting
of lat, lagstones, was irst put in place, without the use of mortar between the
individual stones. Upon this, a circular wall was erected with one or more cross
walls creating anywhere from two to twelve chambers. hese walls were made
of locally available stone, which might be sot beach rock (farush) on the coast
(e.g. at Tell Abraq, Mowaihat in Ajman, or the Umm an-Nar tombs at Shimal
in Ra’s al-Khaimah) or hard rock in the interior (e.g. at Mleiha in Sharjah). he
exterior of the tomb was then faced with well-cut limestone blocks. hese show
he large tomb at Hili is the
clear signs of working, in the form of chisel marks, on the exterior. he blocks
most impressive monument are irregularly, but generally geometrically shaped, sometimes with very ine
of its kind in the UAE. joints so that they it together. Since most Umm an-Nar tombs have collapsed
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4 > M Ag AN
and/or been robbed of their stone, their original height is diicult to estimate.
But at Hili Gardens, where a large tomb excavated by Danish archaeologists has
been reconstructed using mainly original stones, the structure stands several
metres high. Some tombs have yielded evidence of rooing slabs that would
have been supported, in part, by the internal dividing walls, and perhaps in
places by palm trunk uprights.
A few tombs, at Hili, Umm an-Nar island, Mleiha and Shimal, have decoration
on the exterior. his takes the form of low-relief carving over the surface of
one of the limestone facing blocks. Graves II and IV on Umm an-Nar island
were the irst decorated graves discovered. Four slabs on Grave II are decorated
with animals. hese include a solitary, taurine bull; a camel and oryx; a lone
camel; and what appears to be an anthropomorphic (human-shaped) ‘idol’. A
segment from an open gutter or drain (perhaps to catch water from the roof
ater rain?) is decorated with a meandering snake. he decoration on Grave
IV is very diferent in that it is incised. A straight-horned Arabian oryx drawn
in a stylised, geometric fashion, with a single horizontal line for the animal’s
body and two pairs of vertical lines for the front and back legs, is completely
unlike the very realistic, well-observed oryx on Grave II.
he decoration on the great tomb at Hili is in low-relief, but the composition

is completely diferent (and probably slightly later) than that on the graves on
Umm an-Nar island. Four ‘scenes’ appear on the Hili tomb. hese include one
of two large cats, perhaps leopards (still occasionally encountered in the Hajar
Mountains) or cheetahs, which were probably being used in Iran for hunting
by the fourth millennium BC, attacking a gazelle that is held from each side
in the felines’ teeth; a human rider on a donkey, followed by a second igure Carving in low relief over
holding a staf and a sword (?); a couple embracing; and two humans, holding the entrance to the Hili tomb.
hands and lanked by a pair of symmetrically placed Arabian oryx.
Several tombs, including the large one at Hili and the smaller (6 metres in
diameter) one at Tell Abraq, have what appears to be a clear entrance in the
external wall. his takes the form of a relatively small opening, large enough
to enter by putting one’s head through and then sliding in, but certainly not
something one could easily step into or walk through. At Tell Abraq, a stone
cut perfectly to it the opening is still in place. It seems, then, that the tombs
were roofed to prevent birds or animals from entering as well as to keep the
deceased in a sealed environment, and the entrance was sealed with a specially
itted stone slab. In this way, a tomb was opened by removing the door stone
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whenever it was necessary to bury another body. If this was the only opening,
the interior of the tomb must have been extremely dark. However, the many
small lecks of charcoal found in the soil within the tomb at Tell Abraq might
relect the use of torches to help those charged with interring new bodies see
what they were doing. Alternatively, these might be the remains of aromatic
wood or twigs burnt to fumigate what must have been a stiling and unpleasant
atmosphere for those who had to enter each time a new body was buried.
he most striking exception to the description just given of Umm an-Nar grave
forms appears at Asimah, an important site located between Masai and Idhn
in the mountains of Ra’s al-Khaimah. In addition to at least one ‘classic’ Umm
an-Nar-type grave, Asimah boasted something that the excavator Burkhard
Vogt called ‘Alignment A’. In reality, this is a series of ive, single chambered
graves that appear to be linked by an alignment of stones, including one raised
area identiied as a platform. When irst recorded in 1972 by Beatrice de Cardi,
Alignment A was about 80 metres long, though it was clear that it had once
been even larger.
An important Bronze Age tomb
at the foot of the mountain near As in the Hait period, the graves of the Umm an-Nar period were collective.
Shimal in northern Ra’s Now, however, they held hundreds of people, not just a handful. Tomb N at
Hili contained the remains of over 650 individuals, while two tombs at Shimal,
al-Khaimah.
in Ra’s al-Khaimah, held the remains of 431 and 438 individuals, respectively.
Certainly there are many tombs with far fewer remains, and many that were
robbed in antiquity or disturbed in more recent times, leaving little in the way
of human bone. But the tombs holding hundreds were not necessary atypical.
hey may simply have survived better over the course of the past 4000 years
than those with very little skeletal material.
Another factor to bear in mind when thinking about these numbers is the
length of the period during which such tombs were in use. he Umm an-Nar
period was roughly 500 years long, and, even if the archaeological inds in
these tombs oten allow us to suggest a narrower span of time for their use, it
is still likely that a series of corpses was added to such tombs over the course
of many, many years. It is probably unnecessary to speculate on catastrophic
events that caused widespread death, although we cannot rule out the outbreak
of infectious diseases like cholera. But tombs used for a century or more could
easily have ended up holding well over 400 individuals. By way of comparison,
consider the fact that a town of 447 people will produce 2235 deaths over
200 years, assuming a life expectancy of forty years. Similarly, a community
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4 > M Ag AN
only one-tenth that size, something around forty-four people, perhaps a few
extended or interrelated families, will produce 223.5 deaths over the same
period. Given numbers like these, and considering the variation we see in tomb
size (diameter) and minimum numbers of individuals interred, it is perfectly
plausible that some of the smallest tombs did in fact represent the collective
burial place for groups numbering only in the dozens, while the larger tombs,
like those at Hili N and Shimal, could well have served a community numbering
in the hundreds. In the case of Shimal and Hili, it would be interesting to know
whether the Umm an-Nar tombs there (over a dozen have been identiied around
Hili) were contemporary or not. In other words, were they in use simultaneously,
perhaps by diferent lineages (groups tracing their descent from a common
ancestor) or clusters of related households or moieties within one community?
Anthropologists use the term moiety when discussing one half of a society that
sees itself as being divided into two halves. Could the two tombs at Shimal
have served two such moieties during the Umm an-Nar period? Might the
many tombs at Hili have served a dozen or more diferent lineages? hese are
Umm an-Nar tombs are usually
all interesting questions to consider and we must always remember that the
archaeology of tombs is as much about the people buried in them as it is about multi-chambered.
the artefacts found.
Taken as a whole, the Umm an-Nar tombs present us with a wealth of data on
health, disease and diet in the UAE during the late third millennium BC. But
unlike the situation in many other cultures, there is one very serious diiculty in
dealing with the Umm an-Nar material, namely the fact that it is ‘commingled’,
or all mixed up. For even if individuals were originally placed in Umm an-Nar
tombs in an orderly fashion, once inside their individuality seems no longer
to have been respected. It is perfectly plausible that, as new bodies were put in
a tomb and the tomb became fuller and fuller, room was made for new burials
by simply pushing aside the bone that was already there. Ater a relatively
short time, once the lesh on the bones had decayed, the skeletons already in a
tomb would have become disarticulated – separated from each other and no
longer in their correct anatomical position – resulting in a confusing mass of
A reconstructed tomb of Umm
jumbled bone. Consider the fact that the bone deposit in the tomb at Hili N
an-Nar-type at Hili.
was 1.7 metres deep. his means that we can no longer distinguish individual
skeletons, and although the bones themselves continue to tell us about disease
and diet, we cannot ascribe such details to speciic skeletons, but rather only
to the population at large. Nevertheless, even commingled bone may yield a
great deal of information and that is certainly true of the bone recovered at
Umm an-Nar graves in the UAE.
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4 > M Ag AN
Dental diseases were common in the Umm an-Nar period. Tooth wear, particularly
on molars, was oten extreme, no doubt a result of grit in the food consumed.
As we know that wheat and barley were both grown in the UAE at this time, it
is certainly probable that bread was made and eaten. he lour, however, was
produced on fairly coarse grinding stones and residual grit in the dough was
probably common. At the same time, grinding and wear can counteract the
efects of sugar, mainly obtained from eating dates, and perhaps as a result the
incidence of caries (cavities) was not very great in the Umm an-Nar period,
although signs of tooth abscess in some cases are probably due to the efects of
dates. Tooth loss before death (ante-mortem tooth loss) has been observed in
most Umm an-Nar dental assemblages.
Teeth also tell a story of infection. Enamel hypoplasias (pits, grooves and lines
on the enamel surface of teeth) have been observed on the teeth from all of the
Umm an-Nar sites in the UAE. Mowaihat in Ajman, with 12.3 per cent of all the
teeth in the tomb showing enamel hypoplasia, had the highest incidence of all
sites in this period. While this could have been caused by a number of diferent
factors, childhood infections caused by staphylococcus and streptococcus
bacteria, as well as dysentery, seem to be the most likely candidates, according
to Alan Goodman, an American dental anthropologist who has studied the
Tell Abraq teeth.
Like teeth, the bones of the skeleton also tell a story. he remains from the Umm
an-Nar period bear the marks of trauma – usually blows received – as well as
healed fractures; joint disease, such as osteoarthritis, which particularly alicted
males at Tell Abraq; bone spurs (osteophytes); stress fractures (spondylolysis)
in the vertebrae (back bones); activity-related stress, caused by a repeated
activity; and cribra orbitalia, lesions in the eye socket oten associated with
iron-deiciency anaemia in children. Spina biida (a congenital birth defect
in which the spinal column does not close up properly) is also attested in one let: Stone-robbing in antiquity
instance on a vertebra from Tomb A at Hili North.
and in more modern times
Although the actual rituals that accompanied the burial of the dead in the Umm
has meant that oten only
an-Nar period can never be fully reconstructed, some archaeological features the foundations of tombs
give us tantalising clues. Given the size of the entrance to these tombs, it seems are preserved.
more likely that rituals associated with burial took place outside the tomb
above: An etched carnelian
than inside. Access must have been awkward. Imagine one person clambering
through a smallish hole in the outer wall, and then pulling a body through ater
bead from western India
them with the help of several more people outside. It cannot have been very easy. found at Tell Abraq.
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To varying degrees, depending on how much disturbance they have undergone,

Umm an-Nar tombs generally yield a combination of personal items and a
variety of containers. Goods were placed in the tomb with the deceased, but,
in most cases, the disturbance of the skeletons means that very few artefacts
can be associated with speciic individuals. Other than personal items worn
by the deceased, goods put into the tombs of this period are an indication of
a belief in an aterlife. In other cultures, grave goods were oten thought to be
necessary for the use of the deceased in the next world, or were intended as
ofering to the deities of the underworld.
Personal items included jewellery, such as necklaces, made out of beads in a

A pendant of red gold from
wide variety of materials, from shell and bone to frit, carnelian (from Gujarat,
Tell Abraq showing two long- in India), lapis lazuli (from Afghanistan), jasper, soapstone and agate. Rare
horned sheep. items of gold, such as a gold ram and a pair of small, ibex-like animals with
long, curving horns, were found at Tell Abraq. Ivory combs were found close
by or adhering to several skulls in the tomb at Tell Abraq, and were presumably
worn in the hair of the deceased at the time of burial. In addition, weaponry
was probably considered ‘personal’ property. Umm an-Nar tombs have yielded
socketed spear or lanceheads; knives or daggers; and axe blades. Many of these
weapons were attached to their wooden handles with small bronze rivets, as we
can tell by the well-made holes in the sockets of the spearheads and the tangs
of the dagger blades. At Tell Abraq, however, not a single rivet was found in
the tomb, suggesting that the handles, shats or hilts were removed before the
weapon was put in the grave. One dagger had burnt sissoo wood adhering to
it, conirming that wood was used for this purpose. Bone or horn could have
been used for dagger handles as well.
he removal of weapon handles is an interesting phenomenon, suggesting that,

although there was enough copper-bronze around to make it possible to give
up weapons – literally to take them out of circulation and put them into a tomb,
never to be used again – a good, straight, wooden handle was too valuable to
simply bury it in the ground. Removed from a weapon that was going to be
buried in a tomb, it could easily be reused by someone else.
In a few tombs, such as those at Hili North Tomb B and Al Sufouh 1 in Dubai,
cylinder seals have been found. hese are small cylinders of stone with carved
Necklaces and bracelets made out
images on the exterior. When rolled on a sot, usually damp surface, like wet
of a variety of semi-precious stones clay, the cylinder makes a continuous, frieze-like impression. In Mesopotamia,
were popular in all periods. Syria, parts of Iran and Anatolia, cylinder seals were used from about 3400 BC
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4 > M Ag AN
onwards to identify the person, oice or institution responsible for a transaction. Socketed spear or lance-heads
Clay put around the locking mechanism of a temple’s storeroom door, for example,
from the tomb at Tell Abraq.
might be sealed by the oicial in charge of the contents within. A palace oicial
responsible for sending jars of oil might impress his seal in clay smeared around
the necks of storage jars. Later, when writing on clay tablets became common,
all sorts of documents were sealed, from real estate sales and contracts to letters.
In the ancient UAE we do not know whether the small number of seals found
were actually used to seal things. hey may have functioned as status symbols,
amulets associated with a culture of writing, literacy and power, even though
many of the functional attributes of that culture were missing in the non-urban
societies of southeastern Arabia.
Besides jewellery and weaponry, the other main category of inds could be called
generally ‘containers’. his includes both stone and ceramic containers, generally
bowls and jars. Although the majority of these were locally manufactured,
judging by their shape and decoration, some were imports. Alabaster bowls
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and soapstone, almost certainly from eastern Iran or Afghanistan, as well

as ceramics from Iran, Mesopotamia, Bahrain and the Indus Valley, have all
been discovered in Umm an-Nar-type tombs. hese may have been deposited
in graves because of a particular association with the deceased. We could
imagine, for example, that a merchant whose travels took him to some distant
places might have wished to be buried with something from those areas. But
the question must also be asked, were stone and ceramic vessels placed in
tombs for their own sake, or for what they may have contained? Food and drink
oferings – whether for the deceased or for deities – are well-known in other
cultures. Aromatic substances may also have been put in some of the shallower,
open vessels, and let inside the tomb.
In addition to the charcoal lecks found in the tomb at Tell Abraq, there is
another important aspect of ire that should be noted. A number of tombs,
including Al Sufouh-1 and Unar 2 at Shimal, show a high frequency of burned
bone, undeniably the result of cremation. his seems to have been the case
An unusual beaker on a
equally for men and women. What is particularly intriguing, however, is the
cut-out stand from Tell Abraq, co-occurrence of both cremated and uncremated remains in the same tomb, as
probably imported from Iran. at Unar 2. Who was cremated and who was not? It does not appear as though
the cremation of some individuals rather than others was based on a person’s
gender. It might be suggested that social background was a determining factor.
Perhaps some groups within a community practiced it and some did not?
his is possible, but it might equally be suggested that the cremated remains
are those of a group or groups that represented a particular subset of Umm
an-Nar society.
his, of course, raises another interesting question. To what extent was the
population of the UAE homogeneous in the late third millennium BC? he
vast majority of the material culture that has been recovered – from tomb
architecture to pottery, stone vessels, weaponry and jewellery – is very similar
throughout the entire Oman Peninsula. Umm an-Nar ‘culture’ shows real
uniformity. Yet there are enough imports that stand out amongst the locally
made artefacts to make one suspect that there were non-local people passing
through and possibly even living permanently in the region as well. Mention
has already been made of the strong likelihood that the idea of making ceramics
was introduced from eastern Iran or Baluchistan. To this, we may add the fact
A sotstone cylinder seal
that pottery of actual east Iranian manufacture, such as ine black-on-grey and
from Al Sufouh of probable burnished grey ware, has been recovered in many Umm an-Nar tombs. Other
local manufacture. items of eastern manufacture, such as ivory combs found in the Tell Abraq
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4 > M Ag AN
tomb, may have come from Central Asia or the Indus Valley, judging by their
decoration, and of course the ivory itself must have come from somewhere with
a population of elephants. he settlement levels of Tell Abraq have also yielded
three typical Indus Valley weights of the sort found by the hundreds at sites
Da
like Mohenjo-Daro, Chanhu-Daro and Harappa in Pakistan, and in smaller sur
numbers outside the Harappan core area at Tell Abraq, Qalat al-Bahrain and
Susa in southwestern Iran. Ceramics from southwestern Iran in so-called Katari po
style, typical of Fars province, as well as Mesopotamian pottery, has been found
in small numbers at both Tell Abraq and Unar 2 near Shimal. co
In and of itself, the presence of imports does not necessarily mean that foreigners
do
from these region resided in the UAE at this time. But it is certainly possible that
foreign merchants or ishermen did come periodically to the UAE, and equally
the
possible that people from other areas, having once seen the UAE, decided to on
settle there permanently. Cremation is one cultural practice strongly associated
with the Indian subcontinent, albeit in a much later period and in particular in pa
a Hindu context, but it is possible that cremation was carried out on non-local
members of third millennium society in the UAE, who would have followed this yo
practice in their original homeland. Whether that segment of society originated above: Ceramic vessels placed
in the Indus Valley or Baluchistan we do not know, but as there is no tradition in tombs may have originally
of cremation in Mesopotamia or southwestern Iran, these areas can probably held oferings of food or drink.
be eliminated from consideration. he UAE today is a real melting pot with
below: An ivory comb found
people from all over the world, and it has attracted sailors and merchants from
East Africa, Zanzibar, Yemen, the Red Sea and points east for centuries. here is in the tomb at Tell Abraq.
no reason to deny the possibility that, in an age in which sea travel was already
possible between India and Mesopotamia, some sailors from far away may
have come to the UAE and decided to settle there for good. It could well have
been a very slow process, not an invasion, but such a trend might account for
the variation in burial practices, including cremation and regular inhumation,
observed in the tombs of the Umm an-Nar period.
Ater the fall of the Akkadian dynasty in Mesopotamia, a strong state, based
in the city of Ur, arose. Known as the hird Dynasty of Ur, it was founded by
Ur-Namma (2112–2095 BC), who drove out the Guti from the northwestern
Zagros of Iran – a people that had brought about the collapse of the Akkadian
government and re-established order in southern Mesopotamia. As he says in
two of his inscriptions, Ur-Namma also restored trade with Magan, presumably
interrupted by the turmoil following the Guti invasion. Six copies of one of the
texts are preserved (see text box page 65).
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he meaning of the Sumerian term ‘ki-SAR-a’ in this text is uncertain. Some

scholars have understood it to mean ‘registry place’, others ‘lighthouse’ (literally,
‘place of burning’) and still others as a ‘mooring place for ships’. Interestingly,
while three examples of the text come from Ur itself, two come from the nearby
site of Diqdiqqah, which may have been the mooring place for ships sailing to Ur.
A second inscription, inscribed on a limestone tablet, refers to the ‘boundary’.

Although the meaning of this is uncertain, it is clear from these two texts that
the restoration of trade between Ur and Magan was a signiicant concern to
Ur-Namma. his is very diferent from the situation 200 years earlier, when the
Old Akkadian kings boasted of having campaigned against Magan. Now the
concern was trade, rather than conquest. Although the hird Dynasty of Ur
lasted just over a century, it has let us a number of records mentioning Magan
that shed more light on that relationship.
he earliest of these is a text from the reign of Ur-Namma’s son Shulgi (2094–
2047 BC), a powerful and energetic ruler whose reign lasted almost 50 years. In
a text from the king’s twenty-sixth year (2069 BC) excavated at Ur, the receipt of
gold from a ‘king of Magan’ is noted. In light of the lack of references to any one
leader in Magan at the time of the campaigns led by Manishtushu and Naram-
A pottery fragment and drawn Sin, this is a very important reference. It might suggest that, faced with the threat
reconstruction from Umm of hostilities from Mesopotamia to the north, the small, independent groups in
an-Nar island with a cylinder Magan banded together under a single ruler. Such a response to an external threat
is well-known throughout history and the resultant units that form in response
seal impression showing one
to a common threat are oten referred to as ‘secondary states’. Interestingly, a text
animal attacking another from Shulgi’s thirty-fourth year mentions the transport of troops to Magan. Did
beside a large rosette. Shulgi attack Magan – he and later rulers of Ur certainly conducted many military
campaigns, particularly in Iran – or was he in some way peacefully involved
with Magan, perhaps even ofering them protection from an unnamed enemy?
A text in the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the fourth year of the reign of
Shulgi’s son, Amar-Sin (2046–2038 BC), refers to a person named Wedum, who
is called ‘the messenger of Nadu-beli, ensi (governor) of Magan’. In Sumerian,
the term ensi was used interchangeably for governors in the service of the
hird Dynasty of Ur, as well as for foreign rulers whom we would probably
consider independent kings. Was Nadu-beli one such king? Or was he indeed
a governor in the service of Ur, administering Magan? Could Shulgi’s troops
have been involved in a conquest of Magan, precipitating the installation of a
Sumerian governor there?
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4 > M Ag AN
A few decades later, in the reign of Shu-Sin (2037–2029 BC), moreover, a For the god Nanna, irst-born son
shipment of barley was sent by the governor of the city of Girsu, in southern of the god Enlil, his lord.
Mesopotamia, to Magan. his surely does not mean, as some scholars have
suggested, that Magan was unable to sustain itself agriculturally. Clearly, the Ur-Namma, mighty man, king of
population there made full use of all available resources and had a varied diet, the lands of Sumer and Akkad,
as the archaeological evidence reviewed above conirms. On the other hand, if
the one who built the temple of
the god Nanna,
Sumerian troops were stationed in the area, or a governor posted there, such
a shipment could well be envisaged. here is, moreover, another text from the
brought into being the ancient state
reign of Shu-Sin that gives a tantalising hint that this may have been the case.
of afairs.
he text, which seems to be a list of the peripheral regions included within
the empire of Ur, concludes by naming ‘Subur on the shores of the Upper Sea
On the shore he had trade reach
[Mediterranean] and Magan, with all their provinces… on the other side of (the) ki-SAR-a
the sea’. he signiicance of these brief references is far from unambiguous,
but they certainly give us food for thought, making it at least thinkable that (and) returned the ships of Magan
Magan was briely a province of Ur’s empire in the last century of the third into his (Nanna’s) hands.
millennium BC.
For the god Nanna, his lord,
An entirely diferent side of Magan’s interaction with Ur is revealed in a small the boundary for the ships of
group of texts that concern the activities of Lu-Enlilla, identiied on his cylinder Magan, which the gods An and
seal as a ‘seafaring merchant’. hese come from the irst years in the reign of Enlil gra[nted (to him) as a git],
the last king of the Ur empire, Ibbi-Sin (2028–2004 BC). Lu-Enlilla seems to
Ur-Namma, [mighty ma[n], king
have functioned as more of a commercial agent for the temple of the moon
of Ur, king of the [land of Su]mer
god Nanna than as an independent entrepreneur at Ur. His main object was
[and Akkad],
to buy copper ingots for the Nanna temple. Mesopotamian temples, far from
being places solely for worship, were in fact large establishments with their own
when he built the temple of the
pottery manufacture and metals workshops, agricultural lands and labour force.
god [Na]nn[a]
More like a self-suicient mediaeval manor or monastery than a modern day
church or mosque, temples engaged in a good deal of what we would nowadays by the ju[st] verdict of the god Utu,
consider ‘business’ dealings. In order to buy copper, Lu-Enlilla was in one case conirmed it (the boundary) for him.
given about 1800 kilograms of wool, 300 kilograms of an unidentiied plant or
plant product, 600 kilograms of ish, 70 pieces of clothing, 1515 litres of sesame (Ur-Namma) returned (the
oil and 180 leather hides. A copy of the text conirming his receipt of these boundary) to him (the god Nanna).
goods was put in a container ‘in a ship (bound) for Magan’. In another case,
Lu-Enlilla was given iteen pieces of clothing – ive each of a speciic type – as Frayne, D.R. he Royal Inscriptions of
well as about 20 kilograms of wool. Mesopotamia, Early Periods Vol. 3/2, Ur III
Period (2112-2004 BC). Toronto: Univ. of
Toronto Press, 1997: 40–1.
hese transactions took place almost 1500 years before the irst coinage was used
in the ancient Near East and we can only assume that Lu-Enlilla bartered these
goods for a certain amount of copper, though how much we do not know. Other
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texts, which document Lu-Enlilla giving onions, ivory, semi-precious stones

and a small amount of copper to the Nanna temple, might represent oferings
made upon the safe completion of his journey or the successful conclusion
of a trading expedition. In actual fact, none of the texts explicitly state that
Lu-Enlilla himself went to Magan, and we do not know whether he travelled
or an agent went on his behalf. One text speaks of a messenger, named Akala,
who received rations of beer, lour and oil for a journey to Magan.
As noted above, on several occasions clothing and wool igured amongst the
goods bartered in Magan for copper. During the period of Ur’s dominance,
southern Mesopotamia had enormous textile factories. With an economy based
upon sheep and goat herding, as well as agriculture, Mesopotamia was well-
supplied with phenomenal quantities of wool. Texts from Ur show that the
number of weavers in its territory, mainly women and children, numbered
Archaeological sites around 12,000–13,000. Deliveries of 26 tons of wool are recorded. A broken text
in the northern emirates lists 5800 pieces of inished cloth. So, there is no doubt that the textile industry
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4 > M Ag AN
at Ur was conducted on a truly industrial scale. What is interesting, with regard

to Magan, is the fact that the speciic types of wool and textiles mentioned in
the Lu-Enlilla texts are always of the lowest quality. In no instance documented
thus far were any of the iner categories of textiles ever sent to Magan.
here are more than enough references to ‘Magan boats’ to make it likely that a
certain class of vessel was employed for the purpose of trading with or travelling
to Magan. Texts record enormous quantities of reeds, oil, goat hair, skins, grass,
wooden beams and bitumen – in one case 800,742 litres – for the caulking of
a Magan boat. Apart from the wooden beams, the other materials listed could
have been used to make mats, sails and other ixtures for a boat. Bitumen, a
naturally occurring hydrocarbon product that is highly viscose, is particularly
abundant in Khuzestan (southwestern Iran) and throughout Iraq and has been
used traditionally to waterproof everything from boats to baskets. Interestingly,
bitumen slabs used to coat boats from the site of Ra’s al-Jinz 2, near Ra’s al-
Hadd in eastern Oman, were found upon analysis to have come from northern,
not southern, Mesopotamia, either Fattah on the Tigris (between Mosul and
Samarra, or Hamam al-Alil, north-east of Mosul).
here are other references to Magan in Mesopotamian sources that are less easy
to interpret. hese are usually to goods to which the name ‘Magan’ is added as an
adjective, such as ‘Magan goat’, ‘Magan chair’, ‘Magan reed’ and ‘Magan wood’.
he fact that there are references to these things in Mesopotamian texts does not
necessarily mean that the items in question were actual imports from Magan,
although that may have been the case. ‘Magan goats’ may have been a breed,
originally introduced from Magan, which was raised locally in Mesopotamia,
just as Jersey cows or Shetland ponies are kept in many more places than just
Jersey or the Shetland Isles. What a Magan chair may have looked like we do not
know. Magan wood, however, which is also called mes, can be identiied on the
basis of a much later text describing the construction of the palace of Darius the
Great, the Achaemenid Persian ruler, at Susa in Iran. he Old Persian form, yaka,
given for the Akkadian word mes is very similar to the New Persian term jag or
jax, used today in eastern Iran and Baluchistan for the sissoo tree (Dalbergia
sissoo), which is also known as Pakistani rosewood. As noted above, a dagger
found in the Umm an-Nar tomb at Tell Abraq had fragments of sissoo wood
still adhering to its tang, but as the wood grows in both southeastern Arabia and
eastern Iran and Baluchistan, we cannot say for sure whether the dagger itself
was an import. Later, mes wood was also cultivated in Mesopotamia, though it
may have been introduced there originally from Magan or eastern Iran.
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he number of Mesopotamian texts concerned with Magan give us a hint as to

why, in two letters dating to the reign of Ibbi-Sin, the conventional term ‘Lower
Sea’ is not used for the body of water extending from Sumer to southeastern
Arabia, but rather ‘Sea of Magan’. We may well wonder when voyages were
undertaken between Mesopotamia and Magan. Two of the texts concerning
Lu-Enlilla’s trade with Magan are dated. In both cases, he took possession of
his trade goods in the month of Addaru (February–March). A voyage to Magan
made soon aterwards would have taken advantage of the northern shamal wind
blowing southward, thus making the voyage comparatively easy.
Finally, we may well wonder whether people from Magan travelled to Mesopotamia.
here are a number of references in Mesopotamian sources to people called
‘Lu-Magan’, which literally translated means ‘man (of) Magan’. Could these be
references to people from Magan, or descendants of families from Magan that
had settled in Mesopotamia? In one text there is also a reference to a village of
Magan people, which might indeed be a settlement founded by emigrants from
Magan, perhaps merchants or specialist sailors engaged in the seatrade with Magan.
In conclusion, we know a great deal about life and death in the UAE during
the Umm an-Nar period, though many questions remain. We have a pretty
good idea of what people ate, what they did with their dead, who they traded
with, and what sorts of material culture they used, from necklaces and daggers
to stone bowls and ivory combs. We suspect that their political organisation
was decentralised, at least until such time as the reference to a ‘king of Magan’
appears in the early twenty-irst century BC. Aterwards, however, there is
nothing to suggest that anything like a uniied kingdom prevailed in the region.
We have very little idea, otherwise, of how society in Magan was structured,
although the tomb reliefs at Hili give us an impressionistic feeling of social
relations. he human igures there are featureless and it is impossible to tell
male from female, but there is certainly no sense that any one is larger than the
rest, or depicted in a royal or assertive manner. Indeed the image of two igures
holding hands, lanked by two oryx, suggests an essentially egalitarian society,
one in which, seemingly, everyone was buried within his or her community’s
tomb. here may have been status and wealth diferences – not everyone may
have had ivory combs and lapis beads in their necklaces, some may have worn
gold, others the simplest type of shell beads – but nothing suggests that the
tombs of the Umm an-Nar period contain a subset of society, whether rich or
poor. It looks as though everyone was buried together and whatever rulers there
may have been would seem to have functioned very much as ‘irst among equals’.
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4 > M Ag AN
he UAE’s cultural landscape – not just its physical landscape – did not look
like that of its neighbours. Magan interacted with the great, sprawling cities of
Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley – true metropolitan centres built of baked
brick with thousands of inhabitants. It traded with communities in Iran. It had
relations with Bahrain, known in Mesopotamian sources as Dilmun, an area
that was resource-poor, but entrepreneurial throughout its existence. Magan’s
people lived for the most part in ‘arish along the coast, in mudbrick structures
in the interior (e.g. at Hili 8), and perhaps in stone houses, like those of the
Shihuh, in the mountains. he largest man-made features on the horizon were
the towers, so very like the Umm an-Nar tombs in proile, only smaller.
Yet although Magan lacked great cities, it would be wrong to view it as a

periphery. All parts of the Near East contributed to the interactions that made
the Early Bronze Age such a vibrant period and the UAE, as part of the land of
Magan, was very much a place of importance on the shores of the Lower Sea,
so much so that, for a time, the scribes at Ur referred to it as the Sea of Magan.
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I N T he L AND o F Th e eMIr ATes chAPT er 5> res Tr U cT Ur INg I N Th e MIDDLe AND L AT e BroNZ e Age
chapter 5
restructuring in
the middle and late bronze age
he UAE, and indeed all of the Oman Peninsula, underwent a number

of changes between the late third and the early second millennium
BC. hese were probably not dramatic, but incremental, so that when
we look at the material culture of the centuries between about 2000
and 1300 BC we seem to be faced with something diferent enough
to warrant giving it a new name. At least that was the view about
thirty years ago, when a group of archaeologists working in Oman
met to discuss how best to divide the region’s past into archaeological
periods, and what names to give them. Let us examine this problem
and see how matters stand today.
It may seem strange to worry about names and periods, but think
for a moment about the enormous inluence they have on the way
we conceptualise the past. Time is like a ruler or yardstick. We slice
it into manageable bits that help us order the past in our own minds
and give them names like the ‘Victorian era’, the ‘Renaissance’, or the
let: Pottery of the early second
‘Middle Ages’. People have been doing this, quite literally, for ages.
Around 700 BC the Greek poet Hesiod presented a periodisation of
millennium BC shows clear
human history in ive ages. In Works and Days, he used the terms diferences in form and decoration
‘Golden Age’, ‘Silver Age’, ‘Bronze Age’, ‘Heroic Age’ and lastly the when compared with that of the
‘Iron Age’, in which he himself lived. Although the philosophy behind
preceding Umm an-Nar period.
it was very diferent, the division of time developed by nineteenth
century European antiquarians, who devised the idea of the Stone,
above: One of the many tombs
Bronze and Iron Ages, is remarkably similar to Hesiod’s approach. In excavated at Jebel Buhais.
the case of Oman and the UAE, a group of archaeologists who met in
1980 in Germany decided on the terms Hait, Umm an-Nar and Wadi
Suq to describe the pre-Iron Age periods in the region that spanned
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the period between c.3000 and 1700 BC. We have already discussed the Hait
and Umm an-Nar periods and come now to the Wadi Suq period, named ater
a wadi in Oman, where tombs of a type previously never encountered before
were irst excavated by Danish archaeologists in the 1970s.
Names like Hait, Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq impose a certain view of the
past on the material and on our conception of how life developed. If we say that
the Umm an-Nar period lasted from 2500 to 2000 BC, followed by the Wadi
Suq period, it immediately implies that there was a break in the developmental
sequence of the area. Why else would a new name – Wadi Suq – be given to
the sites and inds of the UAE in the centuries ater 2000 BC? If there were no
changes at that date, then surely we could just continue talking about the Umm
an-Nar period – perhaps of a late Umm an-Nar phase? Yet scholars thought it
in 1980 to give the material ater 2000 BC a new name for the very reason that
they were more impressed by cultural diferences, in comparison with what had
gone before, than similarities. he question is, was this a valid judgement and
should we continue to use it when discussing the archaeology of the UAE today?
he answer to this, as to so many questions in archaeology, is yes and no. Yes,

the impression given by the material available in 1980 was certainly of a break
in the tradition of ceramics, burials and settlement around 2000 BC. It was,
therefore, justiied, in the circumstances of the time, to distinguish the Umm
an-Nar period from what followed. But thirty years later, though the number
of excavated graves has increased greatly and the number of settlements only
slightly, we begin to see more and more threads of continuity on either side of
the 2000 BC divide, making it questionable as to whether we should still be
using the term Wadi Suq, since it implies an entirely diferent culture from that
of the preceding Umm an-Nar period.
Changes in diet and economy
during the second millennium One way out of this terminological diiculty has been proposed by Christian
did not lessen the importance Velde who, for many years, worked at Shimal in Ra’s al-Khaimah and at Tell
Abraq on the Umm al-Qaiwain/Sharjah border and who is a specialist in the
of date palm oases.
second millennium BC. Velde has proposed that, in keeping with practice
elsewhere in Western Asia, we use terms like Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age
to characterise the period from c.3000 to 1300/1200 BC. his would certainly
be one way of emphasising continuity during the course of almost 2000 years,
but we should not necessarily take a set of terms developed for another part of
the world and expect them to enlighten us when we grapple with issues in the
archaeology and early history of the UAE.
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5> res Tr U cT Ur INg I N Th e MIDDLe AND L AT e BroNZ e Age
So before deciding how we wish to label and classify the centuries ater
2000 BC, let us take a look at the main bodies of evidence available to us. In
the UAE, tombs dating to the early and mid-second millennium BC were irst
identiied by Beatrice de Cardi and Brian Doe while surveying in northern Ra’s
al-Khaimah in 1968. But the irst excavations of tombs dating to this period
were undertaken in the Wadi Suq, one of the main routes linking Sohar on the
Batinah coast of Oman, and Al Ain, by Danish archaeologist Karen Frifelt. Frifelt
had already worked on Umm an-Nar island and at Hili and was as familiar as
anyone in the 1960s and 1970s with the third millennium remains of the UAE
and Oman. Ironically, the tombs that she excavated had all been badly robbed
and the number of inds was extremely small. Nonetheless, guided by only a
few sherds, and some very distant comparisons with material found elsewhere
in Iran and Bahrain, Frifelt managed to correctly attribute her Wadi Suq tombs
to the irst few centuries of the second millennium BC.
Several excavations at contemporary sites in the UAE followed Frifelt’s work in

the Wadi Suq. In 1973 a team of Iraqi archaeologists visited the UAE and, among
the various sites they explored, excavated an early second millennium tomb at
Qattarah in the Al Ain Oasis. A few years later Beatrice de Cardi returned to Ra’s
al-Khaimah and through her involvement there enabled British archaeologist
Peter Donaldson to excavate a number of tombs at Ghalilah and Shimal. French
archaeologist Serge Cleuziou then discovered a small amount of early second
millennium BC pottery while excavating the Umm an-Nar tower at Hili 8, and
in 1979 made an initial attempt to synthesise what was known about the Oman
Peninsula during the second millennium BC. his landmark paper highlighted
a number of issues that continue to puzzle archaeologists today.
Cleuziou’s irst concern was to determine whether there was continuity or not at
Hili 8 between the Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq periods. Continuity, of course, is Many tombs of the Wadi Suq
a very broad term and may involve continuous, uninterrupted settlement; burial period were erected at the foot
practices that clearly grew out of a pre-existing local tradition; or the identity of the mountains near Shimal.
of the population inhabiting a region. Did the Wadi Suq-period occupation at
Hili 8 represent an evolution from that of the Umm an-Nar period? Were the
people living at Hili 8 in the Wadi Suq period biological descendants of those
who had lived there in the Umm an-Nar era, or did one group die out or move
away and another move in? Cleuziou was struck by new types of pottery in the
Wadi Suq period that appeared to be ‘very diferent’ from earlier ones. So, the
whole question of cultural continuity between the Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq
periods was, and is, very much a topic for debate.
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A second point highlighted by Cleuziou’s study was the diversity apparent in

burial forms. Already in the 1970s it was clear that there was considerable variety
in the size and shape of Wadi Suq-period graves, with collective burials of very
diferent style to the single graves excavated in the Wadi Suq itself by Frifelt. In
comparison with the Umm an-Nar period, the Wadi Suq period exhibits less
orthodoxy in tomb design and seems to allow more room for expression. We
do not know why this should have been the case, but one might suggest that
communities across the region were better integrated and aware of common
norms in burial practice during the Umm an-Nar period than they were later.
If communication between communities in the Wadi Suq period was somehow
diminished, local burial practices may have evolved somewhat in isolation. his
could account for what sometimes seems like eccentric burial shapes. Burial
types may then have evolved locally, showing less and less conformity with
what we might think of as established norms.
hirdly, Cleuziou noted the appearance of new types of soapstone containers,

both open bowls and small, round jars with protruding knobs on the side,
sometimes pierced for suspension. Such new shapes imply new uses. A bowl is
a bowl, and if a bowl is decorated in one way in one period, and another way let: Oval tombs oten have a
later on, we can still be fairly sure that it was still used for broadly the same central wall of stone with a chamber
purposes, since the decoration is only external. But when an entirely new shape
running around it, enclosed within
appears, with new features like lugs for suspension, then we are witnessing a
new functional category, a vessel that could be used for a purpose that had not
an outer wall.
previously existed or that perhaps fulilled a need previously taken care of by above: Pendants of hammered
a container made of wood or leather, or even basketry. gold composed of two horned
animals facing in opposite
Fourthly, Cleuziou noted the appearance of new types of weaponry. In particular,
swords were observed for the irst time. In the Umm an-Nar period the main
directions are characteristic
weapons were daggers and, towards the very end of the era, spears or lances. of the Wadi Suq period.
And inally, Cleuziou pointed to the appearance of several very unusual hammered
gold animals, either single or double, in the tomb at Qattarah. he quadrupeds,
sometimes looking goat-like, have two necks and heads facing in opposite
directions, rising up out of the opposite ends of a single torso.
In summing up the situation, Cleuziou noted that ties with eastern Iran, so
prominent in the Umm an-Nar period, were no longer apparent. He also
relected on the fact that several late third millennium BC urban centres in
eastern Iran, like the great site of Shahr-i Sokhta, seemed to decline in the early
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second millennium, and he questioned whether a similar phenomenon might

not have occurred in the case of the Umm an-Nar culture. ‘Completely new
material culture’ and a gradual socio-economic change brought about by the
domestication of the camel – allowing a shit to full nomadism at some point
in the second millennium BC – were additional ingredients that contributed
to his belief that this was a time that saw profound change in the ancient UAE.
Archaeological research in the UAE during the past twenty-ive years has
certainly contributed far more food for thought where the issues surrounding
our understanding of the Wadi Suq period are concerned, but, as is so oten the
case in archaeology, the evidence is very patchy. To start with, we now have two
large settlements – Tell Abraq and K4 in the date palm gardens of Kalba on the
east coast of the UAE – with more or less continuous occupation from the late
third millennium through the second millennium (and beyond). At Tell Abraq
it is clear that the exterior of the third millennium tower was renovated and
that the building continued in use until late in the second millennium, when it
was illed in and covered with a mudbrick platform. It continued to protect the
community’s well – whether there were any others on site we do not know – and
that alone must have been reason enough to keep the building surrounding
it in reasonably good repair. Outside the building, people continued to live in
Bronze ish hook from Tell Abraq. palm-frond houses. Metres and metres of soil build-up, punctuated throughout
by postholes, bear witness to generations of such shelters on the site.
he diet of the people at Tell Abraq shited more towards ish and shellish in
the second millennium, and away from cattle, sheep and goat, though these
continued to be present with sheep or goat far outnumbering cattle. Amongst
the cattle were small numbers of zebu. Interestingly, a small breed of sheep,
present throughout the sequence at Tell Abraq, was accompanied during the
Wadi Suq period by a larger breed. Similarly large sheep were kept on Bahrain
in the late third and early second millennia BC and one wonders whether the
large sheep of Tell Abraq represent new stock introduced from Bahrain or
Mesopotamia sometime ater 2000 BC.
What may have caused such these shits in animal husbandry and diet is
diicult to say. A slight change in weather patterns could have made life in an
already arid area even more diicult for livestock. Water may have become
scarcer, making it harder to maintain herds. If so, one could well understand
why it was that the people at Tell Abraq came to depend more and more on
their marine resources.
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5> res T rUcT UrINg IN T h e MIDDLe AND L ATe B roNZ e Age
Both the method of ishing and the kinds of ish consumed changed ater
the Umm an-Nar period. Instead of using lines and hooks to ish for large
ish in open water, nets and traps set in the shallower, coastal lagoons were
preferred. As a result, the ish species caught during the Wadi Suq period
difered from those of the Umm an-Nar period. At Shimal, for example,
where trace element and isotopic analyses conirm a shit
towards greater ish consumption in the mid-
second millennium – a point reinforced
by a decrease in the amount of wear on
teeth from this period as compared with
teeth found in Umm an-Nar burials – the
Wadi Suq levels were dominated by seabream,
whereas jacks, trevallies, tuna and mackerel had
been the best represented species there during the Umm an-Nar era.
On the east coast, the situation was somewhat diferent. At Kalba (KAL2-3),
where ish remains were relatively scarce, both coastal and pelagic species
were present, including tuna, seabream, trevallies/jacks, groupers, emperors
and sawish.
he notion that the camel was domesticated by the early second millennium BC
is, however, incorrect. Traditionally, it has been diicult for archaeozoologists he variety of ish species eaten
to detect camel domestication for, unlike sheep, goat and cattle, camels do not
in the Bronze Age is remarkable.
show signs of domestication in the form of alterations to any of their bones. he
only real indication is a diminution in size, but in order to identify this, wild
camel bones are needed from the same site or region so that the diferences in
size can be evaluated.
Tell Abraq, which had not yet been excavated when Cleuziou wrote his 1979
article, is one of the very few sites where camel domestication can be studied,
since the long occupational sequence there allows comparison of camel bones
from the earliest levels at the site with those of the second millennium. he
results of such a comparison, however, conirm that the camels eaten there
during the Wadi Suq period were still wild. Not until the Iron Age can the size
reduction associated with domestication be documented.
One inal, avian, curiosity that appears in the Wadi Suq period is the ostrich.
Whereas tombs of the Umm an-Nar period, like the one at Tell Abraq, have
yielded ostrich egg fragments, some with a clearly cut opening suggesting their
use as containers for liquids, tomb 6 at Shimal and the early second millennium
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levels at Tell Abraq have both yielded painted pottery representations of ostrich.
hese are particularly interesting given that both sites are located in the northern
emirates. Since the pottery bearing the ostrich decorations appears to have been
locally made, and not imported from any great distance, these inds imply the
presence of ostrich in the general vicinity of these sites. Ostrich shell has been
found on sites further west in the Abu Dhabi desert, but apart from fragments
found at Late Islamic campsites, these have never been dated. he ostrich is a
notoriously shy creature, very diicult to hunt, and most of the evidence for its
presence consists either of rock drawings of them (found at a number of sites in
Saudi Arabia and Yemen) or their shells, which have been used for thousands
of years as containers for liquids.
An ostrich decorates the outside of Amidst the evidence of continuity in settlement at Tell Abraq and Kalba we
a ceramic beaker from Tell Abraq. do, nevertheless, see changes in the pottery used. Nowadays, archaeologists
generally shy away from making value judgements about the quality of artefacts.
In the past, scholars might contrast a late ‘debased’ style with an earlier,
‘classical’ one. Concepts like these generally referred to the ‘purity’ or ‘beauty’ of
a style. When we compare the ceramics of the Umm an-Nar period with those
of the Wadi Suq era there is no doubt that the latter is stylistically simpler; that
the actual fabrics (the composition of the pottery) of the Wadi Suq period are
coarser, oten made with chopped up bits of shell and chaf (straw) as temper;
and the shapes are less ‘professionally’ fashioned. What this, in part, relects is
the fact that some of the pottery of the Umm an-Nar period is extremely well-
made and well-ired, giving it an elegance and a proile with crisp, clean lines
that appeals to our modern taste. More likely than not, such vessels were the
work of full-time or at least highly competent potters. In the very late Umm
an-Nar period, for example in the tomb at Tell Abraq, we see some signs of a
transition from the ‘classical’ Umm an-Nar to a less carefully fashioned product
with sloppier painting, simpler design and a more squat form. We also see the use
of a string to cut the vessel of the wheel ater it was thrown, leaving distinctive
cut-marks on the base. his characteristic became common in the second
millennium, but the Tell Abraq inds show us that the innovation had already
taken hold in the region. Later, the pottery of the Wadi Suq period looks more
and more like the work of less competent potters, perhaps non-professionals
who made what was needed in each household. When we compare the pottery
of the two periods, therefore, we must realise that we are probably comparing
the products of professionals with non-professionals. A ‘worsening’ of the
general appearance of pottery in the Wadi Suq period is not, therefore, a sign
of calamitous decline in the culture of the period, but simply an outcome of a
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change in the mode of production, from specialist producers in the Umm an-
Nar period to generalists in the Wadi Suq era who were capable, but far from
outstanding in their ceramic abilities. Such part-timers may have been people
whose primary occupation was agricultural, pastoralism or ishing, and for
whom pottery manufacture was never more than a sideline.
Early in the second millennium, two broad groups of pottery vessels appear
that had no precursors in the Umm an-Nar period. he irst consists of large,
irregular pouring vessels with a globular body and a short spout, sometimes
with a panel of vertical zig-zag decoration on the upper body. he second
consists of squat beakers with simple geometric decoration beneath the rim,
oten in the form of parallel sets of wavy lines between horizontal stripes, and
sometimes in the form of chevrons. here is a strange resemblance between
Semi-subterranean the decoration on these beakers and much earlier painted pottery motifs from
tomb at Jebel Buhais. southeastern Iran, but whether or not the Wadi Suq versions relect another
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inlux of people from Kerman or Baluchistan is diicult to say. Certainly the

short spouts and generally squat appearance of the larger pouring vessels are
also broadly reminiscent of Iranian forms, though in a much less reined way.
Such spouted vessels could well have held a liquid, perhaps a form of beer or wine.
But in order to drink, you need a cup or beaker. As it happens, plenty of beaker
fragments have been found in the settlement at Tell Abraq and many more
nearly whole or reconstructable ones have been recovered in Wadi Suq graves.
Excavations by Peter Donaldson and the German expedition at Shimal in Ra’s
al-Khaimah have brought to light large numbers of such beakers, making one
wonder whether a drinking ceremony may have been associated with burial
rites in the early second millennium BC?
Like the Umm an-Nar graves, those of the Wadi Suq period were also collective,
though the numbers of individuals found in them are smaller than in the earlier
period. Perhaps, though, the smaller number of burials per tomb is compensated
for by the fact that at sites like Shimal, Khatt, Ghalilah and Qarn al-Harf, in
Ra’s al-Khaimah, there are many graves of the second millennium clustered let: he long tomb at Bidyah
together. Even if none of the Wadi Suq graves excavated to date held 300–650
was one of the irst of its kind
individuals, like the larger Umm an-Nar ones, there were more of them, each
ever excavated in the UAE.
holding smaller numbers of people (50–100), perhaps organised along some
sort of kinship lines. Unlike the Umm an-Nar tombs, which vary in size and above: Long Wadi Suq-type tombs
internal coniguration, some having few and some with many chambers, the oten had rooing slabs consisting of
tombs of the Wadi Suq period exhibit a much greater variety of forms. Both
stones pitched steeply up from either
above-ground and semi-subterranean tombs are known. In the latter case, the
side, covered with earth and gravel.
burial chamber is below ground, while the superstructure of the tomb – all of
uncut rock – stood above ground. he purely above-ground tombs include
long, narrow ones with a single chamber, like those at Qattarah in Al Ain,
Bidyah in Fujairah, and Shimal in Ra’s al-Khaimah; graves with a generally
rectangular shape and rounded ends and a central wall in the middle, as at
Ghalilah or, with a central, internal wall that meets the external wall at one end
and not the other, leaving a passage between two chambers, as at Qarn al-Harf
67; and graves that appear to be of the long, narrow type surrounded by yet
another outer wall, as found at Shimal and Ghalilah. he semi-subterranean
tombs, such as those found at Bithnah and Sharm in Fujairah and in the Wadi
al-Qawr of southern Ra’s al-Khaimah, come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Some are T-shaped (Bithnah), or long and narrow (Sharm), while others consist
of two, generally rectangular chambers, without interconnection, running of of Tomb at Naslah in the Wadi al-
a central wall, from which shorter wall stubs protrude, presumably to support Qawr, southern Ra’s al-Khaimah.
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a roof (Wa’ab 4, in southern Ra’s al-Khaimah). In some cases, a tomb with a

central wall, like the ones at Naslah 1 or Fashgha 2, both in southern Ra’s al-
Khaimah, had a narrower chamber added onto the exterior. he diversity seen
in Wadi Suq burial forms may relect greater isolation between communities,
giving rise to more idiosyncratic types of burial than was the case during the
Umm an-Nar period.
In addition to pottery, Wadi Suq tombs have yielded a large quantity of objects.
Due to the disturbed nature of the skeletal remains, it is generally impossible to
say whether the many beads of shell, glass, frit or faience, and stone recovered
in these tombs originally formed necklaces worn by the deceased, but it is
certainly likely. Several tombs, including ones at Qattarah in Al Ain and Dhayah
near Ra’s al-Khaimah, have also yielded remarkable gold pieces that were hung
horizontally in necklaces. hese take the form of double animals, rear to rear,
with necks and heads facing in opposite directions. Interestingly, a gold pendant
(see page 60) showing a pair of long-horned sheep (perhaps the urial Ovis vignei),
was found in the Umm an-Nar-period tomb at Tell Abraq and this may well
Magniicent gold pendant and provide a model for the later animal igures of the Wadi Suq era.
necklace from a tomb at Dhayah,
northern Ra’s al-Khaimah. Bronze weaponry was commonly deposited in tombs as well. Socketed spearheads
and arrowheads, many with incised marks resembling ‘V’ and ‘X’ on the surface,
are frequent inds in Wadi Suq-period tombs. Less common are short swords,
such as those from Qattarah and Qarn Bint Sa’ud, near Al Ain, with rivet holes
near the base of the blade for attachment to a hilt made of a perishable material
like wood, bone or horn. he arrival of the sword as an ofensive weapon is
signiicant. By this time, swords were being used elsewhere in the ancient Near
East, and one can only assume that they appeared in the UAE and Oman for a
reason. Close combat can be carried out with a dagger, but ighting with swords
is a diferent matter, oten involving the use of some sort of armour, even if it
is only made of leather.
his does not mean, however, that Wadi Suq society was necessarily warlike,
or dominated by an obsession with hunting. Weapons may be deposited in
tombs for their symbolic value, and not necessarily because they relect the
preoccupations of a particular society. Indeed, studies in other parts of the world
have shown that weapons are more common in graves during times of peace
than in times of war. In times of peace the weapons take on a symbolic character,
whereas in times of war people may be reluctant to remove serviceable weapons
from circulation, since they could be required in battle. Similarly, weapons are by
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no means the exclusive prerogative of males, but may be buried with females for Most Wadi Suq-type tombs, like this
symbolic reasons. Without knowing something about the ideology and beliefs
one at Dhayah, are built of entirely
of the period we cannot interpret the high numbers of weapons found in Wadi
unworked stone.
Suq period graves. In India, for example, some tribal groups put objects into
graves because, with the death of their owner, they become taboo and no longer
usable by the living. Others place objects in graves out of afection, to assist
the deceased in the aterlife. Still others do so because they do not want to be
accused of deriving any material beneit from the possessions of the deceased.
Whatever the explanation may be, there is no doubting the fact that weapons are
more abundant in Wadi Suq graves than they were in the Umm an-Nar period.
Finally, sotstone vessels, oten squat jars with lids (in most cases the loose
lids found cannot be matched up with speciic jars), are common in graves
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of Wadi Suq type. hese are usually decorated with combinations of dotted
circles and bunches of horizontal and diagonal lines. Archaeologists have spent
a good deal of time and energy studying the various types of sotstone vessels
contained in these tombs, but it is quite likely that we are missing the most
signiicant point about them. It is probably neither the style nor shape, but
rather the contents of the vessels that was important. In antiquity, sotstone
and alabaster were the favoured materials for holding fatty substances of great
value – unguents, perfumes, aromatic gums or resins. his is relected in the
fact that the common English term for one of the most usual forms of sotstone,
steatite, comes from Greek steatos meaning ‘fat, suet’. It is certainly possible that
small jars of aromatics, unguents and/or perfumes were deposited with the dead
during the Wadi Suq period. Certainly we know that frankincense was already
available in Oman, probably from the Hadramawt or Dhofar, during the third
millennium BC, since an incense burner with clear signs of burning and material
still adhering to it was found several years ago by a French-Italian expedition
at the site of Ra’s al-Jinz 2 near the easternmost point of the Oman Peninsula.
We have no written evidence in Mesopotamia of direct links with the UAE during
the Wadi Suq period, and references to Magan at this time are rare. Objects named
ater Magan, such as a ‘Magan chair’ and a ‘Magan storage jar’, are mentioned in
early second millennium texts from Larsa and Ur, and the wood known as ‘mes
wood of Magan’, identiied with Dalbergia sissoo, occurs in both economic and
lexical texts (word lists). A text from Ur mentions someone called Sin-gamil – a
purely Babylonian name – who was called ‘DUMU Magan’, literally ‘son of
Magan’. Quite possibly this was someone whose ancestors came from Magan,
but who had himself been born in Babylonia and hence bore a Babylonian name,
perhaps a second or third generation Maganite settled in Babylonia.
At this time Magan’s copper continued to reach Mesopotamia, but through

an indirect route. Texts from Ur show us that private merchants, known in
Akkadian as alik Tilmun, ‘Dilmun traders’, were active in purchasing copper
from their counterparts on Bahrain. Most scholars believe, however, that the
copper itself continued to come from the Oman Peninsula, as it had done in
the third millennium. An indication that this was probably the case is provided
by the presence, at several sites in the UAE, of typical Bahraini pottery of early
second millennium date. his is known as ‘Barbar red ware’, ater the site of
Barbar on Bahrain. Well over 600 fragments of Barbar ware were found at
Socketed spearheads are common Tell Abraq, and smaller amounts have turned up on the east coast at Kalba. In
in tombs of the Wadi Suq period. addition, Barbar ware has been found on a number of Abu Dhabi’s ofshore
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islands. his might be a relection of seaborne contact between Bahrain and

the UAE at this time. Alternatively, it might indicate that pearl ishermen from
Dilmun were staying for periods of time on the Abu Dhabi islands during the
pearling season.
A complete example of a typical, round-bottomed ‘Dilmun’ jar, of the sort

oten found in graves on Bahrain, was recovered in the tomb at Tell Abraq
(an indication that the date of the tomb must be very late in the third millennium,
perhaps overlapping with the very early second millennium BC), and fragments
of similar jars have been found at Shimal and Kalba. On Bahrain, these are
an archetypal funerary vessel, most oten found in tombs of the early second
millennium BC.
Stamp seals of Dilmun type have been found in graves at Mazyad, near Jebel
Hait, and at Jebel Buhais, in the interior of Sharjah. Seals like this have been
found by the hundreds on Bahrain and Failaka, an island of the coast of Kuwait
where a colony of Dilmunites was established shortly ater 2000 BC. A clay
tablet found at Susa in southwestern Iran that records the receipt of 10 minas
of copper (about 5 kilograms) bears the impression of just such a stamp seal.
Quite possibly, the seal from Mazyad was buried with an individual either from
Dilmun or associated with it, perhaps a local trader who sent copper from the
interior of Oman to Bahrain via what is today the UAE.
Indications of contact with the east are provided by pottery of post-Harappan

type from Gujarat or the lower Indus Valley. Examples have been found at
Tell Abraq within the fortress in early second millennium contexts, and at
Shimal. his is virtually the only evidence for the continuation of contact
between the Indus region and the UAE in the Late Harappan or immediately
post-Harappan period. Many years ago, scholars attributed the collapse of
the Harappan civilisation to an invasion of Indo-Aryan speakers from the
north, and they posited that the disruption to long-distance trade had severe
consequences for areas further west that were linked economically to the
Harappan world. Equally, one might suggest that the fall of the hird Dynasty
of Ur had serious repercussions throughout the region. Whatever the case may
be, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that both processes impacted on
life in the UAE during the irst centuries of the second millennium BC. By the
mid-second millennium there are few signs of contact with any outside areas,
apart from a small number of sherds found at Tell Abraq that resemble Elamite
types in Iran. his situation, though, was to change in the last quarter of the
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second millennium, when cultural trends in the UAE and Oman show evidence
of both internal development and new, strengthened ties to the Iranian plateau.
Finally, the UAE was not just a recipient of objects from other regions. here is
also evidence that inished products originating in the area of Oman and the
UAE made their way to the outside world at this time. Typical Wadi Suq-style
sotstone vessel fragments have been found at sites in southern Mesopotamia
let: Sotstone vessels of the earlier
like Ur, Tell al-Ubaid and Uruk; at Susa and Liyan (Tul-e Peytul, near modern
second millennium BC were oten
Bushehr) in southwestern Iran; on Failaka, in the bay of Kuwait; Bahrain; and
in a number of graves in northeastern Saudi Arabia, both around Dhahran and decorated with a combination of
on Tarut island. Just as we would love to know what the sotstone containers dotted circles and horizontal and
found in Wadi Suq graves in the UAE contained, so too would it be extremely
diagonal lines.
interesting to analyse fragments from sites outside the area to see whether they
above: A stamp seal of
were carrying costly aromatics or other valuable substances. Archaeologists
oten enlist the help of organic chemists using a technique known as gas Dilmun-type, probably from
chromatography in trying to determine what stone or ceramic vessels may Bahrain, found in a tomb at
have held in the past. his is a diicult procedure, since any substance put
Mazyad near Jebel Hait.
into a vessel, if absorbed into its walls, can confuse the chemical spectrum
produced by such analysis and without knowing what you are looking for it
can be extremely diicult to determine the identity of one, let alone multiple,
substances. Nevertheless, we know that in later periods aromatics were obtained
from the region by Mesopotamian rulers and merchants, and it is tempting to
think that the sotstone vessels of the Wadi Suq period were being traded, not
for their own sakes, but because of what they held.
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IN Th e L AND o F T h e eMIr AT es ch AP Te r 6 > Th e I roN Age
chapter 6
the iron age

Since the 1970s, archaeologists working in the UAE have used the
term ‘Iron Age’, originally in reference to inds from the early irst
millennium BC, much as it has been used in most other parts of the
Near East. As discussed previously, with reference to the divisions of
the Bronze Age and terms like ‘Umm an-Nar’ and ‘Wadi Suq’, there
is a sense in which a cultural label like ‘Iron Age’ implies a whole new
level of technology and cultural sophistication when compared with
the Bronze Age that preceded it. his, however, is certainly not the case.
let: A camel igurine

By the early 1990s evidence from Tell Abraq, later supplemented by
from Muweilah.
comparable material from Kalba, made it clear that the earliest phase of
the Iron Age (Iron I) dated to c.1300–1000 BC and followed, without above: Sotstone bowl with ish
interruption, the Late Wadi Suq era. Iron I was followed by the Iron II motif found at Jebel Buhais.
period (1000–600 BC), a time of enormous expansion in settlement
and quantity of archaeological evidence. his, in turn, was followed
by the Iron III period (600–300 BC), an era, contemporary with
the late Neo-Babylonian era in Mesopotamia and the Achaemenid
Empire in Iran, which led into the early historic or Late Pre-Islamic
era, best attested at Mleiha in the Emirate of Sharjah and ed-Dur in
Umm al-Qaiwain.
Such, at least, is the periodisation generally used today for what is

undoubtedly the longest single ‘period’ in the UAE’s history. How
are we to make sense of roughly 1000 years of human history? To
begin with, diferences between the three sub-phases of the Iron
Age should not be blurred. What we can say about Iron II, the best
documented phase, does not necessarily apply to either the earlier or
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the later phases of the Iron Age, even if there is a tendency to speak simply of
‘the Iron Age’ in the UAE as if it were a uniform period from beginning to end.
In fact, we know relatively little about either Iron I or Iron III and the bulk of
our evidence comes from Iron II.
Outside of Tell Abraq, Iron I deposits have been found only at Kalba, Shimal
and, to a very small extent, Bithnah. he ceramics from this phase, although
diferent from the latest Wadi Suq styles, seem to show some signs of continuity,
particularly in clay composition. Compared to the products of the Umm an-Nar
period, they appear coarse, in part because they were handmade, probably the
products of individual households rather than professional potters. he fact that
Iron I pottery is relatively friable (crumbly) compared to Umm an-Nar wares,
suggests that it was ired at lower temperatures than earlier wares in the region,
although to date no actual pottery kilns have been excavated.
At Tell Abraq, the third millennium fort was illed in and covered over with
a massive brick platform, either late in the Wadi Suq period or early in Iron I
times. Why, we do not know, but intriguingly the brick size in the platform
(30 x 60 x 10 centimetres) is the same as that found in a number of Iron Age
platforms in the Indo-Iranian borderlands, such as those at Tepe Yahya in
southeastern Iran, Nad-i Ali and Tillya Tepe in Afghanistan, and Kyzyl Tepe
and Kuchuk in Uzbekistan.
Apart from the platform, the main evidence of settlement at Tell Abraq in the
late second millennium consisted, as in the earlier centuries, of thick layers
of soil with postholes, the vestiges of palm-frond houses. We know that the
population at this time continued to subsist on a diet of ish, shellish, sheep,
goat, cattle (both taurine and zebu), gazelle, Arabian oryx and cormorant. Date
palms were cultivated and undoubtedly provided the main source of sugar.
At Shimal, naturally occurring boulders at the base of the mountain where

the site is located were incorporated into the walls of a few houses, and more
evidence of occupation was found on the nearby shell middens (refuse heaps
containing thousands of discarded shells) where sherds of typical Iron I pottery
were found. Several Wadi Suq tombs at Ghalilah contained examples of Iron
I pottery, suggesting that they had been reused for Iron I burials, a situation
mirrored at Bithnah in Fujairah. Kalba 4 shows evidence of occupation at this
time as well, including a large defensive wall and associated moat or ditch. In
fact, most of the Iron I pottery found at Kalba came out of the ditch there.
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6 > T h e IroN Age
One of the inds from Tell Abraq that deserves particular mention is a faience
cylinder seal with a simple, herringbone-like decoration, probably meant to
represent a series of stylised plants or trees. Faience, which takes its name
erroneously from the town of Faenza in Italy, is a composite of inely powdered
quartz grains (sintered quartz) fused together through heating with lime and/or
alkali (available from certain plants) and then moulded or formed into a desired
shape. here is absolutely no evidence of faience production in the UAE during
the late second milllennium BC, but dozens of similar seals are known from
Susa and, in particular, Choga Zanbil – two major cities of the Elamite state in
southwestern Iran (Khuzestan) during the late second millennium. his fact,
combined with the style of the seal, means it was almost certainly imported
from southwestern Iran.
An Elamite connection with the UAE at this time is intriguing, particularly

with respect to power politics further north. his was a time when, as we know
from cuneiform texts found at Nippur and on Bahrain, Dilmun (Bahrain and
Failaka) was governed by the Kassites, a people that had come to power in
Babylonia following the defeat of the Old Babylonian state around 1595 BC
by the Hittites from Anatolia. Late in the Kassite period, however, the Elamite
and Kassite royal houses were intermarried with each other through strategic,
dynastic marriages and it appears as though the Elamites respected a Kassite
sphere of inluence in the north, while the Kassites in their turn may well
have respected the area south of Bahrain as having particular importance for
the Elamites. A connection with western Iran at this time may represent the
irst signs of an increasingly important relationship with the region that grew
throughout the Iron Age.
he most impressive development in Iron II was undoubtedly the increase in

the number of sites occupied and the spread of settlements across the region.
Suddenly, or so it seems in the archaeological record, dozens of sites throughout
the UAE and Oman, both settlements and cemeteries, are attested. Whereas
the second millennium was a time of relatively sparse settlement (as compared
with the third millennium), the early irst millennium was a time of enormous
settlement expansion. What might have sparked such a development? here may
have been a slight amelioration of the climate, but the most signiicant change
was a technological one. his was the introduction, and quite possibly the
invention, of falaj (sing. alaj) irrigation, a technique that permitted the opening
up of many more areas of settlement and an intensiication of agriculture on a
scale never before witnessed in the region.
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Falaj irrigation, also known by the Persian term qanat, consists of drawing
irrigation water from a subsurface aquifer. Ater a well is dug near the foot of
a mountain and water is located, a slightly upward-sloping tunnel is excavated
from the place where the water will be used for irrigation purposes, back towards
the ‘mother’ well. It also involves the excavation of a series of vertical shats dug
at regular intervals to give the falaj diggers a means for removing dirt and rock,
as well as providing air while they work in the underground tunnel. In 1010
the mathematician Abu Bakr b. Muhammad b. Al Husayn Al Karaji (b. 953)
described the technology of falaj construction in detail, but while it is oten
considered an Iranian invention, or more correctly an Urartian one (in the Iron
Age, Urartu was a kingdom located in the area of Lake Van and Mt Ararat in
eastern Turkey and Armenia), this is based on a misreading of an inscription in
which the campaign of the Assyrian king Sargon II against his Urartian rival
Rusa I in 714 BC is described. In fact, the text relating to this campaign does
not say, as oten claimed, that Rusa had shown his people how to master the
‘secret’ of tapping subsurface water sources. But even if it did, the Iron Age sites
in the UAE and Oman that can be linked with falaj, such as Al huqaibah on
the Madam plain south of Dhaid; Muweilah, near Sharjah Airport; and Hili 17,
would all pre-date the alleged Urartian evidence. And they certainly pre-date, by
many centuries, the reference in the Roman historian Polybius’ (c.203–120 BC)
Histories (10.28) to subterranean channels in Media (western Iran) during the late
third century BC. It appears that falaj irrigation is older in the Oman Peninsula
than anywhere else in the world and was not a foreign technology introduced
from Iran, but a local invention.
Given the precarious nature of winter rainfall in the UAE, it is easy to understand
why the discovery of a means for tapping subsurface water was signiicant for the
inhabitants of the region during the Iron Age. Of course, simple well-irrigation
was known in the third and second millennium BC. he well at Tell Abraq, for
example, was in constant use for over 1000 years and was not covered by the
he falaj technique of irrigation has mudbrick platform erected late in the second millennium BC. But the labour
involved in distributing such water was considerable and the area over which
been important in the UAE since
it could be dispersed very limited. With falaj irrigation it became possible to
the Iron Age. create a network of channels to divert water onto ields and gardens.
Changes also occurred in architecture at this time that make Iron II settlements
appear diferent to their predecessors. While ‘arish may still have been used, the
Iron II sites are also characterised by much more substantial architecture. At
Muweilah and Al huqaibah in Sharjah, and at Rumeilah, Hili 2, Hili 14 and
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6 > T h e IroN Age
Hili 17 in the Al Ain oasis, large enclosure walls and multi-roomed, rectangular
house complex built of mudbrick appear. Similarly, at Husn Awhala in southern
Fujairah a large, well-made enclosure wall of wadi cobbles, some of considerable
size, protected the settlement of stone houses. Here, the ready availability of
building stone easily explains why stone, rather than mudbrick, was the preferred
material used for construction. Such houses, and their enclosure walls, are in every
sense more substantial than anything seen in the region since the fortiication
towers of the late third millennium. An important diference in the Iron Age,
though, is that the pattern of settlement was no longer one of ‘arish built around
a fortiied tower, but rather of well-built houses of mudbrick or stone behind
enclosure walls that demarcated entire communities. Outwardly, these look much
more like modern Near Eastern villages than anything seen earlier in the UAE.
Whereas Muweilah, Rumeilah, Hili 2 and Al huqaibah all look like ‘organic’
villages – clusters of houses with an outer enclosure wall – the site of Hili 14 is
clearly diferent. his is much more reminiscent of a caravanserai. Outwardly, it is
somewhat irregular, with walls measuring 56, 62, 48 and 50 metres, respectively.
At Husn Awhala, on the other hand, where three sides of the enclosure were
preserved and the fourth had been washed away by the wadi to its south, the
2.3 metres thick stone enclosure wall measured 90 metres across and 60 metres
north to south along its better preserved, eastern side (though even here the wall
is not complete). Presumably, in cases such as these, the community’s irrigated
ields and gardens were outside such enclosure walls, much as they are in many hanks to falaj irrigation, the
traditional farming areas in the UAE today, like the Dibba gardens in northern Iron Age in the UAE witnessed
Fujairah, or the smaller oases in some of the mountain wadis of Ra’s al-Khaimah, a massive increase in the number
Fujairah and Sharjah.
of settlements, and in the amount
he combination of abundant water supply, substantial architecture and of arable land that was brought
expanding agriculture makes it plausible to suggest that population increased under cultivation.
signiicantly at this time as well. And an expanding population, together with
the presence of fortiied or at least strongly demarcated settlements in the UAE
during Iron II times, naturally raises all sorts of questions about the nature
of political authority at this time. One possibility, for example, is that each
community of the sort just described had a headman, much like the sheikhs
of the pre-modern era, in the same way as has been suggested for the third
millennium fortiications. But there is also an indication in Assyrian sources of
a more centralised form of governance. A text from the Ishtar temple at Nineveh
(northern Iraq), discovered in 1931/2, but since lost, records the receipt of tribute
by the Assyrian king Assurbanipal in 640 BC. In addition to a king of Dilmun
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‘Padé, king of Qade, who dwelt in (Bahrain and Failaka) named Hundaru, the text refers to ‘Padé, king of Qadê,
the city of Iske, [of which of old (?)] who dwelt in the city of Izkie’ (see text box let). Slightly later Achaemenid royal
no ki[ng] had trodden the boundary inscriptions at Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rustam in Iran equated the Akkadian
of Assyria: by the command of placename Qadê with Old Persian Maka, a variant of Sumerian Magan and
Ashur of [and] Ninlil their envoy for Akkadian Makkan. Izkie, on the other hand, is almost certainly the oasis town
good[will and peace], with their rich
of Izki, in the Omani Sharqiyah, reputed in local oral tradition to be the oldest
tribute, travelled a journey of six
town in Oman. he Ishtar slab text goes on to say that it took Padé six months to
months, coming to [my] presence’.
reach Assurbanipal’s court at Nineveh. Perhaps, then, there was a larger, regional
state in southeastern Arabia by the seventh century BC, or perhaps Padé was
Assurbanipal’s Ishtar slab inscription,
simply the leader of one of a number of small sheikhdoms in the region who,
Campbell hompson, R. and Mallowan,
for whatever reason, felt it expedient to pay homage to the Assyrian monarch?
M.E.L. ‘he British Museum Excavations at
Nineveh, 1931–32.’ Annals of Archaeology
and Anthropology 20: 1933: 87 One architectural feature that may be linked to local political authority is the
columned hall, examples of which have now been identiied at both Rumeilah,
Bida bint Saud and Muweilah. In general layout, these buildings clearly recall the
columned buildings of Iron Age Iran. Excavated examples are known at Hasanlu,
Godin Tepe, Nush-e Jan and Baba Jan. hese are usually considered forerunners
of the monumental columned reception halls of the Achaemenid Persian royal
palace complexes at Pasargadae, Susa and Persepolis. he columned areas
themselves are not for living, but rather for reception, something like a majlis
with tall columns supporting a lat ceiling in an area where guests might be
received. Such buildings may well have served the local elite, who put on feasts
and entertainment as part of their ceremonial duties.
above: Part of the columned
building at Muweilah. he material culture of Iron II is known from both graves and settlements and
not surprisingly the sorts of inds made in each case difer considerably. Iron
right: A bronze bracelet with lion
Age graves, like those at Al Qusais in Dubai, have been known to yield large
or leopard-headed terminals from numbers of weapons. Socketed axes with laring blades and short, lange-hilted
an Iron Age tomb at Jebel Buhais. swords (in which an organic material, such as wood, horn or ivory was inlaid)
are well-attested. Many of the short swords (or large daggers, depending on your
point of view) are reminiscent of inds made in Luristan tombs in western Iran,
but it would be wrong to assume that these are imports. Some of the swords
from Qidfa in Fujairah and Jebel Hait are considerably longer, suggesting
that there may have been at least two types of thrusting weapons used at this
time – true swords and shorter daggers or dirks. On the other hand, some
of the socketed axes, particularly those without an exaggerated blade, bear a
striking resemblance to the traditional jerz carried by the Shihuh of northern
Ra’s al-Khaimah and the Musandam Peninsula in the recent past. Arrowheads
are also very numerous, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
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For the irst time, large numbers of metal vessels, principally bowls, are also
found in graves. Most of these have been hammered out of thin sheet metal and
generally speaking simple, open bowls predominate. A number of carinated
bowls with decoration around the shoulder and indentations just above the
carination have a long spout running of the rim. hese are metal versions of
Iron Age ceramic vessel types, such as those from Tepe Sialk on the Iranian
Plateau. Like the swords that have clear parallels in Luristan, these metal vessels
suggest connections with Iran in the Iron Age. Given the fact that pottery
with long spouts is known in the Bronze Age of northeastern Iran, at Shah
Tepe, Tureng Tepe and Hissar, for example, it seems likely that the direction of
inluence was from Iran to the UAE and not the other way around, since there
are no forerunners in the local ceramic repertoire during the Wadi Suq period.
he inal category of metal found in tombs consists of heavy bracelets or anklets

with indented decoration near the terminals. Many of these seem so heavy that
it appears unlikely they were ever worn, and as a result some scholars have
speculated that they might have functioned as a type of pre-coinage currency,
rather than as jewellery.
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above: A selection of Iron Age, Many Iron Age tombs have yielded large quantities of sotstone as well. Hundreds
of vessels have been recovered at tombs in the Wadi al-Qawr of southern Ra’s al-
compartmented, sotstone vessels.
Khaimah, at Al Qusais in Dubai, at Qarn Bint Saud near Al Ain and elsewhere.
below: Snake symbolism, In comparison with the inds from earlier periods, several points emerge. First,
evidenced in decorated ceramics, many vessels appear to have been manufactured on a lathe. hey are more
was important throughout sharply carinated, either in the middle of the body, or just above the base, than
in earlier times. Secondly, the dotted circle is far less common as a decorative
the UAE during the Iron Age.
device. Instead, herringbone patterns, bunches of zigzagging, diagonal lines,
cross-hatching and rocker-stamping all occur. Finally, the shapes themselves are
diferent. Apart from a squat jar with a rounded base that is larger in diameter
than its mouth (resembling the beehive-shaped jars of the late third millennium),
the range of shapes is signiicantly diferent to what we ind in earlier periods.
Carinated jars, squat bowls with ofset rims, large jars with rounded bottoms
and small mouths, and tall jars with vertically pierced suspension lugs evenly
spaced around the middle, are all known. Several of these shapes also appear
in alabaster or gypsum. Generally speaking, less of the Iron Age sotstone
seems to have been exported, but examples have been found on Bahrain and
comparable inds in alabaster are even known from Nippur in central Iraq. As
previously discussed, the real question is what substances may have been held
in these vessels when deposited in the tombs where they have been found?
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6 > T h e IroN Age
he same sort of question could be asked of Iron II pottery as well. Excavations

at sites like Rumeilah, Muweilah, Al huqaibah, Tell Abraq, Rafaq, Sarouq al-
Hadeed and Husn Awhala have yielded an enormous body of pottery. Most of
it is locally made and includes bowls, some with cross-hatch painting in black
or red around the rim and shoulder; spouted vessels; and large storage jars.
Many of the largest storage jars have raised, lattened ridges running like bands
around the body. his is a trait that carries on throughout the later pre-Islamic
era as well. he spouted jars, on the other hand, clearly show links to the bridge-
spouted vessels of the Iranian Iron Age. Although the manufacture is almost
certainly local, decoration is not paralleled in Iran, and the spouts themselves
are much less elegant than those seen on many of the Iranian examples. Still,
the Iranian inluence is undeniable.
Generally speaking, there is a remarkable uniformity in ceramics during

Iron II, all across the UAE. Some items, however, clearly had a specialised
function and appear only in speciic contexts. hus, for example, the spouted
vessels at Muweilah are particularly associated with the columned hall there,
as are a number of large ceramic incense burners. Additional, elaborate incense
burners have also been found at Bithnah where a number of buildings and Large sotstone vessels with lids
associated deposits suggest that part of the site may have been a religious centre. have been found by the hundreds
in Iron Age tombs across the UAE.
In the early 1970s pottery was discovered at Al Qusais in Dubai with appliqué
meandering snakes on the body, as well as small snakes made of hammered
and etched bronze. Later, more vessels decorated with snakes were found at Tell
Abraq, Rumeilah, Bithnah and Muweilah, and recently many more examples,
including large storage jars, have been discovered at Bithnah in Fujairah and
Sarouq al-Hadeed in Dubai. We know nothing about religion in the Iron Age,
but it is interesting that snakes, which are known to have had a role in other
ancient Near Eastern religions and mythologies, feature so prominently here.
Intriguingly, contemporary inds of snake skeletons carefully deposited in
cloth bags, within ceramic bowls, and buried beneath the loor of the Late
Dilmun palace at Qalat al-Bahrain, suggest a similar pre-occupation with
snakes elsewhere in the region at this time.
he copper sources of the Hajar Mountains continued to be used during the

Iron Age, but now, for the irst time in the region’s history, iron was worked
as well. Excavations at Muweilah have revealed a signiicant number of iron
fragments, some of which are clearly weapons, such as daggers or short swords.
But perhaps the most exciting discoveries of both iron and bimetallic (iron and
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bronze) objects come from Sarouq al-Hadeed in the desert about 100 kilometres
south of Dubai. Although most of the metal weapons found there were made
of bronze – socketed axes, daggers, dirks or short swords and long, slender,
rapier-like swords – a number of iron sword blade fragments as well as several
unusual bimetallic weapons with an elaborate bronze hilt and an iron blade.
Clear evidence of bronze and iron-working were found at Sarouq al-Hadeed,
although this is far from the ore sources in the mountains.
Stamp seals represent yet another category of material found on sites of Iron
Age date. We have already discussed the faience cylinder seal from Tell Abraq,
noting that it was almost certainly imported from southwestern Iran. Iron Age
settlements in the UAE, including Rumeilah, Tell Abraq, Sarouq al-Hadeed
and Qarn Bint Saud, have yielded a small number of stamp seals. hese are
usually pyramidal or conoid in shape, generally with a perforation near the
top. he carving on these seals is generally simple. Some depict animals, such
as camels or gazelle, while others have a geometric or loral pattern, and still
above: Tombs were constructed others show stick igure humans. Unlike cylinder seals, which were rolled on
a wet surface, stamp seals were simply pressed down in much the same way
in many diferent shapes and
as seals in government oices are still used today. Seals might also be worn as
sizes during the Iron Age.
amulets. To date, no sealings of Iron Age date have been found in the UAE, but
right: Iron Age occupation in the this is not surprising since sealings are oten very fragile, particularly when
mountains may have resembled this made of clay, and easily destroyed. Still, there is no proof yet that the Iron
Age (or Bronze Age) seals of the UAE were actually employed to control the
house, abandoned sometime during
circulation of goods, either by sealing the goods themselves, or by sealing clay
the twentieth century.
placed around the lock or handle of a storeroom door.
Iron Age tombs have been excavated in many diferent parts of the UAE, at
Qarn Bint Saud near Al Ain; Al Qusais in Dubai; Ghalilah in northern Ra’s
al-Khaimah; Qidfa in Fujairah; and Fashgha and Rafaq in southern Ra’s al-
Khaimah, just to name some of the most prominent sites. hese tombs are
located in some very diverse environments, from wadi terraces to coastal sabkha,
a point relected in the diversity of their size and shape. he graves at Al Qusais,
for example, consist of pits dug directly into the sabkha and covered with
slabs of beach rock (farush). At Fashgha, Naslah and Qidfa, on the other hand,
graves were semi-subterranean – clearly reminiscent of some of the Wadi Suq-
era graves previsouly discussed – and horseshoe-shaped. he grave chamber
itself was lined with unworked stones and spanned by lat stone slabs. A twin-
chambered, above-ground tomb was excavated at Ghalilah by Peter Donaldson
and many of the tombs at Asimah and Kalba, of Iron Age date, have similar
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6 > T h e IroN Age
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shapes. Finally, it is also important to note that many older tombs, particularly
of the Wadi Suq period, were reused in the Iron Age and therefore constitute
yet another category of Iron Age burial.
Generally speaking, the quality and quantity of the human skeletal remains
from Iron Age tombs in the UAE is poor, largely because of disturbance and
grave-robbing in the past. Nevertheless, it is clear that Iron Age burial practices
continued the tradition of collective burial stretching all the way back to the
Hait period. he tombs at Fashgha 1 and Naslah, for example, held a minimum
of ity and twenty to thirty individuals, respectively. Judging by the preserved
teeth and mandibles, all were adults. his situation, however, is clearly not a
cross-section of the population. Where were the children? Were they buried
separately from adults for the irst and perhaps only time in the UAE’s history?
he small quantity of teeth recovered in Iron Age tombs in the UAE makes it
hazardous to draw too many conclusions, but several points stand out. At both
Naslah and Fashgha 1, for example, wear on the canines was prominent, but
caries (cavities) were recorded on only 2.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent of the teeth
recovered in excavation. his might suggest that sugar, probably from dates,
was not consumed in large quantities. Equally, it is possible that the efects of
sugar were counteracted by other constituents of the ancient diet, such as grit
in the bread, that caused enough wear to efectively clean the teeth and keep
them relatively cavity-free. Enamel hypoplasias were found on 7.6 per cent of
the teeth from Naslah, relecting the incidence of infection in childhood.
When it comes to direct evidence of diet, we have very little. Carbonised date
Shell disks with rosette decoration stones at Muweilah and Tell Abraq conirm that the date palm, which had been
from the Wadi Suq tomb at utilised since the prehistoric era, continued to be important, while wheat and
barley impressions in mudbrick at Tell Abraq attest to the cultivation of these
Sharm, Fujairah.
two important cereals in the vicinity as well. Many of the grinding stones found
in Iron Age settlements were undoubtedly used to process grains. Interestingly,
however, no evidence of cereal cultivation has been found at Muweilah, although
large numbers of grinding stones were present. Given the sandy environment of
the site, it is certainly possible that the cereals consumed there were imported
from Tell Abraq or a site in the interior.
One agricultural tool of Iron Age date deserves mention. A socketed bronze hoe-
blade from Rumeilah is a clear indication of hand-tilling. he Mesopotamian
cuneiform literature contains an interesting ‘disputation’ of an ard (plough)
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6 > Th e IroN Age
and a hoe, each of which extols its virtues. Small plots unsuited to the use of
draught animals (oxen or donkeys) pulling ploughs or ards (a type of plough
common in the Near East that does not plough deeply, but merely scratches
the surface), may nonetheless be tilled by using a hoe. his is particularly true
of the small plots cultivated in the shade of a date palm oasis. he Rumeilah
hoe-blade is the irst of its kind to be found in the UAE, but a similar piece is
known from an early second millennium BC context at Saar, on Bahrain and
a slightly later example was found at haj, in northeastern Saudi Arabia.
he continued contribution of ish and shellish to the diet of the population

living along the coasts of the UAE during the Iron Age is clear. he favoured
shellish at Muweilah, and along the coast of Ra’s al-Khaimah, were Terebralia
palustris and Marcia lammea. Terebralia is an inhabitant of mangrove forests.
Such forests were undoubtedly more common along the coast in antiquity than
the relict populations seen today near Ra’s al-Khaimah, Umm al-Qaiwain and
Kalba would suggest.
Even though Tell Abraq and Muweilah are only about 30 kilometres apart, there
are still signiicant diferences in the types of ish consumed. In the eastern
UAE, the sites of Rafaq 2, in the Wadi al-Qawr (southern Ra’s al-Khaimah),
Kalba, and Husn Awhala provide evidence of a ish diet as well. Rafaq 2 yielded
remains of a wide variety of ish, albeit in small numbers. hese included sharks,
sawish, rays, groupers, queenish, snapper, emperor, seabream and tuna and/
or mackerel. At Kalba the faunal assemblage was similar and the majority of
ish remains came from Iron I and II contexts. Jacks, trevallies and tuna or
mackerel were the most common species. Interestingly, medium to large ish
prevailed, more than 50 per cent of them in the 50–70-centimetres-long range,
with tuna and little eastern tuna in the 60–90 centimetres range. he types of
ish represented at Kalba included both pelagic (e.g. tuna, mackerel, large jacks)
and reef or inshore varieties.
Crabs too were eaten at Kalba and Rafaq. hese were mainly types found in
mangrove areas (e.g. Scylla serrata). Interestingly, these can weigh in excess
of 2 kilograms. Nowadays, the protected mangrove at Khor Kalba is the only
mangrove forest on the east coast of the UAE. Small numbers of the blue
swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) were also eaten. his pattern is exactly
Crabs contributed to the diet
the reverse of the situation in the UAE today. Whereas mangrove crabs are
only rarely seen in the ish markets of the UAE today, blue swimming crabs of the Iron Age inhabitants
are the main crab found these days. his may relect the fact that mangrove of Kalba and Rafaq.
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crabs are diicult to come by, given that the Kalba mangrove, for example, is
a protected area.
As for the animal side of the economy, hunting decreased greatly in importance
during the Iron Age, although small numbers of gazelle and Arabian oryx were
recorded in the Iron Age levels at Tell Abraq, and marine mammals, like dugong,
as well as sea turtles and Socotra cormorants, were also consumed. Sheep and
goat were probably more important than cattle, but all three contributed to the
Iron Age diet, from Rafaq in the east to Tell Abraq and Muweilah in the west.
he herders at Muweilah do not seem to have raised the large type of sheep
attested at Tell Abraq. he biggest innovation in animal husbandry, however,
was undoubtedly the domestication of the camel. his is clearly seen in Iron
II times when size diferences, when compared with the wild species of the
Bronze Age, are apparent. Cattle were still more numerous than camel, but this
is probably because cattle continued to be used for milk and meat. Muweilah
he mangrove forests of Kalba
shows more evidence of camel than any other Iron Age site, but this undoubtedly
were an important resource at relects the fact that the animals were used irstly as pack animals, and only
all times in the UAE’s past. secondarily as a source of protein.
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6 > T h e IroN Age
his is the time when long-distance caravan trade began to be important, and
caravans plied a number of routes linking South Arabia – the main source of
frankincense and myrrh in the ancient Near East – and the northern lands of
Assyria, Babylonia and the Levant. he importance of the camel at this time
explains the appearance at Muweilah of a striking igurine (see page 88) showing
a camel with a lat-topped saddle, as well as an elaborate lid with a broken animal
handle that may also represent a camel. he connection with South Arabia
is further reinforced at Muweilah by the discovery of a typical, Iron II-type
storage jar with three South Arabian letters inscribed on the shoulder – bml.
his is a personal name that can be compared with Bamael in the First Book
of Chronicles (Ch. 7, verse 33) in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old
Testament), or Hebrew Bimhal.
he latest phase of the Iron Age – Iron III – is denoted archaeologically by some
speciic ceramic types, such as carinated bowls, with clear parallels to assemblages
in other parts of the Near East. It is usually equated chronologically with the
Achaemenid period in Iran, roughly 530–330 BC. Beyond the chronological
signiicance of such a comparison, though, the question arises, does any
archaeological evidence found in the UAE suggest that the Achaemenid Persians he camel’s contribution to
ever controlled this part of Arabia? he answer is decidedly no. Yet, in a wider Arabian civilisation can scarcely
sense, the UAE and Oman comprised parts of what was known as Maka – the
be overestimated.
Old Persian form of the older Akkadian name Magan – and there are good,
historical, if not archaeological, grounds for suggesting that Maka was certainly
part of the Achaemenid empire.
Maka and its peoples, the Mačiya, appear in several lists of Persian provinces.
In his great inscription at Bisotun (§6), Darius the Great (521–486 BC) listed
the Mačiya as the twenty-third people subject to his authority. hey also
appear in twenty-third position in a list from Susa (DSaa) and in twenty-sixth
position in a list from Persepolis (DPe §2), both of which are royal inscriptions of
Darius. In a text from the reign of Darius’ son, Xerxes I (485–465 BC), found at
Persepolis (XPh §3), the Mačiya appear in nineteenth place in a list of of twenty
subject peoples. he Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus, on the other
hand, mentions the Mycians as part of the fourteenth satrapy (Histories Book
3, §93), along with the inhabitants of the islands of the Erythraean Sea, and A sotstone pendant from Tell
various peoples on the Iranian mainland, including the Sagartians, Sarangians,
Abraq of Iron Age date shows
hamaneans and Utians. Herodotus also says that Mycians were included in one
of the contingents that fought with Xerxes in the battle of Doriscus (Histories what appears to be a boat with
Book 7, §80) during the Persian Wars. triangular, lateen-type sail.
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‘16 (BAR of) lour, supplied by Interestingly, Mačiya depicted on the tomb reliefs of Darius the Great appear as
Karma, Mitranka received, and men wearing short, skirt-like ‘kilts’, with a short sword attached to a strap slung
gave (it) to Arabians. 62 gentlemen over one shoulder. Elsewhere in the ancient world we would normally expect
(received each 1 QA), 100 servants to ind swords worn at the waist, oten hanging from a belt, so it is intriguing
(received each 1 QA). He carried a to see this very particular way of carrying a sword by the Mačiya. Even though
sealed document of Parnaka. hey
the depictions of Mačiya on the tomb reliefs of Darius are somewhat stylised,
went forth from Susa (to) Makkaš.
the sword shown is typologically similar to the Iron Age short swords found
Second (Elamite) month, 22nd year’.
in tombs at Qattarah and Al Qusais and more recently at Sarouq al-Hadeed.
Mačiya are also depicted on the later tomb reliefs of Darius II (424–405 BC) and
Text PFa 17, from Persepolis, published in
Artaxerxes II (405–359 BC) or III (359–338 BC) where they hold up the king’s
Hallock, R.T. ‘Selected fortiication texts’.
throne along with representatives of all of the other provinces of the empire.
Cahiers de la Délégation Archéologique
Française en Iran 8: 1978: 122. BAR was
a standard unit of dry measurement, and here is also some interesting evidence of travel between Maka and the
consisted of 10 QA. 1 QA = c.1 quart. Achaemenid capital Persepolis. Amongst more than 20,000 economic texts
written in Elamite that were found in the 1930s during excavations at Persepolis,
a small number concerns travel rations disbursed to oicials for travel to Makkaš,
the Elamite version of Old Persian Maka (see text box let). hese refer to at
least two satraps of Makkaš, named Irdumasda and Zamašba, both of which
are linguistically Iranian names. Each of these oicials, on visits to Darius,
received rations of wine. Other texts mention a group of sixty men under an
overseer who went to Makkaš. One text refers to a group of Arabians (Elamite
harbabe, Old Persian arabaya) who travelled, in company with servants, from
Susa (in Khuzestan, Iran’s southwesternmost province) to Makkaš. Finally,
one text refers to lour given to an oicial at Makkaš with the title karamaraš,
roughly translatable as ‘registrar’.
Of course, we have no real idea where a Persian satrap of Maka may have lived
– whether in territory today falling within the UAE or Oman – but the lack of
obvious ‘Achaemenid’ material remains in the region is no barrier to accepting
the reality of its political incorporation into the Persian empire. All over the
empire, from Central Asia to the Mediterranean, it has proven to be the case
that local cultures under Achaemenid rule seem to have preserved their own
culture – pottery, weaponry, and all the other material accoutrements of life –
while true ‘Achaemenid’ culture was limited in its difusion. he Achaemenids
were interested in tax revenue, not in imposing their religion or artistic styles on
their subject peoples. his helps to explain why a region like the UAE may well
have formed part of the satrapy of Maka, without seeming to show any of the
outward signs of Persian style or taste in the material remains of the late Iron
Age. Ethnic Persians, like the satraps of Makkaš – Irdumasda and Zamašba –
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6 > T h e IroN Age
may well have lived in the UAE or Oman, along with small contingents of troops
and perhaps merchants, cratsmen and even settlers who established farms, but
to date we have no archaeological evidence that we can link to such numerically
small, foreign elements in the Iron Age society of the UAE.
Finally, some anthropologists in the past have questioned whether the Iron Age
population in the UAE was native to the region or not. In looking at skeletal
remains from the UAE and Oman, some have been struck by the diference
between robust and gracile types, even going so far as to suggest that in the
Iron Age a gracile ‘Mediterranean’ type replaced the more robust, indigenous
population of the prehistoric era and the Bronze Age. Could this have come
about as a result of Maka’s incorporation into the Persian Empire? his would
be a rash conclusion and indeed the whole issue of robust versus gracile physical
types is an over-simpliication of some very complex biological data. Sites like
Al Sufouh and Tell Abraq show us enough evidence of population variation to
suggest that a wholesale replacement of one population by another is an unlikely
scenario. he likelihood of such a process happening is also made slight by the
evidence of continuity in burial practices, in the metal industry, in stone vessel
manufacture and in pottery production, all of which suggest that population
replacement at the beginning of the Iron Age is not a viable explanation for the
variation in skeletal types observed. he complexity of dealing with issues such
as this, where cultural as well as biological information must be carefully sited,
should warn us all against grasping easy solutions to what are undoubtedly
very complicated problems.
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I N The L AND o F T h e eMIr AT es ch APT er 7> 'ABI'e L' AND T h e P oL IT Ies o F Th e L AT e Pre - Is L AM Ic e r A
chapter 7
‘abi’el’ and the

polities of the late pre-Islamic era
By the fourth century BC the wide distribution of Iron Age sites in the
UAE and Oman had shrunk dramatically for reasons that are entirely
unclear. Whether there was a local environmental reason we simply do
not know. Globally, the later fourth century witnessed two interrelated
phenomena that impacted upon the entire area from Macedonia to
the Indus Valley. hese were the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire
and the conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedon.
Alexander’s defeat of the last Achaemenid king, Darius III, in late

September, 331 BC, at Gaugamela in northern Iraq, was the beginning
of the end for an empire that had held sway over much of Western above: Gravel plain with Jebel
and Central Asia for two centuries. Maka ceased to be a satrapy of Buhais in the background.
the Persian empire, and became once again free of foreign control,
let: he importance of the
opening the way for the rise of local polities. Remarkably, we have
very few sites at all that date to the last few centuries BC. Of these, horse in late pre-Islamic times
Mleiha in the interior of Sharjah is unquestionably the most important. is nowhere better illustrated
than at Mleiha. he horse enabled
Excavated by a French expedition that began in 1986, Mleiha is
rapid travel and communication
a sprawling site located about 20 kilometres south of Dhaid, that
measures approximately 2.5 kilometres (east–west) x 2 kilometres across the UAE.
(north–south). It is located in much the same environment – a gravel
plain with aeolian (wind-borne) sand deposits – dotted with jebels
(rock outcrops), as the earlier Iron Age site of Al huqaibah, and is
not far from the Iron Age, Bronze Age and prehistoric sites clustered
around the base of Jebel Buhais. An analysis of charcoal fragments
from Mleiha shows that the environment 2000 years ago probably
looked much as it does today. Prosopis (Prosopis spicigera, Arabic
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Maritime trade expanded greatly ghaf), various types of Acacia, Christ’s thorn (Ziziphus spina cristi) and tamarisk
(Tamarix sp.) dotted the landscape. Gazelle, Arabian oryx, ostrich and jackal
throughout the western Indian
roamed wild.
Ocean during the last century BC
and the irst few centuries AD. he Mleiha region has proven groundwater sources, essential in an area that
generally receives less than 100 millimetres of rainfall per year. Nowadays, the
Dhaid, Al Madam and Fili plains, as well as the more northerly oasis of Falaj
al-Mu’alla, are all agriculturally productive and it is highly probable that this
was the case in antiquity as well. Indeed, Mleiha’s principal source of wealth was
probably agriculture, for although there are other accessible resources in the
area, including copper and iron in the nearby mountains, there is no indication
at the site that these were exploited for more than local requirements. Botanical
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7> 'ABI'e L' AND T h e P o L IT Ies oF Th e L AT e Pre - Is L AM Ic e r A
remains from burnt layers at Mleiha reveal evidence of the cultivation of wheat,
barley and dates. he fruit of the Christ’s thorn tree (Ziziphus spina cristi) was
also recovered. In addition to being used to make a kind of shampoo, these
‘jujubes’ are an ingredient in a traditional type of fruit bread eaten in the past.
Camel, donkey, cattle and sheep and goat were all kept at the site, but perhaps
the most surprising discovery at this inland site was the evidence that a great
variety of ish were eaten there. Of these, tuna was by far the most dominant,
with smaller amounts of sea bream, jacks or trevallies, mullet and shark. A
wide variety of shellish, just as great as that found at sites along the coasts of
the UAE, was also found at Mleiha.
he French excavators at Mleiha have identiied ive periods of occupation he tree locally called ghaf
as follows:
(Prosopis cineraria) is a valuable
source of fodder for animals and
Period I Very slight evidence of Iron Age occupation
wood for construction.
Period II hird to early second century BC
Period IIIA Late second to irst century BC
Period IIIB First to second century AD
Period IV hird to fourth century AD
Despite the fact that a small number of Iron Age sherds have been found
at Mleiha, no actual levels of Iron Age occupation have been found where
excavations have been taken down to sterile soil. Nevertheless, if we look at the
pottery from Mleiha, the coarse wares, particularly the large storage jars with
raised, lattened bands around them, are clearly a continuation of a unique style
developed during the Iron Age that carries on into the irst century AD at both
Mleiha and ed-Dur, on the coast of Umm al-Qaiwain. his suggests a signiicant
measure of continuity in the basic population of the region. On the other hand,
it would be wrong to infer that Mleiha represents a straightforward case of
evolution from the Iron Age. here is an important diference in burial patterns,
as discussed below, and new foreign orientations suggested by a wide range of
imported goods. It is possible, therefore, that we have a situation in which an
essentially local community, practicing traditions (such as pottery manufacture)
as their ancestors had done for centuries before them, came to be ruled by a
new elite originating in another area, or by a local elite emulating displays of
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power and prestige by foreign rulers. As we examine the archaeological evidence

from Mleiha, it will be clear that there are many points of comparison with
other regions, and a plethora of evidence for long-distance contacts during
the last centuries BC.
For our purposes, it is more logical to consider Periods II and IIIA together;
followed by Period IIIB and the evidence from ed-Dur; and inally Period IV,
which compares with the material from Area F at ed-Dur and Kush, in Ra’s
al-Khaimah. In doing so, we shall examine the archaeological evidence from
the UAE against the wider backdrop of the Seleucid-Hellenistic, Parthian and
early Sasanian periods in the greater Near East. he signiicance of this will
become clear as we discuss each period.
Periods II and IIIA

Period II at Mleiha has yielded evidence of ashy layers in a sandy matrix, clear
signs of human occupation, as well as monumental graves, but no signs of
ordinary houses. A large cemetery (cemetery C) with dozens of graves rings the
southern and eastern parts of the site. hese graves, however, difer markedly
from those of the Bronze or Iron Ages. For a start, they are not collective, but
individual. hey comprise a chamber, about 1 metre deep, dug through the
gravel into the white marl below. Ater interring an individual and the associated
grave goods, the chamber was sealed and a massive mudbrick tower, between
2 and 4.25 metres on a side, and estimated to have stood up to 3.5 metres high,
was erected. Stepped merlons (like the stepped elements on the top of the walls
of a castle) of baked brick decorated the upper surface of the tower. Intriguingly,
these ind close parallels in both Assyrian and Achaemenid architecture, and
Stepped merlons of baked brick
similar shapes, cut into a natural stone clif, featured prominently in Nabataean
adorned the summit of the
tomb façades in northwestern Arabia (e.g. at Petra in Jordan and Madain Salih
Mleiha funerary towers. in Saudi Arabia).
As previous chapters have clearly illustrated, many diferent tomb types were
current in the UAE between the prehistoric era and the Iron Age. hose of
Mleiha, however, mark a real departure from everything that preceded them
in this part of Arabia, and the concept of building a mudbrick tower above an
individual grave is completely unknown earlier in the UAE. So-called tower-
tombs, however, are known elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula, northern Syria
and the Levant. Some of the most famous examples occur at Palmyra and other
sites in the Syrian desert, but they are also found in the ‘heart of Arabia’ as well,
most notably at Qaryat al-Faw in southern Saudi Arabia.
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Interestingly, a funerary inscription on a stone stele that was found on the

surface of Mleiha around 1970, reads nafs wa qabr Dhariyyat fata l’muluk, ‘nafs
and grave of Dhariyyat, servant of the kings’. Although the Mleiha inscription is
written in South Arabian letters, the term ‘nafs’ is a cognate of Aramaic nefesh,
a word that can designate any type of funerary monument from a simple stone
marker to a large building. It is very possible, then, that the word nafs, as used
here, refers to the Mleiha tomb towers, while the grave beneath was the qabr, a
common Semitic word for grave in many languages (e.g. Akkadian, Ugaritic,
Phoenician, Old South Arabian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, Geez, Soqotri, A funerary inscription in South
Harari and Tigré).
Arabian script from Mleiha.
he Mleiha inscription, although found on the surface of the site, probably stood
inside one of the Mleiha tombs. Good parallels for such placement can be found
at haj, in northeastern Saudi Arabia, and Uruk, in southern Iraq, where tomb
inscriptions in the North Arabian dialect, known as Hasaitic (ater Al Hasa, the
traditional name for the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with its centre in
Hofuf) following a similar pattern and with which the Mleiha inscription has
oten been compared, have been found. In the rare cases where these were found
in situ, and not scattered on the surface of a site or built into a modern house
wall, they stood upright at one end of the tomb chamber. his is very diferent
from the situation at Palmyra, where inscriptions identifying the occupant of
a tomb and/or its builder were placed outside the tomb monument so that they
could be read by the literate public. An inscription such as the Mleiha one was
never meant for public display, but rather for inclusion within the chamber
containing the corpse of the deceased person commemorated in the text.
A second stele with an inscription in South Arabian letters found at Mleiha

appears to be somewhat younger, perhaps by a century. It comes from the
tomb of ‘Ubayda, son of Aws, whose tomb was built by Ghudana, daughter of
Shamatkutba, daughter of ‘Ashaq’aws (?). he name Shamatkutba in this text is
particularly interesting. It contains the name of the god Kutba/Aktab attested
in Nabataean (from Petra, Jordan) and Lihyanite (from Al ‘Ula, Saudi Arabia)
inscriptions, right at the opposite end of the Arabian Peninsula.
he absence of any apparent signs of a local origin for the Mleiha-type tower
tomb has led to speculation that not only the tomb form, but much of the Mleiha
population was foreign to southeastern Arabia. Even if this is plausible, it is
hazardous to speculate too much on where such a new population or ruling elite
may have originated. Obviously, the distances involved – whether we consider
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Qaryat al-Faw, the Hijaz or Syria as potential sources – are considerable. Still,
the movement of tribes is well-documented in Arabic literature and it is not
impossible that an element from outside of southeastern Arabia moved into
the area at the end of the Iron Age. It could well be that such a group illed the
power void let by the collapse of Persian satrapal administration in Maka, and
began to assert its authority and dominance over the local population. On the
other hand, the emulation of foreign burial traditions by local elites is also a
possibility, although this presupposes that they actually saw monuments like
the tower tombs at Qaryat al-Faw or Palmyra. Both scenarios are possible, given
that the use of the domesticated camel in caravan-style travel had, by this point,
created a network of routes that crossed the Arabian Peninsula. Unfortunately,
all of the monumental graves at Mleiha were robbed in the past, and no skeletal
remains were preserved on which DNA analysis might be done to help determine
whether some or all of the population at Mleiha originated from outside the area.
Whatever their origins may have been, the monumental tombs of period II at
Mleiha certainly suggest the existence of social diferences in the population and
the reference in one of the inscriptions to a king, if not to the king’s tomb itself,
is signiicant. Who was this king? A possible answer to this question comes not
from the French excavations at Mleiha, but from the casual exploration of the
site’s surface by a defence contractor with a metal detector about twenty years
ago. At that time, a number of coins were found that were minted by a series
of local monarchs. From their style and their place within the numismatic
history of eastern Arabia, it seems likely that the coins date to the late third
and early second centuries BC, providing us with the irst tangible evidence of
a kingdom centred on Mleiha. Later, as we shall see below, there is architectural
and numismatic evidence for the minting of coins of a more debased variety
at Mleiha, and it is highly probable that Mleiha was the source of most, if not
all, the pre-Islamic coinage minted in the ancient UAE.
Coinage originated in Lydia, in western Asia Minor (western Turkey). he Lydian

king Croesus (560–546 BC), whose wealth was so fabled that the phrase ‘rich
as Croesus’ came to refer to anyone of fabulous wealth, is thought to have been
the irst ancient king to mint coins. From Lydia, the idea of coinage difused
widely, throughout the eastern Mediterranean and eastwards into the Persian
Empire and beyond. he very act of minting was a demonstration of power.
Even in an economy that was only slightly monetised, coinage was a royal or,
at the very least, a provincial governor’s prerogative and although barter may
have been common, coins were nevertheless used to pay armies.
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7> 'ABI'eL' AND T h e Po L IT Ies o F T h e L ATe P re - Is L AM Ic e r A
he coins minted at Mleiha were modelled on the issues of Alexander the Great
and were literally loaded with messages. he obverse is taken up entirely by a
male head, facing right. On the coins of Alexander, this was originally the head
of the Greek hero Heracles (Latin, Hercules), wearing the pelt of the Nemean
lion, a trophy from one of his most famous labours. Gradually, the head of
Heracles was transformed into a portrait of Alexander himself and in place
of the pelt of the Nemean lion, Alexander was shown wearing the horns of
the Egyptian ram-god Ammon, from whom he claimed descent. he reverse
image on many of Alexander’s coins shows the god Zeus, seated on a throne,
his right arm outstretched and supporting an eagle on his hand, his let arm
curled around a staf or sceptre. Written vertically in the ield to Zeus’ right,
in Greek letters, was the name ‘Alexander’.
Silver tetradrachm from Mleiha.
Even in antiquity, Alexander was regarded as an heroic igure. he seal of the
Roman emperor Augustus was decorated with Alexander’s portrait, and because
the silver coinage issued in the name of Alexander was of such a high grade and
the weight of his coins was so carefully controlled, their value was high. Hence,
many monarchs in antiquity modelled their coins on those of the Macedonian
conqueror. he earliest coins struck at Mleiha resemble those of Alexander in
many respects and clearly show the horn of Ammon. What is striking, however,
is that on the reverse the name of Alexander, in Greek letters, has been replaced
by an Aramaic legend with variants ’by’l brt xxx, or ‘Abi’el, daughter of X’.
he name Abi’el means ‘(my) father is God’. In a brilliant study of these coin
legends, Michael Macdonald has shown that there are probably four diferent
patronymics or matronymics (names of fathers or mothers) attested in these
legends: Abi’el, daughter of Nashil; Abi’el, daughter of Ma‘shamash; Abi’el,
daughter of Labash/Labish; and Abi’el, daughter of Baglan. It is impossible
Copper-silver alloy tetradrachm
to say whether Abi’el was used as a true personal name by multiple rulers –
akin to repeated names like William I, William II, William III and William
from Mleiha.
IV – or whether it was a dynastic name like Arsaces, the oicial name taken
by many diferent Parthian rulers. Female rulers were not the norm in the
Achaemenid empire, the South Arabian kingdoms or in Mesopotamia, but we
should remember that the tribes of north Arabia against whom the Assyrians
campaigned had a number of queens (in Akkadian sharrat Aribi, ‘queen of
the Arabs’), including Zabibê, Samsi, Iati’e, Te’elhunu, Tabu’a and Adiya, all
of whom put up vigorous resistance against Assyrian hegemony.
A variety of coins, including silver and silver billon (debased, oten with lead
or copper) tetradrachms ranging around 14–15 grams, drachms of about
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4 grams, and obols (originally a sixteenth of a drachm) between .29 and .93 grams,
have been found. Typically the smaller denominations lacked the necessary
room to include the entire name of Abi’el, which was oten reduced to one or two
signs. In some cases, a stylised palm tree appears in front of ‘Zeus’s’ bent knees.
hese coins raise a whole series of questions. As the rulers were all female,
the obverse portrait certainly could not have been meant as a representation
of the queens who minted these coins. It seems far more likely that, as the
Alexander coinage was so highly reputed throughout the ancient world, the
model was adopted for its symbolic ‘brand’ value. Was the seated ‘Zeus’ on
the reverse meant to be understood by the local Arabian population as an
Arabian deity? Over how many years were the various diferent issues that are
attested in circulation? It is clear from a study of the numismatic evidence in
the neighbouring regions that the Abi’el coinage did not circulate very widely.
A few examples are known from sites in northeastern Arabia, like haj and
Jebel Kenzan; two were found in 1934 at Susa in southwestern Iran; and 77
appeared in a hoard discovered on Bahrain by the Danish expedition in 1970.
Finds such as these once prompted scholars to look for the seat of the Abi’el
dynasty in northeastern Arabia, but the evidence from Mleiha, of later derivative
issues with the name Abi’el, and of evidence for coin manufacture, makes it
virtually certain that the dynasty of the Abi’els ruled in southeastern, not
northeastern Arabia. Interestingly, several South Arabian coins have been
found on the surface of Mleiha, and at least some of these are older than the
issues of Alexander. Yet, while they attest to the existence of links with South
Arabia, these coins clearly did not have the impact of Alexander’s coinage, for
nothing suggests that exposure to them prompted the local Abi’els to begin
minting their own coins. Rather, the inspiration for that came most deinitely
from Alexander the Great’s issues.
As for the use of Aramaic on these coins, there are many possible explanations.
Aramaic was already a lingua franca, used for international correspondence,
if not the spoken vernacular, during the Achaemenid Persian period. hus, a
knowledge of Aramaic could well have been acquired by some members of
society in the ancient UAE during the late Iron Age, when contact with the
provincial administrators of Maka is likely to have occurred. In the period
ater Alexander’s conquests, moreover, the use of Aramaic increased steadily.
It came to be more and more common in Mesopotamia, Iran, Pakistan, India
and, of course, further west in the Levant. he use of Aramaic on the Abi’el
coinage does not necessarily mean that the population of the area spoke
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Aramaic, although there is evidence of a slow, but steady, increase in the number
of Aramaic inscriptions found in Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia and the UAE
during the last centuries BC and irst centuries AD, suggesting that more and
more members of the population may have been Aramaic speakers. But the
situation is extremely complicated, as there are also general similarities between
the Aramaic signs on coinage at Mleiha and the written or engraved Aramaic
known in southern Mesopotamia (Mesene), northern Mesopotamia (Hatra)
and Elam (Elymais), in the early centuries AD. On the other hand, the grave
stelae from Mleiha share certain patterns of phraseology with Nabataean tomb
inscriptions, and a potential link with the Hijaz, where the Nabataeans used
the Aramaic script as well, cannot be entirely ruled out.
One inal inscription in Aramaic that should also be mentioned was engraved
on a small plaque of sheet bronze, measuring 8 x 5.1 centimetres, and consists of
nine lines of hammered Aramaic (each letter is made up of a series of hammered,
generally adjacent dots). Although the piece is said to have been found at Mleiha,
Inscription in Aramaic engraved
it was in fact purchased at the antiquities market and therefore its indspot
cannot be conirmed. Although the readings of the text by two eminent Semitists, on a bronze plaque thought
Javier Teixidor and Émile Puech, difer in some respects, they both agree on the to be from Mleiha.
presence of the personal name Wahaballat, a well-known name in Nabataean
and Palmyrene inscriptions.
he very fact that a number of diferent queens minted coins makes it very likely
that they were part of a dynasty centred in Mleiha. Whether this was more than
just a small sheikhadom we cannot say, but in keeping with what we know of
coinage elsewhere in the ancient world, the authority to issue coinage implies
rule over some sort of political entity.
It is tempting to link the Mleiha Abi’els, and indeed the site itself, with the
opening up of entirely new routes of transport and trade that beneited
southeastern Arabia in this period. We have already discussed the importance
of the domestication of the camel in the context of linkages between South
Arabia and the UAE during the Iron Age, as well as the presence at Mleiha
of two funerary inscriptions in Old South Arabian script. More evidence for
the use of the South Arabian writing system at Mleiha can be found as well.
A bronze bowl fragment bears the name Marashams in South Arabian letters
Bronze bowl fragment from Mleiha,
above a scene that shows, to the let, a bareheaded man wielding a shield in
front of a lion, facing let, the tail of which is being raised in the right hand bearing the name Marashams in
of a second man wielding a dagger or sword. Behind this igure is the head South Arabian letters.
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of a horse. Judging by the style and subject matter of this piece, it is probably
of local manufacture. Moreover, another bronze bowl fragment from Mleiha
shows a mounted horseman throwing a spear and a mounted rider on a camel,
apparently engaging an enemy in battle (the arm and shield is just visible on the
lethand side of the piece). It suggests that a local industry in the production of
such metal vessels existed at Mleiha during the last centuries BC. he discovery
of bronze casting spill fragments in Area CI in association with pottery
characteristic of Period II is a further indication of a local bronzeworking
industry at Mleiha as well.
Mleiha has also yielded a number of small, beehive-shaped vessels of alabaster,

Calcite lid from Mleiha
topped with lids, the handles of which take the form of a lion. hese are almost
with a handle in the form certainly imports from South Arabia (Yemen), where many comparable examples
of a crouching lion. are known from sites like Marib and Tamna‘. Along with steatite or sotstone,
alabaster was prized in antiquity as a material for containing unguents and
perfumes, and it is likely that the small alabaster jars at Mleiha found their way
there because of their contents, not because they themselves were desirable. he
Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), for example, said, ‘Ointments keep
best in boxes of alabaster’ (Natural History, Book XIII. 3).
he presence of South Arabian alabaster vessels and the use of the South Arabian
script on both a funerary inscription and a bronze bowl at Mleiha are interesting
indicators of foreign inluence. he question is, did that inluence originate
in South Arabia itself? here are good grounds for exercising caution in this
regard. South Arabia was not the only region in which the writing system
developed there was used. Like many other scripts, from Latin to Akkadian
and Chinese to English, the South Arabian script spread to other areas, such as
Qaryat al-Faw in southern Saudi Arabia and haj and Al Hinnah in the Eastern
Province of Saudi Arabia. An inscription is even known from Uruk in southern
Iraq. Dozens of funerary inscriptions, following the very same formula used
at Mleiha – beginning nafs wa qabr – before naming the deceased, have been
found at haj and Al Hinnah. Imported, South Arabian alabaster vessels have
been found there as well, and an almost identical piece is known from a tomb
outside of Dhahran.
Other objects can be cited that also link northeastern and southeastern Arabia.
Among these, stamped Rhodian amphora handles and black glazed Greek
pottery are perhaps the most noteworthy. hese objects originated much
further aield, in the eastern Mediterranean or Aegean. At least six handles
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from such vessels, stamped with the maker’s mark and, in some cases, a date,
were recovered at Mleiha, mainly in the monumental tombs. All of these come
from the island of Rhodes, of the coast of Turkey, where wine production was
carefully monitored. hus, for example, on one of the stamped handles from
Mleiha, the name of the maker, Jason (Iasonos), is clearly legible, while another
has both a magistrate’s name and the month of manufacture as well as a stamped
rose, the symbol of Rhodes. Yet another handle found on the surface of Mleiha
has the magistrate’s name, Ariston (Aristonos) and the month of manufacture.
his may be the same Aristonos attested at Rhodes between 182 and 176 BC.
Rhodian amphorae have been carefully studied over the years and a detailed
chronology of makers and eponyms – magistrates involved with dating – has
been established. From this information it is clear that the Mleiha examples
date principally to between 220 and 180 BC.
Imported Roman glass vessels from
Rhodian amphorae were torpedo-shaped, with pointed bottoms for better a tomb at ed-Dur.
stacking in the hulls of transport ships, and two handles, to make them easy
to load and unload. But it is important to note that although they let Rhodes
containing wine, they were valuable enough to have been reused ater their
original contents had been consumed. It is known, for example, that such
amphorae were sometimes reilled with another liquid, such as vegetable
oil. hus, we cannot be certain whether the amphorae that reached Mleiha
contained wine, oil or some other liquid. Moreover, it is important to note
that at Mleiha they were discovered in tombs. Whether they were included
as grave oferings because they were viewed as exotic objects from far away,
or whether they were placed in graves with costly oil inside, we cannot say.
Certainly they must have been highly appreciated. It is diicult to know just
how many Rhodian amphorae may have reached Mleiha, but it is clear that
the handles alone do not relect the volume of traic. Many more body sherds,
picked up on the surface of the site, are thought to be amphora fragments. With
their distinctive colour and texture, these sherds are easily distinguished from
locally produced pottery.
Other signs of contact at this time with the Mediterranean or Aegean include
fragments of Greek, black-glazed pottery – a slightly misleading term that
refers to pottery, mainly produced in and around Athens (the region of Attica),
with a hard, opaque, smooth, glossy black surface over a body of pinkish clay.
In addition, multicoloured glass of milleiori type, possibly from the glass
workshops in Alexandria (Egypt) and likely to date to the irst century BC, has Glazed, Parthian-style ceramic
also been found at Mleiha. amphora from a tomb at ed-Dur.
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To return, then, to the question of South Arabian inluence at Mleiha in the

third and early second centuries BC, while direct contact with South Arabia
is possible, it is equally probable that some of the foreign elements seen at the
site – the South Arabian script, alabaster beehive vessels, Greek black glazed
pottery and Rhodian wine amphorae – arrived there via northeastern Arabia
where the very same elements are also found at precisely this time. A strong
link between northeastern and southeastern Arabia is certainly not surprising,
particularly given the ease of navigation along the eastern seaboard of the
Arabian Peninsula.
he Period IIIA remains at Mleiha contain a series of mudbrick buildings with

glazed pottery (largely absent in Period II) constituting about 10 per cent of the
collection, along with ine, chaf-tempered and coarse wares. Interestingly, no
Greek amphora fragments were found, but some pieces of a distinctive, sandy red
ware, known in northeastern Arabia at many sites, including haj, appeared. his
Oxidised iron arrowheads, is yet another argument in favour of a northeastern–southeastern connection
in eastern Arabia. he Period II tombs and Period IIIA settlement are also
originally in a quiver, from Mleiha.
characterised by the presence of moulded glass and the complete absence of
blown glass, which was not common in the ancient Near East before the irst
centuries AD.
Iron weaponry was also widespread at Mleiha. Blades and swords, as well
as hundreds of arrowheads, have been found. In four fragmentary, badly
oxidised quivers containing between twenty and thirty-ive arrows were found,
conirming that a variety of types were in use simultaneously. he discovery
of relatively small quantities of iron slag, dispersed all over the site, suggests
that iron forges were in operation at Mleiha. One area of possible iron ore
extraction has been found on the northern side of Jebel Buhais, where a deep,
probably man-made trench was identiied by French scholars. Even though
some iron objects were manufactured locally, the arrowheads found at Mleiha
have parallels in central, western and south Asia, making it perfectly possible
that ready-made weapons were imported from abroad as well.
Several other industries were also active at Mleiha, as attested by the recovery
of both inished products and waste fragments. Shell bangles, beads and
pendants, as well as mother-of-pearl inlays, demonstrate the existence of
shell workshops. Boneworking was also conducted at the site. Beads, bangles,
plaques, points and spatulas were all manufactured, mainly from the long
bones of cattle. A sotstone industry is attested as well. In contrast to vessels
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known from the earlier periods in the UAE, most of the Mleiha pieces were
open bowls made on a lathe. Pendants, beads, possibly spindle whorls and
lat stamp seals were also recovered.
Finally, many lumps of bitumen were found at Mleiha. his was probably used
for repairing or joining things (broken pottery and metal or wooden objects).
Although none of these have been studied, it is interesting that analyses of
bitumen samples from ed-Dur in Umm al-Qaiwain by Jacques Connan show
that they originated from bitumen seeps in northern Iraq, Luristan, Khuzestan
and possibly Fars (Iran). Woods used at Mleiha included ash (Fraxinus sp.) and
plane (Platanus orientalis), neither of which is native to the Oman Peninsula.
On the surface of ed-Dur, close to the highway on the coast of Umm al-Qaiwain,
several foreign coins have been found that date to this period as well. hese
include a very badly worn tetradrachm of Seleucus II (246–226 BC), one of
the Greek rulers of the Seleucid empire who inherited parts of Alexander the
Great’s eastern conquests (mainly in Syria, Iraq and western Iran); a copper
Ujjain coin from Madhya Pradesh, in India, excavated outside the temple in
Area M, and datable to c.150–75 BC; and a silver obol of Ardashir II, king
of Persis (in modern Fars Province, southwestern Iran), who ruled in the
second half of the irst century BC Although these coins date to the period
of our concern, we cannot be sure that they arrived in the UAE at this time.
Indeed, given the fact that most of the areas investigated at ed-Dur date to
the irst century AD, it is possible that these coins arrived in the UAE long
ater they were minted.
Ed-Dur and Period IIIB at Mleiha

Moving from the last centuries BC into the irst century AD is a bit like leaving
the shadows and coming into the light. Although the number of sites at our
disposal increases only slightly, one of them, ed-Dur in Umm al-Qaiwain, was
excavated for ten years and has yielded a wealth of material, largely contemporary
with Period IIIB at Mleiha. he irst century AD is a period of great interest,
both because of the internal evolution we can see in the UAE at this time and
because of the breadth of the region’s contacts with the wider world. In many
respects it represents one of the most dynamic periods in the region’s history.
Without doubt, the evidence of that dynamism is best preserved at ed-Dur.
Today, ed-Dur occupies an area behind some large dunes, just to the east of the
highway leading to Ra’s al-Khaimah and about 7 kilometres north of the turn-of
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for Umm al-Qaiwain. On the western side of the road is the silted embayment
of Khor al-Yfrah, which was, perhaps, a natural harbour in the past. Ed-Dur is
a sprawling site, over 2 kilometres long (north–south along the highway) and
about 1 kilometre across. Shell middens and scatters of artefacts of all periods
since the Neolithic found along this coastline suggest that the area has always
been inhabited, but it was not until the irst century AD that it witnessed a
substantial concentration of settlement.
Ed-Dur is covered by a light scatter of artefacts, mainly broken fragments of

pottery, bone and stone, with a small mound here and there indicating the
remains of a building. he site was irst investigated by Iraqi archaeologists
in the early 1970s, when the most prominent feature on the site, a roughly
square mound more than 50 metres on a side, was excavated. his turned
out to be the remains of a small fort, with round corner towers and walls at
slightly irregular angles. In 1986, large-scale excavations were begun by a
European expedition involving teams from the University of Gent (Belgium),
the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Edinburgh University (UK) and the
Maison de l’Orient in Lyon (France).
Although relatively simple, the fort at ed-Dur, with its round corner towers,
recalls contemporary forts in the Iranian-dominated Near East. Iran at this
time was ruled by the Parthians, a dynasty that came originally from the area
east of the Caspian Sea – their ancient capital, Nysa, is today in the Republic of
Turkmenistan. But by 141 BC the Parthian king Mithradates I had conquered
Babylonia and a few years later, ater some resistance, established Parthian
rule over all of Iran and Mesopotamia east of the Euphrates, which became the
frontier between the Parthian and Roman worlds. Small Parthian fortiications,
like the one built at Nippur (an ancient Sumerian city in central Iraq), recall the
far simpler fort at ed-Dur. A tie to the Parthian world is also demonstrated by
the large amount of brightly glazed, Parthian pottery, with a golden/greenish
exterior, that has been found at ed-Dur.
Nevertheless, we should not jump to the conclusion that ed-Dur was founded
by the Parthians. Most of the pottery recovered at the site appears to be of
local manufacture and a clear link with the Iron Age and Mleiha ceramics of
the UAE is provided by a heavy black ware, used for massive storage jars, that
right: A view from Area F
has raised, lattened bands running around the body that follow a tradition
at ed-Dur over the shallow stretching back in time to the Iron Age. On the other hand, nothing suggests
Khor al-Yfrah. that glazed pottery of ed-Dur was manufactured locally. Southern Iraq and/
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or southwestern Iran are the likely sources of the large glazed amphorae with
twin handles and rocker-stamp decoration; the hundreds of ‘ish plates’, a type
well known from the Hellenistic and Roman Near East; the ‘pilgrim lasks’; the
skyphoi (or two-handled drinking cups); and the deep bowls with three feet in
the shape of knuckle bones, found at ed-Dur.
Ceramics point to links with other regions as well. A particularly ine, orange
ware, with black painted decoration, known as ‘Namord ware’ ater the site of
Tom-e Namord, in Iranian Baluchistan, has been excavated in a number of areas
at ed-Dur. Other imported wares at ed-Dur include the typical sandy red wares
of northeastern Arabia, so well known from sites like haj and Ayn Jawan; small
amounts of Roman terra sigillata, a ine tableware produced in many parts of
Gold aureus of Tiberius from Roman Europe and the Mediterranean that was exported widely; one fragment
of a Roman wine amphora with the letters LNV incised on the surface; and a
the surface of ed-Dur.
few pieces of Indian red polished ware, attesting to trade contacts with the east.
Numismatic evidence also points to far-lung connections. Surface inspection

before the beginning of excavations at ed-Dur had already uncovered a single
gold coin of the Roman emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD), of the pontif maxim-type
(an abbreviated form of the title pontifex maximus, meaning ‘the greatest
[maximus] of the college of priests [pontiices]’ – the oicial responsible for
the Roman state cult and nowadays a title used by the Pope), weighing 3.83
grams. Roman gold had great currency in the east for international trade, as
witnessed by the thousands of Roman gold coins that have turned up on sites
and in hoards in India.
Another region represented by coins from the surface of ed-Dur is the kingdom
of Characene. Located in southernmost Iraq, this small kingdom arose in the late
second century BC in the wake of the collapse of Greek control in Mesopotamia.
Although the Parthians quickly moved in to ill the power vacuum that had
been created, they were generally tolerant of the small state, whose capital came
to be known as Spasinou Charax ater the founder of the dynasty Aspasine, or
Hyspaosines, as he was known in Greek sources. Aspasine had been a satrap, or
governor, of the province of the Erythraean Sea under the last of the Seleucid
kings – the dynasty that inherited southern Mesopotamia from Alexander the
Great. Although territorially small, the kingdom of Charax was well-connected.
Greek inscriptions found on Bahrain from the time of Aspasine show that
Bahrain came under Characene control. A series of Characene towns functioned
as caravan stations en route to Palmyra in Syria, from which goods moved
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eastwards, out of the Mediterranean economic system, and to which other

commodities moved westward, such as silk and spices coming from China and
south-east Asia, oten via India.
he surface of ed-Dur has yielded six bronze Characene coins. he earliest is

an issue of Attambelos III, from 38/39 AD. his is followed by two coins of
Attambelos IV, from 58/59 AD, and one of Attambelos VI, from 105/106 AD. A
further coin of Attambelos VI, from 104/105 AD, was found by Iraqi archaeologists
during their excavation of the small fort in 1973–74. hese inds make it likely that
Characene inluence extended to the south of Bahrain. It may not have been the
case that ed-Dur was actually brought under the political authority of Charax, but
it may well have been a trading partner, either directly or indirectly, via Bahrain.
Debased local coin of copper-silver
During regular excavations at ed-Dur, the Belgian team also recovered a bronze
alloy from Mleiha.
coin of the Nabataean king Aretas IV (9 BC–40 AD), as well as a badly preserved
coin attributable to Gaza and another from Ascalon (modern Ashkelon, on the
Mediterranean coast).
he numismatic and ceramic evidence from ed-Dur conirm the site’s connections
to the east, north and west. As yet, there is little evidence of contact with the
south, for example with Dhofar or South Arabia. But the site was not simply an
emporium for international trade. As excavations have shown, private houses,
some small and others large, multi-roomed dwellings, are spread over a large
area of the site with graves located almost randomly between them. Ed-Dur
housed a population that almost certainly engaged in other activities besides
trading. he presence of numerous carbonised date stones on the site suggests
that date palm gardening was important, just as it had been since the Bronze
Age in this part of the UAE. But it was probably the sea that provided for
most of the community’s dietary needs. Fish and shellish were abundantly
represented in the excavation. Pelagic species, like tuna, as well as those found
in the inshore lagoons, such as groupers, emperors and mullet, were all eaten.
A large number of ish net sinkers suggests ishing with nets was preferred to
hook-and-line ishing. Shellish were also abundantly represented and many
of the species could have been found very close to ed-Dur. Otherwise, sheep,
goat, small numbers of cattle, camel, dog and horse were all represented in the
collection of animal bones recovered at ed-Dur. Relatively few hunted animals
were found, but Arabian oryx, gazelle and hare were all present in small numbers
and were probably available just a short distance inland from the site, where
the environment becomes very sandy.
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Of the shellish exploited at ed-Dur, the pearl oyster was particularly important.
Both Greek and Latin sources – notably heophrastus, On Stones 36; Strabo,
Geography 16.3.6–7; Isidore of Charax in Athenaeus, he Sophists at Dinner
3.146; and Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 3.57 – discuss pearl diving
in the Erythraean Sea in antiquity. By this time, it was important economically
for the inhabitants of the region, and both socially and culturally the wearing
of pearls was increasingly signiicant. One of the most interesting inds from
the Danish excavations at ed-Dur was in fact a lead, bell-shaped pearl diver’s
weight with an iron loop on top for the attachment of a rope. In shape, it is
above: Net sinkers of stone and exactly like those used in the recent past on the Great Pearl Bank of the coast
pottery were commonly used of Abu Dhabi and around Bahrain. It is likely, therefore, that some of ed-Dur’s
at sites on the coast like ed-Dur. wealth may have derived from the pearl trade.
below: A large pearl oyster

from a tomb at ed-Dur.
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Over the years, many graves were excavated at ed-Dur, particularly by the
Belgian team. Although not everyone was buried in great style – many were
buried in simple pits in the sand and others in small cist-like graves – some
were buried in large, semi-subterranean tombs built of beach rock (farush).
hese consisted of a large, single chamber, sometimes over 3 metres long and
1.5 metres wide, set to a depth of nearly 2 metres below the ground surface,
which was accessed by a staircase leading to a door in one of the short sides of
the tomb. his was roofed with a barrel vault of cut slabs of beach rock. Iron
nails with large, circular, convex heads were frequently found in the tombs, and
probably represent hardware from a wooden door that separated the vestibule
at the base of the staircase from the tomb chamber itself.
In many cases, the main burial chamber in these monumental tombs was paved
with smooth lagstones. In at least one case the loor was made of small, rough
cobble stones, but the entire interior – loor and walls (and ceiling?) – was
covered with grey lime plaster made, presumably, from the abundant shell
supply nearby. Similar tombs have been found at Mleiha in Period IIIB.
Semi-subterranean tombs at
ed-Dur had walls set into the
Although most of the monumental tombs at ed-Dur and Mleiha were robbed in ground and barrel vaults, no
antiquity, some still contained enough skeletal remains to conirm that they held
longer preserved, above ground.
the remains of more than one individual. Unlike the earlier collective tombs of
the UAE from the Bronze and Iron Ages, those of the irst century AD seem more
likely to be family vaults and in that sense not true collective tombs used by the
entire community. Indeed, the large number of tombs at ed-Dur, many of which
were single inhumations, suggests that burials were not collective at all. hus,
where we ind more than one individual in a tomb, it is more likely to represent a
man and a wife, or an individual and his or her family, than a collective group of
people who were not necessarily closely related to each other. One tomb excavated
by the Belgian expedition (AV G 5156) contained the remains of seven subadults
and twenty adults, fairly evenly distributed between males (eleven) and females
(nine) in the twenty cases where the sex could be determined.
hat some people at ed-Dur amassed considerable wealth is clearly relected

in the contents of the monumental tombs there. Much personal jewellery –
bronze torques, bracelets and rings, necklaces made of a wide range of beads of
paste, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, gold, shell and other materials
– was deposited with the dead, along with weaponry – iron swords, knives
and arrowheads and even composite bows. Large quantities of Roman glass Beach rock was used to construct
in many forms, from classic, pillar-moulded bowls and small amphoriskoi to all of the tombs at ed-Dur.
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right: Bi-metallic bronze and
gold spout in the form of a horse
from Mleiha, originally the spout
of a bowl used to mix wine.
below: hese bone or ivory plaques,
found in tombs at ed-Dur and
Dibba, may have decorated
chests or furniture.
vessels shaped like ish and grape clusters, were discovered as well. Small, glazed
igures of Eros, Roman intaglios and the occasional coin also turned up. Locally
produced bone plaques, many with stylised lions, were also found. Originally,
these probably decorated chests or pieces of furniture.
he presence in several tombs of bronze wine sets, comprising cauldrons, dippers

and strainers, suggests that drinking ceremonies like the Greek symposium
may have been part of the funerary rites. he wine sets were oten decorated in
unusual ways. Two wine sets had animal-headed pouring spouts soldered onto
the cauldron – in one case the head and foreparts of a horse, in another a bull’s
head. he handles of the strainer were sometimes cast in the form of a snake,
the head and upper body on one side, the tail on the other. he termination of
the wine ladle usually ended in an animal’s head, and the lat surface of the
ladle’s handle was sometimes engraved with a combination of animals and
geometric designs.
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All in all, the ed-Dur tombs and their Mleiha counterparts give the impression
of substantial wealth. As monuments they must have been striking, standing
above the ground and dotted around each settlement, visible reminders of
wealthy, probably aristocratic, families in the community. he architectural
design of these monumental tombs, however, is completely unrelated to either
the traditions attested in the Bronze and Iron Ages or the tower-tomb tradition
present at Mleiha. Was this monumental tomb type a spontaneous invention
of the population at this time? In fact, this is unlikely, for these monumental
tombs are strikingly reminiscent of similar tombs at Susa and Assur during the
Parthian period. Given the maritime connections between ed-Dur and southern
Iraq – particularly clear in the case of the Characene coins, glazed pottery and A bowl with horse-shaped spout,
the use of Aramaic – it is perhaps not surprising that inspiration for the sort of part of a drinking set found in a
tomb deemed appropriate to a new elite would also ilter through from the north.
tomb at ed-Dur.
Of course this also begs the question: was it just an idea, or did people from
southern Babylonia actually move to the UAE? Do these parallels indicate that
people as well as ideas spread south? We have evidence for Characene oicials
on Bahrain, what about ed-Dur? It is certainly a possibility, and there is no
reason to reject outright the idea of aristocratic families from Mesopotamia
moving south and setting up shop in the UAE. To date, however, it remains
only speculation.
In addition to tombs for the human population at Mleiha and ed-Dur, both sites
have provided important evidence for the ritual burial of horses and camels in the
irst century AD. he evidence from Mleiha is most impressive. In 1993, Sabah
Abboud Jasim of the Sharjah Archaeological Museum excavated iteen tombs
containing camels, two of which also had horse remains. he graves containing
only camels were simple pits in close proximity to monumental graves of the sort
described above, presumably those of the camels’ elite masters. In a few cases, the
camel burials also contained artefacts, such as glazed pilgrim lasks and weaponry.
In one case the camel was buried in the vestibule of a large monumental tomb. In
another, horse and camel were buried together in one chamber of a monumental
tomb with two chambers for its human charges. he horse was buried with an
elaborate caparison (decorative harness), replete with gold discs and bronze rings.
he camels were invariably found in a sitting posture. It is assumed that they
had been made to kneel and then killed, probably by having their throats slit. In
several cases, as in grave 18, the remains of two camels were found.
A ladle for dispensing wine from
One of the most surprising aspects of the camel burials at Mleiha is the presence a drinking set found in a tomb
of both normal dromedaries and much larger individuals that, on the basis at ed-Dur.
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of bone measurements, have been identiied by Hans-Peter Uerpmann, the

archaeozoologist working on this material, as dromedary–Bactrian hybrids.
he idea of crossing one-humped dromedaries with two-humped Bactrians
probably arose in Iran or Central Asia, where both types of camel were found.
hese hybrids, which have a single hump with a divot in the top and shaggy
hair around the neck and head, were extraordinarily strong, capable of carrying
twice the load of a conventional dromedary or Bactrian. In the 1930s, a great
deal of research into camel hybridisation was conducted in those parts of the
former Soviet Union where the two camel types were common, particularly
in Turkmenistan. Historical sources from the seventeenth century onwards
contain many references to hybrids, from Anatolia to Pakistan, praising their let: Gold horse tack from Mleiha.
strength, commenting on their higher price, and extolling their ability to resist above: A Roman oil lamp from
extremes of heat and cold. We cannot say for sure whether the Mleiha hybrids
the temple at ed-Dur.
were imported, for example from Iran, or whether Bactrian mares were brought
in for breeding with local Arabian male dromedaries. Even in Arabia, the
quintessential land of the camel, there seems to have been a desire for a stronger
camel. It is likely, therefore, that these ‘super’ camels were put to work in the long
distance caravan trade with South Arabia, Dhofar, the Hijaz and Mesopotamia.
Apart from several large, multi-roomed houses built of cut, brick-like slabs of
beach rock, by far the most impressive monument at ed-Dur was a building
excavated by the Belgian team. he structure was nearly square, measuring
8 x 8.3 metres on a side, with walls standing to a height of more than 2 metres
and its interior and exterior completely inundated by relatively clean sand. he
walls were plastered with ine, white, gypsum plaster and the exterior surface
was carefully scraped and incised to create the illusion of a façade of marginally
drated and pecked stone masonry. he doorway, facing south, was lanked by
small, square features in which statues may have stood. A pair of unique eagles,
both headless, were found in Area F, several hundred metres away, and might
have served such a function, though this is only speculation. Each statue stands
about 45 centimetres tall and whereas one is quite naturalistic, the other is more
stylised, appearing to wear body armour, and stands on the head of a short-
horned bull. It is tempting to identify these eagles with the pre-Islamic Arabian
deity Nasr, whose symbol was an eagle. he frontal bull’s head is reminiscent of
bulls seen on South Arabian ofering tables and architectural elements.
Stuck into one of the walls on the inside of the square building was a Roman
bronze lamp with a crescent-shaped head, very similar to examples of irst century
date from Pompeii. A large limestone block with a shallow, circular depression in
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‘According to Juba the voyage one side, may be a reused stone taken from an Umm an-Nar-type tomb. Outside
beyond on that side has not been the building were three altars, shaped like truncated pyramids, made of beach
explored, because of the rocks - Juba rock. Stuck inside a niche near the top of one of them was a limestone basin with
omits to mention Batrasavave, the seven lines of Aramaic on one face, and three on the other. here, the name of
town of the Omani, and the town the Arabian solar deity Shams can be read and in all probability, therefore, the
of Omana, which previous writers Area M building is a temple of Shams. It is also interesting to consider Shams
have made out to be a famous port
in light of the seated igure of Zeus on the reverse of the Abi’el coinage, since
of Carmania, and also Homna and
the Greek god Zeus was equated with the Arabian deity Shams in antiquity.
Attana, towns said by our traders to
be now the most frequented ports in
Given the prominence of ed-Dur and the unmistakable signs of contact with
the Persian Gulf ’.
many other parts of the world, from the Mediterranean to India, it is tempting to
try to identify the site with one of the emporia on the Erythraean Sea mentioned
Pliny, Natural History 6.32.149.
in contemporary Greek and Latin sources. We have several relevant texts, the
most detailed of which is a description of the east coast of the Arabia by the
Roman encyclopedist Pliny in his Natural History (Book VI.32). As Pliny himself
explains, he drew on intelligence gathered by Juba the Mauretanian (d. 23 AD).
Completed in 77 AD, Pliny’s Natural History mentions a number of towns,
tribes and prominent physical features (islands, mountains, etc) south of Tylos
(Bahrain) (see text box let).
Since the ed-Dur excavations revealed such a wealth of imported material,

suggesting that the site was a major emporium, the ancient name that many
scholars have identiied it with is Omana. Pliny’s discussion is interesting,
particularly his insistence that ‘previous writers’ had mistakenly placed it on the
Iranian side of the Straits of Hormuz, somewhere along the coast of Carmania,
the ancient name of Kerman province. he confusion over where Omana may
have been situated is also clear in another source from the irst century AD, the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a text written in Greek by an anonymous writer,
probably a ship’s captain, from Alexandria in Egypt. Although the Periplus
concerns principally the traic between Alexandria and India, it notes (§36),
‘Sailing through the mouth of the Gulf ater a six-days’ course there is another
market town of Persia called Ommana.’ Most scholars have assumed that Pliny’s
Omana and the Ommana of the Periplus, are one and the same.
It is, of course, diicult to know whether Pliny was correct or not in his placement
of Omana on the Arabian coast. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the case that
right: he temple of Shams
the Periplus should be read as an indication that Ommana was in Iran. Just
at ed-Dur, with the exterior because it was a ‘market town of Persia’ does not mean it was physically in
altars in the foreground. Iran; it may have been a town under Persian rule. In this case, at least from
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a chronological perspective, being a ‘Persian’ town probably means the town

was under Parthian control, since Parthia was the principal power of the day.
Assuming that Ommana may have lain somewhere along the Arabian coast,
is the distance indicated in the Periplus – a sail of six days – consistent with a
location somewhere in the UAE? Although some scholars have suggested that
Ommana is Dibba, it is diicult to reconcile this with the description of it as
six days’ sail from the ‘mouth of the Gulf’. In fact, although six days may seem
like a long time to sail along the Arabian coast from the Straits of Hormuz – if
this is indeed the ‘mouth of the Gulf’ indicated by the author of the Periplus – it
is interesting to note, by way of comparison, that in 1904 it took eight days for
the German traveller Hans Burchardt to sail from Dubai to Kumzar near the
northernmost point of Ra’s Musandam in a local vessel. Judged on the basis of
distance alone, therefore, ed-Dur is certainly a possible candidate for ancient
Ommana/Omana.
he Periplus, which is concerned almost exclusively with maritime trade between

the Red Sea and India, also mentions ‘a market town designated by law, called
Apologus, situated near Charax Spasini and the River Euphrates’ (§35). In this
regard it is interesting that ed-Dur has yielded a number of Characene coins,
making the link between the two places – Charax and Ommana/ed-Dur (?) – even
more tempting to suggest. he Periplus says that ships from Barygaza, the major
trading port on the coast of Gujarat in India, sailed to both Charax and Ommana,
‘loaded with copper and sandalwood and timbers of teak wood and logs of
blackwood and ebony’. Moreover, frankincense was shipped to Ommana from
Cana (Qani’, on the coast of Hadramawt, in Yemen). In return, both Ommana
and Charax exported pearls, purple, clothing, wine, dates, gold and slaves.
While pearls were certainly available to the south-west of ed-Dur, on the Great
Pearl Bank of the coast of Abu Dhabi, and dates were probably grown locally,
items such as wine, clothing and gold were almost certainly re-exported from
elsewhere. Whether slaves were obtained locally, we do not know.
In the end, there is no conclusive proof as yet that ed-Dur is Ommana/Omana,

but at the moment there is no other site on the UAE coast that has such a
diversity of imported material, consistent with the Periplus’ image of Ommana
as a major market town. If Pliny was wrong in condemning his predecessors,
and the town did lie on the Iranian side of the Straits of Hormuz, then it must
be said that at the moment there is no archaeological evidence yet discovered
anywhere on the southern coast of Iran that matches its description as well as
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ed-Dur does. One might have considered Siraf, on the Iranian coast, but there
is no evidence of occupation there before the later pre-Islamic era.
Outside of Mleiha and ed-Dur, very few sites have been found in the UAE dating
to this period. At Kush, in northern Ra’s al-Khaimah, a site dating from the
late pre-Islamic through the Islamic era, fragments of at least four Roman glass
vessels, comparable to those known from ed-Dur, have been found. Just down
the road, at Tell Abraq, several graves with material comparable to ed-Dur
were discovered, and graves at Dibba, both in the Fujairah and in the Sharjah
parts of the town, have yielded examples of the same type of Parthian glazed
pottery found in such abundance at ed-Dur. Similarly, the site of Ra’s Bilyaryar,
in Abu Dhabi, has yielded the common black-banded storage jar fragments
so well-known at ed-Dur, while some glass and pottery from Al Ufzaiyyah
and the Yasat islands, at the far western end of Abu Dhabi, may date to this
period as well. hese inds suggest settlement across the length and breadth of
the UAE in the irst century AD, but the actual number of sites dating to this
period remains modest.
he archaeological evidence recovered at ed-Dur and in Period IIIB at Mleiha

converges on the mid- to late-irst century AD as the most important period in
this phase of the UAE’s history. Judging by the chronology of the Roman glass
found in the tombs at ed-Dur, the period during which ed-Dur lourished may
have lasted into the early second century AD, but not much later than 150 AD.
hereater, we do not know what happened. his was a period of some turmoil
in the Parthian empire, but it is diicult to link events further north with
developments in the UAE. hat situation changed, however, in the third century.
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In the Land.indb 134 28/02/2012 12:16
I N T he L AND o F Th e eMIr AT es ch APT er 8> Th e ceNT Ur I es LeADINg UP To Th e A rrI VAL oF Is L AM
chapter 8
the centuries
leading up to the arrival of Islam
he archaeological record of the UAE in the later second and early

third century is practically blank. Unlike some archaeological
‘blanks’, this one cannot be attributed to a lack of exploration. he
fact remains that ity years of archaeological ieldwork in the UAE
has turned up nothing in the century ater the abandonment of
the main part of ed-Dur. Sometime in the third or fourth century,
however, one area at ed-Dur (Area F) was in use, while at Mleiha a
small fort was built.
let: A view of the reconstructed

he fort at Mleiha was discovered by chance in 1990 when excavations
rooms of the fort at Mleiha.
along the main road linking Mleiha and Dhaid brought to light one
part of a fragmentary, bivalve mould for casting coins. Made of white above: A fragmentary
limestone, the piece was 16.2 centimetres long, 4.5 centimetres wide coin mould from Mleiha.
and 3 centimetres thick, with ive obverses (heads) spaced along one
side, and lightly incised lines to help in the positioning of the reverse
part of the mould. Four deep holes that do not go all the way through
the mould suggest that the two halves used to mould coins were ixed
in place by pegs. Although the moulding, as opposed to the striking,
of coinage was rare in antiquity, ed-Dur and Mleiha have, between
them, yielded hundreds of Abi’el types with very debased heads of
Heracles – much less realistic than on the original series – along with
the seated igure of Zeus (or Shams) on the reverse. he Aramaic
legend is very angular, oten defective and sloppily written. It is
clear that most of these coins are much later than those ascribed to
the third or second century BC described in chapter 7. he debased
coins clearly date to the irst centuries AD and the fact that the name
Abi’el is still legible simply relects the fact that, like the name of
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Alexander, that of Abi’el was copied over and over again on countless issues
that must post-date the original series by several centuries.
When excavations were undertaken to expose the architectural context of the

coin mould fragment, a small fort was discovered, 50 x 55 metres, with external
walls 2 metres thick and square towers at each corner. Some twenty-seven rooms
are arranged around a central courtyard. Although the dimensions of the fort
are relatively modest, they in fact compare quite closely with those of the small
fort on Failaka Island in the bay of Kuwait, probably erected by the Seleucids
to control shipping in and out of southern Babylonia. In any case, the building
marks a major departure from the domestic architecture of the earlier periods
at Mleiha, and may well have been the power base of the sorts of leaders buried
in the monumental tower tombs at the site.
he square towers of the Mleiha fort certainly recall Seleucid or Greek models,
unlike the rounded corner towers of the smaller fort at ed-Dur, which are in
the Parthian tradition. his might suggest that the building in fact dates to an
earlier period. Nevertheless, a careful study of the material found within the
Mleiha fort – principally the over 18,000 pieces of pottery – suggests, on the
contrary, that it was constructed, at the earliest, in the second, though more
probably in the third, and continued in use until the fourth century AD. his
is conirmed by a variety of pottery types, including Egyptian amphorae, with
good parallels at Qani’ in South Arabia, glass and a late type of Namord ware
imported from Iran. Elsewhere in the UAE, contemporary occupations are
known in Area F at ed-Dur, where a multi-roomed building with round corner
towers – possibly a large house rather than a fort – has been dated mainly with
reference to the imported glass found there.
In the third century a new empire arose on the Iranian plateau that rapidly
brought the entire region under its sway. In about 224 Ardashir-i Papakan,
from Istakhr, a town located close to the old Achaemenid imperial capital of
Persepolis, overthrew the last Parthian king, Artabanus IV, and founded the
Sasanian empire, so named ater Sasan, the name of a number of male ancestors
of Ardashir’s, according to some accounts of his genealogy. he historical novel
known as the Book of Deeds of Ardashir-i Papakan (written around 600 AD),
says that when ighting along the Iranian coast, Ardashir encountered soldiers
from Mazun, as Maka was called in Middle Persian, in the army of a local ruler
right: he mound of Kush named Hatanboxt. Later, according to a number of Arabic sources, Ardashir
in northern Ra’s al-Khaimah. campaigned in both northeastern Arabia and the Oman Peninsula. Ardashir’s
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8> T h e ceNT Ur Ies Le ADINg UP To T h e ArrI VAL o F Is L AM
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son, Shapur I (240–270), who reigned as co-regent with his father, lists Mazun
among his territories in his great inscription carved on the face of the Ka’aba-e
Zardosht, or ‘Cube of Zoroaster’, at Naqsh-e Rustam in Fars. From this time
onward, scattered sources suggest that eastern Arabia remained within the
Sasanian sphere of inluence. At the time of the coming of Islam, places like
Rustaq and Sohar in Oman are said to have had garrisons of Sasanian soldiers
under the authority of a Sasanian military governor or marzban.
Eastern Arabia was thus united politically and economically with Iran by the
Sasanians, and commercial ties between the region and the east, particularly
south India, are well-attested. But the local economy may have been of greater
A projection of the Arabian
importance to the inhabitants of the UAE, and their trade may not have been
place names contained in very monetised, for very few Sasanian coins have ever been found in the
Claudius Ptolemy’s Geography. region. A single bronze dirham of Ardashir’s and a fragmentary silver dirham
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of Shapur II’s (309–379) are known from Ghallah, one of the small islands in
the lagoon of Umm al-Qaiwain. In addition, a silver dirham of Shapur II’s was
found near the surface of Tell Abraq. he largest group of Sasanian coins ever
found in the UAE is a hoard of eighteen silver dirhams dating to the reigns of
Hormizd IV (579-590) and Khusraw II (590-628) that was found by chance
in Fujairah some years ago.
Several other sites investigated in Ra’s al-Khaimah appear to be a century or

more later than the Mleiha fort and Area F at ed-Dur. At Jazirat al-Hulayla a
small amount of pre-Islamic pottery has been recorded. But the most important
site of the post-ed-Dur period is undoubtedly the large mound of Kush. Kush
was occupied from the ith to the thirteenth century AD and provides the best
archaeological sequence spanning the late pre-Islamic and the early Islamic era in
the UAE. Small exposures of rectangular, mudbrick housing with some evidence
of hearths and drains date to the ith and sixth centuries. he economy was
dominated by the usual suspects – sheep, goat and cattle, and ish and shellish.
A small amount of glass with parallels at sites in Iraq in the late pre-Islamic era
was also found at Kush.
here are also several contemporary burials at Jebel Emalah in the interior of
Sharjah. In two cases, individuals accompanied by iron weaponry – a sword
in one instance and a spear in another – were buried within third millennium
BC tombs at the site. Radiocarbon dates on bone from these burials yielded
calibrated dates of 455–583 AD and 513–624 AD.
Contacts between southern Iraq, southwestern Iran and the coast of the
UAE also had a religious dimension. Christianity spread to Mesopotamia,
southwestern Iran and India as a result of missionary activity and by 424 a
bishop of Bet Mazunaye named Yohannon is attested in the acts of a synod,
or meeting of bishops, held in Iraq, at which the independence of the eastern,
or Nestorian, church was proclaimed from the centre of western Oriental
Christianity located in Antioch (Antakya, in modern Turkey). Another source,
recounting the life of Jonah, mentions a monastery on a black island beyond
the region of Bet Qatraye, as Christian sources referred to northeastern Arabia
(the similarity to the place name ‘Qatar’ is clear), which was founded during
the time of Mar Zadoe (343–346).
here is very little written evidence for developments during the next century
or so. Arabic sources say that ‘the countries neighbouring Oman’ came under
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Sasanian control during the reign of the Sasanian king Bahram Gur (421–439), ‘he tribes of the el-Azd ceased not
but later it is possible that the coastal region from Iraq to Oman was governed to migrate to ‘Omán, until they
for the Sasanians by their vassals in Iraq, the Lakhmid dynasty based at Al Hira. became numerous therein, and
Several references to the Christian population of the region also date to the later their power and fame increased.
Sasanian era. In 544 David, bishop of Mazun, attended another synod, as did At length, they overran the country
and extended as far as el-Bahrein
Samuel in 576. A century later Stephen, another bishop of Mazun, attended a
and Hajar [el-Hassa/Hofuf]. hen
synod convened at Darin on Tarut island, of the coast of Saudi Arabia, where
came to ‘Omán Sámah-bin Loweij-
the problem of conversion to Islam by the Christians of Bet Mazunaye, and
bin-Ghálib, and settled at Towwan
the independence of the church in Bet Qatraye (northeastern Arabia) and
[Al Ain/Buraimi], which is el-Jow,
Rev-Ardashir (near modern Bushehr, on the Iranian coast), were discussed.
in the vicinity of the el-Azd. here
were also in that place some of the
he literary references to Christian communities in the Oman Peninsula during Benú-Sa’d, and Benú ’Abd-el-Keis’.
the late pre-Islamic era, while surely reliable, have, as yet, no archaeological
counterpart. Occupation of a Nestorian monastic complex on Sir Bani Yas in Kashf al-Ghumma, Ross 1874: 116.
western Abu Dhabi, for example, has been well-dated by diagnostic ceramic
types to the Early Islamic era although it may have been founded a few decades
before the coming of Islam (see chapter 9).
‘Another fair was that of Dabba
In the late pre-Islamic era the Sasanians governed southeastern Arabia through [Dibba]. Dabba is one of the two
their vassals, the local Al Julanda dynasty. heir leader was the head of the ports of the Arabs; merchants come
Ma‘awil clan of the Awlad Shams section of the large Azd Oman tribe (see text
from Sind, India, China, people of
the East and the West, came to it.
box top right). he Al Julanda leader was responsible for collecting taxes in the
his fair was held on the last day
large settlements like Tuwam (Al Ain/Buraimi) and Dibba, and reported to the
of Rajab. Merchants traded here
Sasanian marzban (military governor) at Rustaq. If taxes were the main object
by bargaining. Al-Julanda b. al-
of the Sasanians’ control over southeastern Arabia, then lourishing trade was
Mustakbir levied the tithe in this fair
obviously in their best interests. hus it is not surprising that, writing in his
as in Suhar. He used to behave in it
al-Muhabbar of the late pre-Islamic period, Ibn Habib described the annual like other kings elsewhere’.
fair at Dibba (see text box bottom right), held on the last day of Rajab every
year, as a place where the Al Julanda leader levied a tithe (literally 10 per cent Muhammad Ibn Habib (d. 859–60), al-
of the income) and where merchants from India and China came to buy and Muhabbar, in Shoufani, E. Al-Riddah and
sell. Aside from these references, however, we know very little about their role the Muslim conquest of Arabia. Toronto:
in the rest of the UAE. Univ. of Toronto Press, 1972: 156.
let: Dibba on the eastern

seaboard, where trade lourished
for many centuries.
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I N The L AND o F Th e eMIr ATes ch APT er 9> Th e FIrs T ceNT Ur I es AFT er T h e coM INg o F Is L AM
chapter 9
the irst centuries

after the coming of Islam
he early seventh century marked a watershed in human history. he

powerful Tang dynasty emerged in China; Harsha united the disparate
kingdoms of Northern India; Byzantium’s capital, Constantinople,
grew into the wealthiest and largest city in Eurasia; and Islam, one
of the world’s great religious traditions, arose in Arabia and began
to spread across Asia.
Several accounts exist of the Islamic conversion of the Al Julanda

dynasty and the people of southeastern Arabia. According to Wakidi,
whose testimony is preserved in an abbreviated form by Tabari
above: Stucco from Sir Bani Yas
(838–923), the Prophet sent his messenger, ‘Amr b. Al ‘As, to Gaifar
and ‘Amr Al Julanda, the sons of the recently deceased ruler, in 630
let: ‘he Prophet with Envoys
(AH 8). he brothers proclaimed their allegiance to the new faith of Musailama’, from he
and permitted ‘Amr b. Al ‘As to collect the zakat (alms tax) from the Chronology of Ancient
rich for redistribution amongst the poor, and to collect jizya (poll
Nations by Al-Biruni, 1307.
tax) from all Zoroastrians (only two references exist to Zoroastrians
Edinburgh University Library, Scotland / he Bridgeman
in pre-Islamic southeastern Arabia; the other refers to a ire temple). Art Library.
Other accounts difer in a number of details. In Muhammad Ibn

Sa‘d’s (d. 845) al-Tabaqat al-kubra we read that the Prophet’s letter
was handed to ‘Abd (‘Amr is here called ‘Abd), the younger, but
reputedly wiser, of the two brothers, rather than Gaifar. he letter
ofered the brothers the right to continued rule over their people,
provided they would convert, but threatened them with the loss of
their worldly wealth and kingdom if they rejected the call to Islam.
According to Al Baladhuri’s (died 892) Futuh al-Buldan, ‘Amr b. Al
‘As was accompanied by Abu Zaid. he Prophet’s letter is said to
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‘Aterwards the Apostle of God wrote have told ‘Abd and Gaifar that if they accepted Islam, Abu Zaid would be their
to the people of ‘Omán, inviting religious teacher, while ‘Amr would be their worldly ruler or emir, a proposal
them to adopt the religion of Islám. accepted by the brothers.
He wrote amongst others to ‘Abd
and Jeifar, the sons of el-Julandá Yet another, much more complicated, account of conversion is preserved in
(who had died a short time before), the local Omani history, the Khashf al-Gumma. According to this source
to the efect that if they would accept
(see text box let), which is known from several late copies, ‘Amr arrived at
el-Islám, he would conirm them as
Damsetjerd, near Sohar, where he met ‘Abd and Gaifar. Ater reading the letter,
Governors; otherwise they would
‘Abd convened a council of the Azd tribal elders, and conversion followed shortly
be deposed… He sent on ‘Amr
thereater. Gaifar then sent his own messengers to Mahra and Shihr in Yemen,
[b. al-‘As] with the sealed letter,
and Dibba to the north, exhorting the people to convert to Islam. All followed
and Jeifar broke the seal and read it,
suit except for those Persians living in the area. Refusing to either convert or to
and then passed it to ‘Abd who also
read it… He [Jeifar] then assembled leave the country, the Persians, under their leader Maskan, resisted. hey were
a council of the el-Azd, and sent attacked and driven into Damsetjerd where, ater a siege, they agreed to leave
to Ka‘b-bin Barshah el-‘Udí. hey the country, giving up all of their accumulated gold and silver.
all became converts to el-Islám,
and sent to all their kinsmen who Scholars have dissected these difering accounts, trying to assess the motivations
vowed obedience to the Prophet, and of the Al Julanda brothers. Some have suggested that, as agents of the Sasanians,
agreed to ofer the proper religious the position of ‘Abd and Gaifar was precarious, and that conversion to Islam
alms. Jeifar sent messengers to on their part was an attempt to gain the favour of their subjects. On the
Meheyreh [Mahra], and Shihr in the other hand, willing conversion can also be seen as a way of bringing an end
south, and to Dabá [Dibba], and
to Sasanian dominance. he tradition, preserved by Tabari and Ibn Sayyid
the furthest limits of ‘Omán to the
Al Nas, that tribal delegates from Oman, Yemen and Al Yamama (in central
north; and at his invitation all the
Arabia) went to the Prophet in the same year as his envoys travelled to Oman
people accepted el-Islám, save the
(hence the reference to this as the ‘Year of Delegations’), might suggest that
Persians who dwelt in ‘Omán’.
many people in Arabia had the same idea, enthusiastically embracing the
new faith as a means of galvanising support for a push to expel the Sasanian
Kashf al-Ghumma, Ross 1874: 118-119.
Persians from Arabia.
One individual who does not seem to have been waiting for outside help to
liberate the area from Persian control was Laqit b. Malik dhu at-Taj (‘the
crowned’), described in the sources as a rebel leader opposed to the Persian’s
Al Julanda vassals. Indeed, according to Sayf b. ‘Umar, Laqit b. Malik was just
as powerful as the Al Julanda brothers. According to Tabari, Ibn Al Athir and
Al Baladhuri, Laqit, who must have converted to Islam as well, is reported to
have apostasised (rejected Islam) ater the death of the Prophet in 632, and to
have led a rebellion against the Al Julanda brothers, who led to the mountains.
Sayf says that Gaifar sought the aid of the caliph Abu Bakr (632–634), who sent
an army to Oman. Some sources say ‘Ikrimah b. Abi Jahl led the Muslim army
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9> Th e FIrs T ceNT Ur I es AFT er Th e coM INg o F Is L AM
against Laqit, while others say it was Hudhaifah b. Mihsan Al Makhzumi. Local
Omani histories identify Hudhaifah as an Azdi who, together with ‘Ikrimah,
and the forces of the Al Julanda brothers, forced Laqit to retreat to Dibba. All
the sources agree that Laqit was killed in battle at Dibba, while local sources say
that 10,000 rebels died and 4000 were taken prisoner. An enormous cemetery
on the outskirts of Dibba, marked by several thousand plain stones, is thought
by the local population to be the resting place of those who died in this battle,
still known as the ‘Day of Dibba’.
In 657 a dispute erupted which saw 12,000 former followers of the Prophet’s
cousin and son-in-law, ‘Ali (656–661), revolt at his decision to submit to
arbitration in the matter of whether he or his rival Mu‘awiyah (661–680) was
the rightful caliph. hese secessionists, known as Khawarij or Kharijites, were
eventually defeated by ‘Ali, and of those few that survived, two are said to have
gone to Oman in about 658.
he Kharijites would have encountered both Muslims and non-Muslims in

the region when they arrived. As previously noted, the last bishop from Bet Excavations at the Christian
Mazunaye to attend a synod did so in 676, decades ater the battle at Dibba.
monastic complex on Sir Bani Yas.
Between 1993 and 1996, and then again in 2009, excavations on Sir Bani Yas
Island in Abu Dhabi revealed the remains of a walled enclosure, approximately
70 x 90 metres on a side, with two groups of rooms built up against the interior
of the northern and eastern walls, and a church slightly of-centre in the middle
of the complex. he small rooms, which had well-plastered walls and loors, have
been interpreted by the excavators as monastic cells. Six larger houses, outside
the walled complex, may have served as accommodation for senior monks who
wished to live in isolation from the main community.
he basilica-type church was constructed in a series of phases. An entrance

porch or lobby (narthex) was situated at the western end of the church, the area
for the altar, priest and choir (chancel) at the east end. he long, central room
(nave) was lanked on either side by two aisles. Grooves in the ground loor (from
the base of a ladder?), and evidence of an upper loor in the southeasternmost
room of the building, suggest this may have been a bell tower from which
worshippers were called to religious services by the sound of beating clapper
boards (called naqus in Christian Aramaic or Syriac). he interior of the church
was decorated with moulded stucco combining Christian symbols – Latin and
Greek crosses and Greco-Roman-inspired motifs – geometric and vine-like
scrolls; and Sasanian decoration – palmettes, running loral patterns. he A stucco cross from Sir Bani Yas.
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remains of a wine glass, perhaps for use in communion, and of glass lamps,
possibly suspended from the ceiling, were also found. he ceramics from Sir Bani
Yas point to a date around 650–750, suggesting that the community survived
for several generations ater the synod of 676.
In the early Umayyad era (661–750), the region remained under the control
of the Al Julanda, but during the reigns of the caliphs Marwan I (684–685)
and ‘Abd Al Malik (685–705) Umayyad expeditionary forces attacked Oman,
according to the accounts given in the local histories of Sirhan b. Sa‘id (1728)
and Salil b. Razik (1856), who preserved part of a longer work entitled the
Kashf al-Ghumma. According to these accounts, the Umayyad army landed at
Gold dinar from Kush either Al Bununa, probably a variant of Baynuna and the traditional term for
in Ra’s al-Khaimah c.960. the western part of what is today Abu Dhabi, or at Julfar.
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Mentioned in numerous Arabic and Portuguese sources, Julfar was both a

general Persian term for the region called es-Sirr in Arabic – the northwestern
coast of the UAE – and the name of a speciic place. From the fourteenth century
onwards the main part of Julfar seems to have been located between Ra’s al-
Khaimah and Rams, at Al Mataf, but the lack of any early Islamic remains there,
coupled with the extensive evidence inland at the site of Kush, and to the north
of Rams at Jazirat al-Hulayla, suggests that the centres of settlement along this
part of the coast have shited over the course of time, even if the name Julfar
remained generally in use until it was superseded by Ra’s al-Khaimah.
It is not clear why these attacks were initiated, but it may have been because the
Al Julanda were tolerant of the recently arrived Kharijites. With the fall of the
Umayyads, the Kharijites seized power, electing Julanda b. Mas’ud ‘the irst of
the rightful Imams of Oman’ in 751. His followers and their descendants came
to be known as Ibadhiyah or ‘Ibadis’, named ater ‘Abdullah b. Ibad, head of
the sect in Oman during the reign of Marwan II (744–750) – the last Umayyad
caliph. hey continued to reign until 1624 in much of Oman, though not without
a contest, and were described by the famous Arab traveller Ibn Battuta who
visited Oman in 1328. he rise of the Ibadi Imams exacerbated internal tribal
divisions in the region. he tribes that traced their origins to Yemen (‘Arab al
‘Ariba, descendants of Qahtan or Joktan) generally, though not always, sided
with the Ibadis. hose known as Nizaris (‘Arab al Must‘Ariba, descendants of
Adnan) most oten supported the Sunni caliphate in Baghdad. hese rivalries 893: ‘he report of Mohammed-
continued unabated well into the eighteenth century. bin Núr’s approach caused great
commotion in ‘Omán, where the
Shortly ater the establishment of Ibadi rule, the Abbasids of Baghdad succeeded people were split up into rival
the Umayyads of Damascus. In 751/2 the Abbasid caliph Abu’l ‘Abbas Al Safah factions, their counsels devoid of
(750–754) sent more forces to conquer the region, and the local Omani historian, concert and their hearts disunited…
Mohammed-bin Núr meanwhile
Salil b. Razik, says that the Ibadi Imam, Julanda b. Mas‘ud, was killed at Julfar.
advanced with his forces and took
In the late ninth century, another force was launched against the Ibadis, again
Júlfár, whence he proceeded to
landing at Julfar and conquering Tuwwam, the old name for the Buraimi oasis,
Towwám [Al Ain/Buraimi], which
of which Al Ain in the UAE forms a part. Given that the name Mazun had been
he reached, ater some encounters
used for this region in Sasanian and Nestorian Christian sources (Bet Mazunaye),
had taken place in the sandy wastes,
it is interesting that the Tang geographer, Jia Dan (730–805), writing at this time on Wednesday, six days before the
used the name Mo-xun in an account of trade between Canton and the West. end of the month el-Moharram,
A.H. 280 [A.D. 893]; and conquered
During the ninth century rivalries between diferent elements in society (Nizari el-Sirr and neighbouring districts’.
against Yamani, or framed that way for political efect) began to deepen. Although
ostensibly tribal and religious, these rivalries also relected an increasingly Kashf al-Ghumma, Ross 1874: 130–131
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bitter struggle for control over the most agriculturally productive areas in the
interior and the most favoured ports along the Batinah coast. Eventually, these
diferences erupted into a civil war that spelled the end of the First Ibadi Imamate,
culminating in a request from Muhammad b. Al Qasim of the Bani Sama family
to the Abbasid caliph Al Mu‘tadid (892–902) for help against the Yahmad alliance
(the Yahmad, ‘Atik, Hina and Salimah clans of the Azd tribe) that had defeated the
Bani Sama, Huddan and Bani Harith and plundered much of their wealth. As a
result, yet another invasion by caliphal troops ensued in 892/3 under Muhammad
b. Nur (or b. haur according to Ibn Al Athir and Istakhri), the governor of
Bahrain, again using Julfar as a forward base for men and material (see text box
page 147). From here he marched to Tuwwam (Al Ain/Buraimi), according to
Salil b. Razik. One of the last major battles of this campaign was fought at Dibba.
Archaeologically, this is a poorly known period in the UAE’s history, although
classic Abbasid-style glazed wares found in excavations at Jumeirah in Dubai
suggest the site was occupied at that time.
Even though the Imamate was restored, other disruptive forces soon came into
play. he fragmentation of this period resulted in the progressive separation of
the area that became the UAE from the rest of the Oman Peninsula, exacerbated
by the progressive invasions of outside powers. he irst of these foreign rulers
c.928: ‘hen came the Karâmitah, came from Iran. Although we know little of their tenure in the region, the
whose increasing numbers in ‘Omán Safarid dynasty of Seistan, whose control extended to the Makran region
prevented ‘Omar from ever again opposite the Batinah coast, had control over some parts of the area during the
exercising the functions of Imâm. reign of Tahir b. Muhammad in whose name dirhams were minted in Oman
he Karâmitah had already overrun from 903 to 908.
many countries, and had seized the
supreme power at Mekkah and in About two decades later the Carmathians from Al Hasa in what is today eastern
Syria, where the tribes and their Saudi Arabia conquered the Oman Peninsula (see text box let). Commanded
chiefs submitted to them, and all
by the aggressive Abu Tahir, the Carmathians overran Oman shortly before
the surrounding countries stood in
the Carmathian leader’s audacious raid on Mecca in which his forces seized the
awe of them, for wherever they went
Black Stone from the Ka‘ba and slaughtered both Meccans and pilgrims alike.
violence and depravity accompanied
he Carmathians remained in control of the area for about sixty years and,
them. hey were followers of Abu
according to Ibn Hauqal, tribute from Oman formed an important part of their
Saîd-el-Hásan, el-Janâby, who
abolished prayer, and fasting, and income. It appears that Yusuf b. Wajih (ater whom the Wajihid dynasty takes
the pilgrimage, and the Zakâh’. its name), based at Sohar, was tributary to the Carmathians, minting dirhams
and dinars in Oman between 928 and 945. However, Yusuf b. Wajih’s successor,
Salil b. Razik, History of the Imâms and a freed slave named Nai‘, acknowledged the authority of Mu‘izz Al Dawla, the
Seyyids of ‘Omân… from A.D. 661–1856, Buyid ruler of Fars in Iran, in 965. his led to an uprising and a further invasion
Badger 1871: 27–28. by the Carmathians, whereupon Nai‘ led to his patron.
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he following year, southeastern Arabia was deinitively brought under Buyid

control. A hoard of forty-three dirhams discovered in Ra’s al-Khaimah in 1965
contained a mixture of Buyid and Samanid coinage minted between 921 and
980. he presence of Buyid coins is understandable, particularly given the
political situation. he Samanid coins, which were minted for the most part
in distant Samarkand and Bukhara, suggest the existence of trade links from
Julfar, northwards through eastern Iran to Khorassan and Transoxania.
Although the Carmathians still harboured designs of conquest there as late as

985, Buyid coinage was minted in Oman between 972 and 1043, suggesting it was
certainly under Buyid control at that time. When the geographer Al Muqaddasi
(also Al Maqdisi) wrote in 985 that Hait, Dibba and Julfar were dependencies of
Sohar, this was probably because Sohar was the capital of the Wajihid and Buyid
governors of the region. Al Muqaddasi (see text box right) speciied that Hait
‘abounds in palm trees’ and that Dibba and Julfar were both ‘close to the sea’.
Of all these places he says they are ‘in the direction of Hajar’, clearly a reference
to the area today known as Al Hasa in eastern Saudi Arabia and one that is
easily accounted for in a period when Carmathian inluence was strong in the
region. he anonymous Hudud al-‘Alam or ‘Regions of the World’, written in 982,
mentions Sharjah and describes it as ‘two prosperous and lourishing buroughs’. Coin hoards of early Islamic date
In Fujairah, on the other hand, excavations at several copper smelting ovens
give us some idea of monetary
in the Wadi Madhab produced charcoal dated by radiocarbon to c. 950–1010.
circulation in eastern Arabia in
Copper smelting, which had a long history in this region, was obviously being
practiced in Fujairah during the Buyid period. the mediaeval era.
Around 1000–1004, the Buyids placed Abu Muhammad b. Mukram and his c.985–988: ‘Hait abounds in palm
descendants (the so-called Mukramids) in charge of afairs in the region, but trees; it lies in the direction of Hajar
a revolt that had to be put down by troops from Fars led to the resumption [Hofuf oasis/region], and the
mosque is in the markets… Daba
of direct Buyid control in 1041/2. An Ibadi revolt in 1050/1 resulted in the
[Dibba] and Jullafar [Julfar], both
restoration of the Imamate, but in 1063 the Turkic-speaking Seljuqs who had
in the direction of Hajar, are close
already conquered Fars launched their own conquest of the Oman Peninsula,
to the sea… Tu’am [Al Ain/Buraimi]
retaining power there for roughly 80 years.
has been dominated by a branch
of the Quraysh; they are men
he twelth and thirteenth centuries are poorly documented in the area, both of fortitude and forcefulness…
in the local Omani and in the external sources. In the interior of Oman, the he people of these towns we
Imamate came to an end as power passed to secular rulers of the Nabhani tribe have mentioned are heretical
(Nabahinah) by the late twelth century. In 1154 the great geographer Al Idrisi, Arabs [Carmathians]’.
working in Sicily for Roger II, marked Julfar on his map of Arabia. He knew it to
be a great pearling port at which freight had to be loaded and unloaded ofshore al-Muqaddasi, ed. Collins 2001: 80.
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Image taken from Al Idrisi map due to the absence of a proper harbour. He also described islands in the ‘sea of
(1154): reconstruction by Konrad Qatar’, which may well have included some of the Abu Dhabi islands, where
Miller, Charta Rogeriana – guano was gathered for export as fertiliser to Basra. Another great geographer,
Yaqut, writing around 1224, described Jullafar or Jurrafar as ‘a country/town
Weltkarte des Idrisi.
[balad] in Oman and it produces sheep, cheese and ghee, which are carried
Originally published/produced in Stuttgart, 1928.
from there to the surrounding countries/towns [al-buldān]’. He also noted Khor
Reproduced by permission of the British Library.
Fakkan, which he described as a small town with springs of sweet water, date
palms and a sheltered harbour. Yaqut was the only early Arab geographer to
mention Fujairah (Al Fujayra).
In spite of a dearth of literary references, sites like Kush and Jazirat al-Hulayla
in northern Ra’s al-Khaimah have yielded a variety of imported ceramics,
conirming that the region was connected to other maritime markets from Basra
to the Far East at this time. Abbasid wares from Samarra of the ninth/tenth
century, imported from Iraq; early sgraiato glazed wares of eleventh century
date; later sgraiato produced in Yemen during the twelth and thirteenth
centuries; Kashan wares from north-central Iran of the late twelth century;
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and Longquan celadons and qinbgai wares from the Far East of thirteenth/
fourteenth century date, tell us of international contacts – not all of which need
have been direct – when historical sources are silent. Longquan celadon as well
as fritware and imitation Chinese blue-glazed ware, from Iran, of fourteenth
century date, have also been found on the Abu Dhabi island of Dalma.
Just as the Buyids had done before them, the Salghurid Atabegs of Fars
(1148–1280) exercised considerable control over the region. Tributary to the
Shabankara tribes and the empire of the Khwarazmshahs, the Atabegs had Green glazed ware from the
little hope of generating more wealth or acquiring more territory on the Iranian
Far East was imported into the
mainland and so looked to the south. On behalf of the Atabeg Abu Bakr the
island of Kish (Qais) was seized in May 1229 by Saifu-’d-Din Aba Nadar, prince region, an example of prevailing
of Hormuz (at Minab, Iran, on the Straits of Hormuz). Ater the decline of trading patterns .
Siraf, hastened by an earthquake in 977, Kish had become the principal port-
of-trade for commerce with India and the Far East. Saifu-’d-Din’s
attempt to retain Kish for himself was shortlived. Abu Bakr took
possession of Kish in November 1230, followed by Bahrain
(August 1235) and Qatif (Spring 1244), both of which were
important for the revenue they generated from pearling.
Commerce thrived and Abu Bakr’s cofers overlowed.
he Persian historian Natanzi wrote, ‘He conquered
the islands and the coasts of the sea of Oman, such
as Qais (Kish), Bahrain and Qatif, from Cambay [in
Gujarat, India] to Basra [southern Iraq]’.
Even the Mongol conquest of Iran did not adversely

afect Abu Bakr, who swore allegiance to Genghis
Khan’s son Ögödei (1229–1241) and was conirmed
in his maritime possessions. hese, undoubtedly,
continued to supply the revenue paid annually as
tribute to the Mongol court. Half a century later, however,
events occurred that were to have enormous consequences for
world history. In about 1291 Baha’-Al Din Ayaz, a Turk who had
been governor of the Omani maritime port Qalhat, then a Hormuzi
possession, seized control of Hormuz. Forced to evacuate Hormuz in
1300, he moved to the island of Qeshm, but soon acquired the smaller, less
hospitable island of Jarun and transferred his residence and his capital there
from the mainland. New Hormuz, as the island was sometimes called, thus
became the centre of the kingdom of Hormuz. At irst, Kish still controlled
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In the Land.indb 152 28/02/2012 12:16
Qatif, Al Hasa, Bahrain and Qalhat, and made periodic attempts to reconquer 1347: ‘hereater I took ship and
Hormuz, as did the rulers of Fars, backed by the Ilkhanids, the descendants arrived at Muscat, a small town in
of the original Mongol conquerors of Iran. Finally, in about 1331/2, while the which there is a great abundance of
Hormuzi king Qutbu-’d-Din Tahamtan II was away on the mainland, the forces the ish called qulb al-más. hence
of Kish attacked Hormuz yet again. When Qutbu-’d-Din learned of this, he we sailed to the ports of Qurayyát,
did not return to help defeat the attackers, but instead headed straight to Kish
Shabba, Kalba, and Qalhát, which
has been mentioned before. All these
where he looted the treasury and conquered it once and for all. With that, all
towns form part of the province of
of Kish’s dependencies swore allegiance to Qutbu-’d-Din including, according
Hormuz, though they are reckoned
to the Portuguese writer Pedro Teixeira, Julfar.
to be in the district of ‘Omán’.
We do not know at what point Julfar had come under Kish’s control, but from
Ibn Battuta, ed. Gibb 1939: 303.
this time on it formed part of the kingdom of Hormuz. Hormuzi control thus
extended from Kharg island in the north, and Qatif in the west to Julfar in
the northern emirates and, on the east side of Ra’s Musandam, southwards to
Qalhat (see text box right). With its fertile agricultural hinterland, Julfar was an
important link in Hormuz’s chain of maritime outposts, and given the fact that
Hormuzi control did not extend very far inland to the north (i.e. into Kerman
province in southeastern Iran), Julfar and its hinterland probably represented
something of a bread basket to which Hormuz’s rulers looked for foodstufs
as well as revenue from pearling. A massive fortiication wall, known as the
Wadi al-Sur, to the west and south of Shimal, in Ra’s al-Khaimah, and running
for c. 7 kilometres, may have served to defend Hormuzi Julfar’s agricultural
zone from the depredations of tribes in the interior. One clear sign of Hormuzi
presence in the northern emirates at this time is the discovery of many coins
minted on Hormuz (with the mint name Jarun) at Al Nudud and Al Mataf in
northern Ra’s al-Khaimah.
In 1394 Fars was conquered by Timur (better known in Western literature

as ‘Tamerlane’), but the Timurid forces, lacking a navy, failed to overcome
Hormuz, which continued to be independent while paying tribute to the new
Timurid rulers of Iran. his was an important time for long distance commerce,
a time of Chinese merchant voyages to Hormuz, Aden and Mogadishu by the above: Silver Hormuzi coin
great admiral Zheng He. He and his leet made their irst visit to Hormuz in
from Ra’s al-Khaimah.
1412–1414 (his fourth voyage); a second visit in 1417–1419 (ith voyage), when
let: Astrolabe from Saragossa,
they brought back some Hormuzi ‘ambassadors’, most probably merchants,
who had been in China; and a third visit in 1421–1422 (sixth voyage), when c.1079–1080 (brass) by Islamic
they once again returned some Hormuzi ambassadors. hese sorts of contacts, School, (eleventh century).
and the lively commerce that linked Hormuz with the Far East, certainly help
Germanisches Nationalmuseum,
to explain the presence of imported Chinese blue and white porcelain, which Nuremberg/he Bridgeman Art Library.
153
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154
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began to reach the northern emirates in the early fourteenth century, and the Maritime activities, such as
Lonquan celadons and Martaban stonewares found at Jazirat al-Hulayla in Ra’s
pearling and trading, were the
al-Khaimah, Dalma in Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere in the UAE.
lifeblood of the region for millennia.
Saifu-’d-Din Mahar became king of Hormuz in 1418 and, according to Ja‘fari, he Great wooden dhows, skippered by
sent governors to all parts of his realm, including Qatif, Bahrain, Qalhat, Darab, Arab sailors, traversed the oceans,
Oman, and Julfar. his proved unpopular with many Arab sheikhs, however,
guided only by the stars.
suggesting that the Hormuzi king had previously employed prominent Arabs
as local governors. Indeed, while internal strife raged in the interior of Oman
between rivals to the Imamate, Hormuzi rulers paid of local sheikhs on the
Arabian coastline. Hormuzi forts at Julfar, Khor Fakkan and Kalba functioned
mainly to defend coastal Hormuz’s maritime empire from the depredations of
the Arabs of the interior. At its height, no power existed in Oman that could
dispute possession of the Arabian coast and the monopoly over maritime trade
with the kings of Hormuz. In fact, most of the vessels used to force trade vessels
coming from India to stop at Hormuz were from the Arab coast.
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156
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157
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previous pages: Arabia and India Ater Bahrain, Julfar was the second most important pearling port in the region.
A centre of maritime activity, it was, according to Suleyman the Magniicent’s
from the Miller Atlas by Pedro
Turkish admiral Sidi Ali Çelebi (d.1562), the birthplace of Ahmad b. Majid
Reinel, c.1519.
Al Najdi, also known as Ahmad b. Majid Al Julfari, the great Arab mariner.
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Ibn Majid, who died around 1500, was a mu‘allim (pilot) of an ocean-going
vessel, who spent much of his life sailing in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
below: Lively commerce had linked His magnum opus, the Kitab al-Fawa’id, covers everything from the history,
the region with the Far East since theory and principles of navigation to instructions for sailing in south-east Asia
and the South China Sea, the western Indian Ocean (Maldives, Zanzibar and
early times, with merchants coming
Madagascar), the waters on either side of India, and all around the Arabian
to the UAE’s shores from far and Peninsula. Internal evidence in his work suggests that Ibn Majid, who traced
wide. A Chinese Junk illustration his ancestry to the Bedouin of the central Arabian Najd, must have been born
from Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, c.1432–1437. Although he was accused by some early writers of guiding Vasco
da Gama from East Africa to India, and hence opening the Indian Ocean to
His Discourse of Voyages into the
the Portuguese, this appears now to be a late tradition, without any basis in
East and West Indies, 1579-1592. reality. Indeed, the irst Portuguese contact with the region was probably a visit
Private Collection/ he Bridgeman Art Library. to Hormuz made by the traveller Pero da Cavilhã (also Cavilhão or Cavilham)
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in 1490, almost certainly taking passage on an Arab ship. Da Cavilhã had been
sent by the Portuguese king João II to investigate trade routes to India via the
Mediterranean, Red Sea and western Indian Ocean, and had already travelled
to Egypt, Aden and India before visiting Hormuz.
During the iteenth century a powerful tribal group based in northeastern

Arabia, known as the Banu Jabr, represented yet another foreign element on
the political scene in southeastern Arabia. Like the Carmathians before them,
they had designs on the area and in the 1470s supported Salgur, the Hormuzi
governor of Qalhat and the son-in-law of a powerful Nabhani tribesman in
Oman, Sulayman b. Sulayman Nabhani, in his bid to reconquer Hormuz and
take it away from a rival. Together with Agwad b. Zamil, of the Banu Jabr, the
two assembled a force at Julfar in advance of an attack on Hormuz. About thirty
years later, in 1498, Julfar was in revolt, fuelled in part by the governor of Lar,
in the interior of Iran, who was trying to undermine Hormuz and wrest control Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515)
of it from its ruler. Around 1500 the Italian traveller Ludovico Varthema let
(gouache on paper), by Portuguese
Venice for the East, returning to Lisbon in 1508. During his travels he visited
School, (sixteenth century).
Julfar, a district ‘which is most excellent and abounding in everything’. He also
spoke highly of its ‘good seaport’. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris/ Giraudon/ he Bridgeman
Art Library.
In addition to Julfar, Khor Fakkan was the site of another important Hormuzi
fort and governor’s residence. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, it
was said to have many resident Gujarati merchants from western India and a
rich agricultural hinterland. he Hormuzi connection with Khor Fakkan may
explain the presence of imported wares in Fujairah, including glazed wares of
probable tenth to twelth century date from Qurayyah; hai celadon of iteenth
century date from Dibba and Dadnah; and Longquan celadon of thirteenth to
iteenth century date from Dadnah.
he kingdom of Hormuz sufered terrible internal turmoil in the period

between 1498 and 1505 with the killing and blinding of several rivals to the
throne. Eventually, a Bengali eunuch named Khvajeh ‘Ata, originally a slave
of the Hormuzi ruler Salghur Shah, triumphed, attaching himself as vizier to
a ten-year old boy whom he installed as king. How these troubles afected the he log book of the Dutch vessel
Hormuzi dependencies in what is today the UAE we do not know. Little did the he Meerkat that visited the region
inhabitants of Khor Fakkan and Julfar know at the time that in just a few short
in 1666 mentions the ruins of a
years their existence as dependents of Hormuz would cease as a new chapter
in the region’s history began for in 1507 Afonso de Albuquerque, the second fortress on a hill on the southern
governor of Portugal’s possessions in India, arrived on the scene. side of Khor Fakkan.
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In the Land.indb 160 28/02/2012 12:16
IN T h e L AND o F Th e eMIr ATes ch APT er 10> Fro M Th e Po rT UgU e s e To Mo D e rNIT y
chapter 10
from the Portuguese

to modernity
On 21 September 1507, ater having destroyed or received the
submission of a series of Omani ports including Ra’s al-Hadd, Qalhat,
Quryat, Muscat and Sohar, Afonso de Albuquerque took control of
Khor Fakkan (see text box page 162), and with this act the expansionist
world power of Portugal took its place in the history of the UAE.
he attacks on Hormuz’s network of Arabian dependencies were

a preliminary to the main object of his expedition, the conquest
of Hormuz. he wealth of Hormuz, as well as its strategic location,
let: Maqta tower at the entrance
were both attractions for Portugal, even if their main interests lay
to Abu Dhabi island, taken in
elsewhere – Goa and western India. he possibility of turning
Hormuz into a tribute-paying vassal, and at the same time a bufer the 1950s.
against the expansion of Safavid Persia in the region, were no less above: Scales and weights used
important. But the conquest of Hormuz did not run to plan. In
by pearling merchants to value
September, 1508, Khvjaeh ‘Ata, known as ‘Cogeatar’ in the Portuguese
their goods.
sources, ‘ordered a leet to be built at Julfar to come and burn that of
the Portuguese’ and although these vessels could scarcely withstand
an attack by Portuguese warships, the incident shows that Julfar,
unlike the ports on the Batinah coast, was not yet under Portuguese
control. Nor was Julfar particularly loyal to Hormuz, for in the same
year the ruler of Lar in the Iranian hinterland tried to invade Hormuz
himself making use of vessels from Julfar.
According to a summary of the income of the king of Hormuz

in 1515 by João de Barros, the revenues of Hormuz from Arabia
and Persia came from towns (vilas) and places along the coast, not
from the interior. hese were routinely under a vizier or governor
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1507: ‘Orfação [Khor Fakkan] (guazil), whose domain was called a vizirat (guazilado). Of those places located
is a large town of the kingdom of today in the UAE, Barros cited revenue from the following: Julfar (Jullfar) –
Ormuz, and contains very good 3000 pardaus; Khor Fakkan (Horfacam) – 1250 pardaus; and Bidyah (Labedia) –
houses; it is very strong on the land 400 pardaus. Although the amount received from Julfar surpassed all but one
side, and the reason of it is this, that other port in the kingdom of Hormuz, with which it was equal, it is diicult to
it was more fearful of being attacked tell just what is meant by the denomination pardau since this term applied to
by land than by sea. Many worthy both gold and silver coinage. As silver pardaus were not minted in Goa until
merchants of Guzarat live there. the mid-sixteenth century, however, it is likely that the Arabian taxes were paid
he town lies at the foot of a very
or at least calculated in gold.
high mountain, and on the land
side it has a very strong wall, which
Ater the Portuguese took control of the Hormuzi forts in southeastern Arabia
is carried along to the sea; there
(see text box page 163), they made alliances with some of the Banu Jabr, installing
are two islands within the harbour
one of them as governor at Sohar in 1522. Like the Carmathians before them,
which improve it very much. In the
and the Wahhabis ater them, the Banu Jabr from northeastern Arabia (Al Hasa,
interior are many estates with good
houses, many orange trees, lemon with its centre Hofuf) would have been viewed as outsiders wholly unacceptable
trees, zamboa [kind of citron] trees, to most Arab tribes in the region. But in 1523, under the terms of a new treaty
ig trees, palms, and all sorts of negotiated between the Portuguese and Hormuz, a brother of the Hormuzi
vegetables, and many water pools, vizier Sharaf Al Din received Julfar for three years rather than the normal one-
which they use for irrigation; in the year period, an important possession given the revenue generated by the pearl
ields is much straw stubble, as in trade. Later, the Banu Jabr attempted to seize control of Julfar for themselves by
Portugal, and there are many maize building a fort at Luwar (Loa), which overlooked the site. In 1534, yet another
ields. here were also many ishing major power entered the scene when the Ottomans captured Baghdad, followed
barks, and many nets, all which by Basra in 1546 and Qatif in 1550, becoming rivals of the Portuguese and
were burnt [by the Portuguese];
their Hormuzi vassals.
in the town there were also large
stables for horses, and many straw
Frustrated by what they perceived as a drop in revenues, the Portuguese
lots for their straw, for this port
seized control of the customs house of Hormuz in 1543. Whereas Hormuz
exports many horses to India. he
had previously been a tribute-paying vassal, albeit an irregular one, this move
country has a temperate climate and
marked a new phase of more direct involvement in regional afairs. One
ine air. Ater passing this mountain,
which overlooks the place, all the immediate efect was a drop in the number of ships coming to Hormuz and
interior country is composed of large hence a drop in revenue. Other mitigating factors that could have exacerbated
ields under cultivation and farms, the situation include the growing power of the Ottomans in the area, famine
and all this interior is under the in India, political unrest in Gujarat, and attempts by Lar to block Hormuzi
dominion of the Benjabar, as the trade. Whatever the case may be, a Portuguese schedule of income received at
other parts are’. Hormuz in 1543 shows a drop in revenue in comparison with the document of
1515. Julfar produced 1755 pardaus (as against 3000 pardaus in 1515, a decline
Commentaries of Afonso de Albuquerque, of 42.5 per cent); Khor Fakkan 975 pardaus (as against 1250 in 1515, a decline
Birch 1884 [repr. 1970]: 100.
of 22 per cent); and Bidyah produced nothing. It is diicult to know what
factors might have been responsible for this unhealthy set of igures, but a drop
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10> Fro M T h e Po rT UgUe s e To Mo D e rNIT y
Chart of the Arabian

Sea, image taken from
Universalis Orbis
Hydrographia.
Originally published/produced
in Portugal, 1573. © All Rights
Reserved. he British Library Board.
Licence Number: TRIPRE02.
1518: ‘Beyond the Cape of Rosalgate [Ras al-Hadd], there are many villages and strongholds of the King of Ormus
along the coast as far as the entrance of the Sea of Persia. he said king holds many castles and towns, and on
the Arabian side many isles which lie within the said sea, wherein dwell Moors of high rank. here he keeps his
governors and collectors of his revenues… Passing this fortress of Roçaque [Rustak?], but further inland, is another
place called Mael [?], and beyond this yet another little village called Profam [Khor Fakkan], around which places
are gardens and farms in plenty, which Moors of high standing hold on this mainland, whither they go to take their
pleasure, and to gather in the fruits and increase of their lands.
Passing above this place Profam, we come to another called Julfar, where dwell persons of worth, great navigators
and wholesale dealers. Here is a very great ishery as well of seed-pearls as of large pearls, and the Moors of Ormus
come hither to buy them and carry them to India and many other lands. he trade of this place brings in a great
revenue to the King of Ormus, and all the other places as well yield him revenue.
Beyond these Profam villages are others along the coast, one of which is a large place called Reçoyma [Ras al-
Khaimah]; beyond that yet another with a fortress, called Calvam [Kalba], which the King of Ormus maintains
there for the defence of his lands, inasmuch as behind all these Moors dwell many Moors of the nature of wild Arabs
who are under the rule of Xeques [sheikhs]. hese from time to time come down upon these villages and make war
on them, and this folk oten rebels against its king’.
Observations of Duarte Barbosa, Dames 1967/1: 68–74.
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in the real volume of trade, and perhaps a rise in smuggling as against lawful,
customs duty-paying trade, may have played their part. Furthermore, most
of the goods entering ports like Julfar and Khor Fakkan were not destined
for the Arabian interior, but for transshipment to Hormuz or Basra. Indian
and other merchants, intent on avoiding Portuguese Hormuz, may likewise
have steered clear of Julfar and Khor Fakkan, preferring the more open and
then thriving port of Basra. If Sebastião Rafael Lobato was correctly informed
when he said, in 1546, that many ships went to Julfar, Bahrain, Qatif and
Basra to avoid the customs duties at Hormuz, then smuggling, rather than a
Map of the Middle East real drop in the volume of trade, may explain why Julfar’s revenues shrank so
dramatically between 1515 and 1543.
and part of Asia.
Originally published/produced in Amsterdam, Cornelis
he Portuguese chronicler Barros says that the Banu Jabr controlled the territory
Claesz, 1596 (c) All Rights Reserved. he British Library
Board. Licence Number: TRIPRE02. behind Khor Fakkan, Sohar and Muscat, in other words, the land backing onto
164
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the Batinah coast. Julfar was also threatened by the Banu Jabr. In the winter of
1544–1545, the appointed Hormuzi vizier of Julfar, Reis Abadim, a brother of
Rokn Al Din, the vizier of Hormuz, inally expelled the Banu Jabr from Julfar.
he capitulation of Qatif to the Ottomans in 1550 prompted the Portuguese

governor of India to send a large naval force, bolstered by Hormuzi vessels
and men, to reconquer it and this began several decades of war between the
Portuguese and their Ottoman rivals. One of the iercest naval battles of the
war took place of Khor Fakkan on 9 August 1554, but in many ways the war
was a stalemate. he Portuguese could not be dislodged from Hormuz, and
the Ottomans controlled the region from Basra to Qatif, while Bahrain was
something of a bufer between the two powers’ spheres of inluence. In 1580
the Venetian state jeweller, Gasparo Balbi, made the journey from Basra to
Hormuz and seems to have acquired, presumably from a local informant, a
list of the names of the principal islands and mainland settlements on the
west coast of the UAE, beginning with Zirkuh (Zercho) and including Dalma
(Delmephialmas), Sir Bani Yas (Sirbeniast), Jebel Dhanna (Aldane), Qirqishan
(Cherizan), Dubai (Dibei), Sharjah (Sarba), Ajman (Agiman), Umm al-Qaiwain
(Emigovien), Ra’s al-Ajer (Rasagiar), Dihan (Daioin) and Ra’s al-Khaimah
(Rasaelchime). his is valuable evidence of the longevity of many place names
along the west coast of the UAE.
In 1602 the Safavid Persians seized control of Bahrain. In order for the Hormuzi
traders to continue to buy pearls (see text box right), many were smuggled
from Qatar to Julfar and thence to Hormuz, but in 1614 Safavid-backed forces
sacked Julfar. he Portuguese were worried about revolts at Julfar and Rams
in 1619, but they had far more to concern them in 1622 when they lost Hormuz
to the combined forces of the Safavids, backed by English naval irepower. he Old cannon outside
Portuguese Captain-Major, Ruy Freyre d’Andrade, was captured and sent as a Umm al-Qaiwain Fort.
prisoner to the English factory (trading station) at Surat in India. he following
year the Safavids seized control of Khor Fakkan, Dibba, Lima, Khasab, Rams
1603: ‘Because seed-pearls are
and Julfar.
chiely ished on the coast of Iulfar,
a port in Arabia in the same Persian
In the same year, the Dutch arrived on the scene. Unlike the Portuguese, whose
Gulf, they came to be called Al Iulfar
coercive tactics aimed at steering trade through Hormuz using military force,
– that is, “of Iulfar” – and we
the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), corrupt this a little into aljofar’.
although able to use force, was far more mercantile in outlook. Even though the
spices of south-east Asia were their main interest, the VOC was also interested Pedro Teixeira, Sinclair 1902: 217.
in opening up trade with Persia, particularly for silk, once the Portuguese
165
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Map of the Middle East.

Image taken from heatrvm
Orbis Terrarvm, by Abraham
Ortelius. he earliest, i.e. XX.
Maij, MDLXX edition.
© All Rights Reserved. he British Library Board.
Licence Number: TRIPRE02.
166
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167
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were gone from the scene. he VOC maintained a presence in the area until
1766, largely on the Iranian coast at Gombroon (Bandar Abbas) and later on
Kharg island. Despite the fact that they had less to do with the Arabian ports,
a 1666 Dutch description of the coast of Arabia from Khasab along the Batinah
coast, mentioning Dibba (Dabba), Bidyah (Lebdia), Khor Fakkan (Gorfocan)
and Kalba (Colba) by junior-merchant Jacob Vogel, on board de Meerkadt, is
remarkably careful and detailed.
Ruy Freyre succeeded in escaping from his English captors at Surat and, ater
sailing in April 1623 to Muscat, returned to Goa where he was named ‘General
of the Red Sea and Strait of Ormuz’ and promptly departed with a leet to
above: Seventeenth century
reconquer Portugal’s lost possessions. Hearing of this, the Safavids abandoned
blue and white porcelain plate Sohar and Muscat, of which they had previously taken control, ‘and withdrew
found at Julfar. with all the forces that they could collect to the strongholds of Corofacão [Khor
168
In the Land.indb 168 28/02/2012 12:16

Fakkan], Dobba [Dibba], Lima, Cassapeo [Khasab], Ranuz [Rams] and Iulufar 1633:‘he Imam [Nasr b. Murshid]
[Julfar] – which were of greater strength, since they had formerly belonged to next prepared a force, the command
us [the Portuguese], and yielded good revenues owing to their situations as of which he gave to ‘Alí-bin Ahmed,
trading-ports’. Ruy Freyre irst proceeded to Khor Fakkan, where the local Arab assisted by his cousins of the Al-Ya‘rub
commander welcomed him, showing scant loyalty to his temporary Persian [Ya‘rubi], and ordered him to proceed
overlords. Shortly thereater he received a similar reception at Dibba where to the town of Julfár, which is el-Sir.
In those days that place was held by
‘great signs and demonstrations of joy were made to him from the fortress’. At
the Persian Násiruddín with a force
both places he built a customs house and let a Portuguese ‘factor’ (commercial
of Persians. Ahmed-bin ‘Ali proceeded
agent), as he did shortly thereater at Rams (Ranuz). In 1630 the Portuguese
to besiege them in the fort of el-Sir,
established a garrison at Julfar.
the Persians actively defending
themselves, and some hard ighting
While these events were occurring on the coast, the Nabahinah in the interior of
occurred. Some of the people of el-Sir
Oman lost control of the region and in 1624 the period of the Ya‘rubi Imamate sided with the Persians against the
began. Once again much of southeastern Arabia was united with a capital at Imám’s forces. here was a lanking
Rustaq. A mudbrick fort at Mantiqa al-Sirra in western Abu Dhabi, partially tower connected by a wall with the
excavated in 1997, may have been the fort to which Nasr b. Qahtan Al Hilali fort, and in this tower were stationed
(see text box page 172), an opponent of the irst Ya‘rubi Imam Nasr b. Murshid a body of the garrison who kept up
(see text box right), retired with members of the Bani Yas tribe sometime ater a ire by night and day. On the sea
1633. Aside from Gasparo Balbi’s reference to ‘Sirbeniast’ in 1580, which has side there were also two ships of the
plausibly been identiied as the island of Sir Bani Yas, the account of Nasr b. Christians [Portuguese], which by
Qahtan constitutes the irst mention of the Bani Yas tribe in an historical source. the ire of their guns protected the
fort from assault by the Musalmáns.
he latter determined to attack the
Expelling the Portuguese from the coastal ports of the area was soon a goal
tower, which they seized by a night
of the new Ya‘rubi rulers and in about 1643 the Portuguese lost Khor Fakkan
assault, and from thence they gained
and Sohar, followed by Muscat in 1648. he Ya‘rubi Imams greatly expanded
possession of the fort, one of the
Arab seapower during the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, but this
leaders of the army was placed there
put them on a collision course with the Arabs of Julfar and with the English
as Wálí’.
East India Company (EIC), which had been present in the area since the early
seventeenth century. By 1704 the EIC was carrying out the suppression of what Kashf al-Ghumma, ed. Ross 1874: 160.
they considered to be pirates operating out of Muscat or ‘Muscateers’. Nor
were Arab-English conlicts the only ones of importance in this period, for the
Safavids continued to pose a threat to Arab seafaring as well.
Ater the fall of the Safavid empire, and the expulsion of the invading Afghan
forces, Nadir Shah, ostensibly responding to a request from the Ya‘rubi imam Saif let: John hornton’s chart of the
b. Sultan for help against his rival Sultan b. Murshid, but probably harbouring
Arabian Gulf and its approaches
a desire to conquer Oman himself, sent a leet to Julfar in 1737 where the
commander, Latif Khan, met Imam Saif b. Sultan at Julfar. Although successful was irst published in 1703.
in seizing control of Muscat and in building a fort at Khor Fakkan, the joint Royal Geographical Society.
169
In the Land.indb 169 28/02/2012 12:16

Map showing East Africa,

Arabia, Persia and part
of India. Image taken from
L’Asie où Sont Exactement
Decrites Toutes les Costes de
la Mer, Suivant les Dernieres
Navigations Selon Abulfeda,
Pietro della-Valle, Olearius,
hevenot, 1676.
Originally published/produced in A Paris: chez
l’Autheur, 1676. © All Rights Reserved. he British
Library Board. Licence Number: TRIPRE02.
170
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171
In the Land.indb 171 28/02/2012 12:16

1633–1648: ‘In the meantime operation faced stif resistance from Ahmad b. Sa‘id, of the Al Bu Sa‘id family,
Nâsir-bin-Kátan and his adherents at Sohar. Soon Latif Khan quarreled with his Omani counterpart amd retreated
continued to make incursions into to Julfar. While there, the Persian governor of Fars, Muhammad Taqi Khan,
’Omân… hese proceedings coming demanded that all small crat, Dutch and English included, be commandeered
to the knowledge of the Imâm to provision the troops at Julfar. Reinforcements were sent, and the combined
[Nasr b. Murshid] he wrote to his Persian-Imamate forces, now reunited, defeated the rebels. But when Imam Saif
governor Muhammad-bin-Seif, b. Sultan realised that the Persians intended to conquer Oman for themselves,
el-Haukâny, directing him to lie in war broke out between them, the Persian forces retired again to Julfar, and a
wait for Nâsir-bin-Kátan on the
number of battles at sea ensued. he Persian forces under Assur Sultan at Julfar
conines of ’Omân. he governor
were let isolated and in 1738 were attacked by a force of 20,000 men under Abu
accordingly selected a band of
Al ‘Arab, but these were repulsed. Dutch ships were used to resupply Julfar and
renowned warriors, and on hearing
although the situation was dire, Nader Shah made peace with the Omanis in
of Nâsir’s approach concealed them
1739 in advance of his planned invasion of Sind. he Persian garrison remained
below the sand which forms part of
the boundary of ezh-Zháfrah. On in Julfar until Nader Shah’s assassination on 20 June 1747, led them to abandon
learning this, Nâsir retired into the their post the following year.
fort of ezh-Zháfrah, where he was
joined by the Benu-Yâs’. In 1749 Ahmad b. Sa‘id was elected Imam, the Ya‘rubi dynasty was history,
and the Al Bu Said dynasty, which continues to this day, was born. he new
Salil b. Razik, History of the Imâms and Imam expelled the Persians from the country and it was during his reign that
Seyyids of ‘Omân… from AD 661–1856, two young men of considerable later renown visited Muscat – the German
Badger 1871: 69–70 traveller Carsten Niebuhr in 1765, certainly the greatest explorer of Arabia in
the pre-modern era, and the young Horatio Nelson in 1775, the British victor
over the French leet in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). here were early signs,
however, of disquiet on the opposite shore of southeastern Arabia (see text box
page 173), and although nominally recognising the authority of the new Imam,
the Qawasim ruler of Ra’s al-Khaimah engaged the forces of Ahmad b. Sa‘id at
Bithnah in Fujairah sometime prior to 1758. he Al Qasimi family had been
prominent for over a century. One Sayf b. ‘Ali b. Salih Al Qasimi had signed
a treaty with the Portuguese on behalf of the Ya‘rubi Imam as early as 1647/8.
In the 1720s Rahma b. Matar had become governor of Julfar, a position in which
he was conirmed by Nader Shah, the ‘Napoleon of Asia’ who, in 1729, had
defeated the Afghan forces that had brought down the Safavid dynasty in Iran.
Nader Shah also made the governorship of Julfar hereditary for the descendants
of Rahma b. Matar. When Persian forces withdrew following Nader Shah’s death
in 1747, Rahma b. Matar claimed his independence, refusing to acknowledge
Bithnah Fort guarding the passage
the authority of the Al Bu Sa‘id Imam Ahmad b. Sa‘id and forming an alliance,
through Wadi Bithnah in the in April 1751 with Molla ‘Ali Shah, deputy-governor of Bandar Abbas and
Hajar Mountains. admiral of Nader Shah’s royal leet. Nor was this merely a political gesture,
172
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for Molla ‘Ali Shah was Rahma b. Matar’s father-in-law. Seven years later they 1756: ‘A large piece of land, which
fought together against a coalition consisting of Ahmad b. Sa‘id, Molla ‘Ali protrudes into the sea near Zur
Shah’s enemy Naser Khan (the governor of Lar and Bandar Abbas and hence, [Ras al-Khaimah] and which
technically, Molla ‘Ali Shah’s superior) and the Bani Ma’in Arabs of Qeshm. becomes an island at high tide and
therefore is called the Red Island
[Jazirat al-Hamra] by the Arabs
In the mid-1750s Rahma b. Matar and Molla ‘Ali Shah controlled all of the
is inhabited by a caste who carry
area between and along the southern Persian and south-east Arabian coasts,
the name of Saabs [Banu Za‘ab],
including the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Rahma even collaborated briely with
who live from pearl diving. hey
Naser Khan in an attack on the Hula (Huwailah) Arabs at Bandar-e Taheri on
are numerous and have many
the Iranian coast, allies of the rising power in Iran, Karim Khan Zand. his
small vessels. hey have to obey
position soon changed again, however, and together Rahma b. Matar and Molla the Sjeek [sheikh] of the Guassums
‘Ali Shah sought support from the EIC broker on Hormuz, Mr Shaw, on how [Qawasim] and have to pay him no
best to repulse Naser Khan. In 1758 Molla ‘Ali Shah promised to send some small contribution’.
of his navy to help Rahma b. Matar in his war against the Al Bu Sa‘ids. When
Floor 2007: 36 – probably written by Tido von
Molla ‘Ali Shah married the daughter of Molla Hussain, one of Naser Khan’s
Kniphausen and Jan van der Hulst in 1756 for
generals, Rahma objected and attacked and occupied Hormuz and Bandar
Jacob Mossel, Governor General of the VOC.
Abbas, plundering his father-in-law’s goods and weakening his position in the
region considerably. his situation was luid, however, and by 1763 the father
and son-in-law were again allies. Shortly thereater, the Qawasim also reached Ruins of old houses in Ra’s
a peace agreement with the Al Bu Sa‘ids and their Hula allies. al-Khaimah’s Jazirat al-Hamra.
173
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let: Carsten Niebuhr’s map,

published in 1781 following
his remarkable journey in
the 1760s through Arabia
and beyond.
Royal Geographical Society.
right: Al Jahili Fort, in the

oasis city of Al Ain. Forts
protected and secured
valuable territory and
water sources.
Meanwhile, further south, the discovery of potable water on Abu Dhabi Island
in 1761 led some some members of the Bani Yas tribe, including the Al Bu Falah
section, to settle there and eventually, in 1795, to make it their capital (‘asima).
Other members of the Al Bu Falah settled around Al Ain/Buraimi, forging
alliances with the Dhawahir tribes of the interior, which were on friendly terms
with the Al Bu Sa’id dynasty.
In 1773 the ruler of Ra’s al-Khaimah and Ahmad b. Sa‘id, traditional enemies,
above: For centuries, camel trains
formed an alliance against the Persians, but within two years this had broken
were the only means of crossing down and in 1780 the Qawasim and the Imam of Oman were again at war,
inhospitable terrain. not least because of an Omani territorial claim to Al Sir, a general name for
below: Boats moored along the much of the territory from Ra’s al-Khaimah to Abu Dhabi. An attack by ‘Ibn
Rahmah’on Rustaq in 1783 was probably carried out by Sheikh Saqr of Ra’s al-
sandy shores at Abu Dhabi.
Khaimah, who had an ancestor named Rahmah. A generally low-level state of
naval war persisted between the Qawasim and the Al Bu Sa‘ids during the next
few decades, with attacks recorded by Al Bu Sa‘id forces on Qawasim vessels
ofshore of Dibba in 1798, and an attempted attack on Sohar involving elements
of the Bani Yas tribe from Dubai in the following year.
In 1795 the region once again became the object of foreign intervention from
northeastern Arabia when Saudi forces under Ibrahim b. Sulaiman b. ‘Ufaisan
174
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175
In the Land.indb 175 28/02/2012 12:17

Map of Maritime Arabia, 1855.

Royal Geographical Society.
176
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177
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appeared at Al Ain/Buraimi. As the Carmathians and Banu Jabr had done before
1800: ‘’Abdu-’l-’Azîz sent el-Harîk,
them, the Wahhabis – a movement of puritanical religious reformists named
one of his Nubian slaves, to ’Omân
ater Muhammad b. ‘Abd Al Wahhab (c.1703–1792), supported by the Al Saud
with a force of seven hundred cavalry,
sheikhs of Diriyya in central Arabia (near modern Riyadh) – were expanding
and he waged war upon the Benu-
Yâs until they submitted to him. eastward. In 1799, ater several years of resistance, the Qawasim entered into
He then attacked the Benu-Nâîm a treaty with the Wahhabis. In so doing, the Wahhabis acquired naval forces
and Kutb [Qitab], in conjunction to match their terrestrial ones.
with the Benu-Yâs, and reduced
them also. Moreover, the ezh- Salim b. Bilal Al Harq (see text box let), a former Nubian slave, was sent with a
Zhawâhir and the esh-Shawâmis, large Wahhabi contingent to Buraimi in 1800. here he built a fort, levied tribute
and all the Hadhr of ezh-Zhâhirah for the Saudi ruler and won the allegiance of the Na‘im, Bani Qitab and other
eventually yielded to him. He took tribes of the Dhahirah who ‘quickly identiied themselves with the Wahhabi
up his residence at Tawwâm, and cause’, in the words of J.G. Lorimer. Inspired in part by strong, anti-Ibadi zeal,
levied whatever amount of Zakâh the Wahhabis intended to use Buraimi as a base from which to launch further
he chose from the people’.
attacks against Oman, the Imamate tradition of which they considered heretical.
Lt. H.H. Whitelock, who was in the area in the 1820s, noted that the Wahhabi
Salil b. Razik, History of the Imâms and
hatred of anything suggestive of the worship of saints, which they considered
Seyyids of ‘Omân… from AD 661–1856,
a sign of polytheism, led them to destroy ‘several ancient buildings of the
Badger 1871: 230.
Persians called Senems, (an idol or image)’, along the coast of Ra’s al-Khaimah.
178
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In response to Wahhabi aggression the Bani Yas and Dhawahir formed an

alliance with the Al Bu Saids against the Wahhabi–Qawasim forces.
But Wahhabi aggression was not the only threat to the autonomy of the local
Arab tribes in the late eighteenth century. In 1798 Napoleon conquered Egypt
and on 25 January 1799, he wrote to Sa‘id b. Sultan from Cairo to inform him
‘of the arrival of the French army in Egypt’, assuring him of his ‘desire to protect
all the merchant vessels you may send to Suez’. his, and an even more explicit
letter addressed to Tipu Sahib (1749–1799), the Sultan of Mysore, expressing
‘the desire of delivering you from the iron yoke of England’, were intercepted by
Capt. Wilson, the English agent at Mocha (Yemen). he Marquis of Wellesley,
the then Governor-General of India, was so alarmed at the overtures made by
Napoleon to Sa‘id b. Sultan and Tipu Sahib that he immediately sent his Resident
at Bushehr to Muscat to conclude a treaty that would exclude any possibility of
French inluence in the area.
he death of the Al Bu Sa‘id Imam Seyyid Sultan in 1805 and a temporary loss let: Fujairah Fort was
of Omani inluence at sea was matched by an increase in the activities of the recently reconstructed to
Qawasim, for whom raids at sea were an integral part of seeking to achieve
relect its former glory.
and maintain territorial autonomy and wealth. Qawasim expansion included
the construction of a fort at Khor Fakkan by Sultan b. Saqr Al Qasimi, the
above: a view from the ruins
ruler of Ra’s al-Khaimah. Later, ater they had deposed him and installed the of Khor Fakkan Fort towards
Sheikh of Rams in his place, the Wahhabis stationed their own forces at Khor the town and the sea.
Fakkan. he distinguished American Middle East historian Bayly Winder once
characterised the state of almost constant naval conlict that marked the early
nineteenth century as a ‘religio-commercial maritime war being waged between
the Ibadites of coastal Oman and the Wahhabi Arabs’. Previously, the EIC had
not intervened in the almost constant warfare prosecuted by Rahma b. Matar
and his contemporaries in Bandar Abbas, Hormuz and Qeshm. However, ater
the irst English casualties in the Al Bu Sa‘id-Wahhabi/Qawasim war occurred in
1797, the Bombay Marine, the EIC’s naval arm, attempted inefectually on three
occasions, in 1806, 1809 and 1816, to suppress the maritime enemies of their
Omani allies with the aim of enforcing what R.G. Landen called a ‘maritime
peace’ and of preventing war at sea.
he Wahhabi imprisonment of the ruler of Ra’s al-Khaimah, however, contained

the seeds of the Wahhabis’ own destruction. Ater he was deposed, Sultan b. Saqr
was taken of to the Saudi capital Dariyya as a prisoner. He managed, however,
to escape and reach Jiddah. here he succeeded in contacting Muhammad ‘Ali,
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180
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the Ottoman sultan’s Viceroy in Egypt. Desirous of forging an anti-Wahhabi let and bottom let: A naval
alliance with Sayyid Sa‘id b. Sultan, Muhammad ‘Ali sent Sultan b. Saqr to him
artist’s rendering of Ra’s al-
as an envoy. he Omani Imam promised not only to support an alliance, but to
Khaimah when the schooner
restore Sultan b. Saqr to his former position in Ra’s al-Khaimah if they could
manage to defeat the Wahhabi Qawasim. Prince of Wales, together
with other boats, bombarded
Eventually, ater a seven-year campaign in which the Holy cities of Mecca
the fort and sank vessels in
and Medina were captured, followed by a seven-month siege of the Dariyya,
the harbour, 1810.
Muhammad ‘Ali’s son Ibrahim Pasha and his Egyptian army defeated the
Saudi emir Abdullah b. Saud in September 1818, exiling most of the Saudi
sheikhly family to Cairo. he Government of India welcomed the news of
Ibrahim Pasha’s victory, hoping that it could combine its naval power with
the Ottoman land forces against the Wahhabi Qawasim in Ra’s al-Khaimah,
Sharjah and Ajman and sending an envoy, Capt. George F. Sadlier, to Ibrahim
Pasha at Dariyya. he prospect of more direct Ottoman intervention in the
region, however, alarmed Sayyid Sa‘id who feared that the Ottomans might
wish to expand into Oman. In the event, no joint action ever took place, and
on 1 November, 1819, Sir William Grant Keir let Bombay with a land force
of 3547 men and, with the assistance of 600 Omani soldiers, conquered Ra’s
al-Khaimah on 9 December. he rest of the other Qawasim strongholds were
destroyed in the following months and on 8 January 1820, a General Treaty
of Peace was drawn up and signed by Sheikh Hassan b. Rahmah of Khatt and
Falayah (formerly of Ra’s al-Khaimah). Others signing on the same day or
over the next few days included Sheikh Qadhib b. Ahmad of Jazirat al-Hamra;
Sheikh Shakhbut of Abu Dhabi, on behalf of his son Sheikh Tahnun; Sheikh
Husain b. ‘Ali of Dhayah; Sheikh Zaid b. Saif, on behalf of his young nephew
the Sheikh of Dubai; Sheikh Sultan b. Saqr of Sharjah; Sayyid ‘Abdul Jalil, on
behalf of the sheikhs of Bahrain; Sheikh Rashid b. Humaid of Ajman; and
Sheikh Abdullah b. Rashid of Umm al-Qaiwain. As John Wilkinson has noted,
the General Treaty of Peace, the later annual Maritime Truces of 1835–1852,
and the Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity of 1853 ‘led Trucial Oman to evolve
politically apart from the rest of Oman’, setting the conditions that would
lead ultimately to the emergence of the UAE. It was as a result of the trucial
system begun in 1835, initially to ensure peace at sea between all parties in the
region during the pearling season, that the terms ‘Trucial Coast’ and ‘Trucial
Oman’ came to be used for what is today the UAE.
Beginning in 1825 the Government of India maintained what was called a

Native Agency at Sharjah, the holder of which, oten an Indian Muslim (like
181
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182
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Khan Bahadur ‘Abd Al Latif and his son Khan Bahadur ‘Isa b. ‘Abd Al Latif, let and above: Bidiyah Mosque, on
who between them held the oice from 1890–1935), was expected to report on the east coast, is the oldest mosque
afairs along the coast to the British Resident at Bushehr, who usually made
in the UAE that is still in use.
an annual visit to the region. his arrangement proved serviceable until 1934
when oversight was transferred to the Political Agent on Bahrain.
he General Treaty of Peace did not bring peace to the region, however. Slave 1839: ‘he time is not distant when
trading became a major problem. Warfare at sea continued. A new Wahhabi we must either extend to them
state, based at Riyadh, had emerged in the 1820s, not long ater the destruction of [i.e. the littoral shaikdoms] our
Dariyya, and immediately began claiming tribute from the sheikhs of the Trucial avowed protection or withdraw
coast. Although Ottoman forces under Khurshid Pasha defeated the Wahhabis from interfering with the afairs of
in 1838–9, it soon emerged that the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt, Mehmet ‘Ali, the Gulf further than by keeping
and his general in Arabia, Khurshid Pasha, had every intention of conquering a cruizer or two on the station for
the sole purpose of protecting our
Arabia for themselves. his posed an obvious threat to the sheikdoms on the
trade, and letting Sheiks, Pachas,
Arabian coast who appealed for British protection, should Khurshid Pasha push
Egyptians, and Persians ight it out
on beyond Qatif to attack Bahrain and ultimately the Trucial coast.
amongst themselves’.
hen, in mid-April, 1839, Wahhabi forces under Sa‘ad b. Mutlaq landed at

Capt. T. Edmunds, to the Chief Secretary in
Sharjah. Sa‘ad told the Qawsaim emir Sheikh Sultan b. Saqr that he represented Bombay 5 March, 1839.
the Wahhabi emir Khalid b. Saud, in whose name he proposed to reoccupy
183
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1840: ‘he Brymee [Buraimi] Buraimi but Lt T. Edmunds (see text box page 183), the Assistant Resident at
dates are considered superior to Bushehr, warned Sheikh Sultan that Sa‘d was more likely an agent of Khurshid
any produced in the province of Pasha’s. he possibility of an Ottoman or Egyptian presence was equally
Oman. Wheat grown in the valley alarming to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, who informed Mehmet
is of a ine description, but does ‘Ali via his Consul-General in Cairo that ‘the British Government cannot permit
not appear to be much cultivated. him to establish his naval and military power on the shores of the Persian Gulf,
Fruit, such as oranges and lemons,
and that if he should persevere in such projects, he must expect that a British
grapes, igs, mangoes, olives and
force will dispossess him from any naval station at which he may attempt to
pomegranates, grow in great
establish himself on the Persian Gulf’. In the end, Sa‘ad b. Mutlaq withdrew
perfection. Cofee, too, was formerly
amid much intrigue concerning the real motivations of Khurshid Pasha, the
cultivated on the hill Hafeet [Hait],
Wahhabi occupying forces sent to Sharjah, Mehmet ‘Ali’s real designs, and
but from the indolence of the
inhabitants, or other causes, its British Indian policy towards the Trucial sheikhs. One by-product of the afair
growth has been abandoned’. was the reconnaissance of Al Ain/Buraimi in late January 1840, by Capt. Atkins
Hamerton of the iteenth Bombay Native Infantry, the irst documented visit
Capt. Hamerton’s Route (abridged), in by a European to the oasis (see text box let).
January 1840, from Shargah to Brymee, in
Hughes homas 1985: 117.
Wahhabi expansion became an issue yet again in 1845 when Sa‘ad b. Mutlaq
returned to Buraimi. It was not until the summer of 1848, however, that Sa‘id b.
Tahnun, ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Saif b. Hamud of Sohar expelled the Wahhabi
garrison from Buraimi. Five years later, one of the claimants to the Al Bu Sa‘id
leadership, Qais b. ‘Azzan, solicited the support of the Saudi emir Faisal b. Turki
Al Sa‘ud, who responded by sending an army of 5000 under the command of
his son Abdullah to Buraimi. In the end, Abdullah was bought of and returned
to central Arabia, having done nothing for Qais. Again in the summer of 1869,
however, we read of the Al Bu Sa‘id Imam ‘Azzan b. Qais driving the Wahhabis
out of Al Ain/Buraimi.
From 1877 the Bani Yas began to take control of the oasis from their rivals the
Na’im. Gradually, with the Wahhabis gone, the Bani Yas, or more particularly
their Al Bu Falah section, grew in inluence in the interior of the country, forging
alliances with several tribes of the Hinawi group further south in Oman (by
the early eighteenth century tribal factionalism in southeastern Arabia was
pronounced; tribes belonged to either the Ghairi or the Hinawi faction). Much
of this success must be ascribed to the great prestige and inluence of their ruler
(see text box page 185), Zayed b. Khalifa (r. 1855–1909). As J.B. Kelly noted in
1972, Zayed b. Khalifa was, ‘by the turn of the century… the acknowledged
arbiter of tribal disputes as far south as ‘Ibri. He also acted as the guardian of
Al Bu Sa‘id interests in the Dhahirah, receiving in return an annual farizah, or
payment, from the Sultan’.
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1877: ‘he Chief of this tribe [Bani Yas] is Sheikh Zaid-bin-Khalífah, a man of
strong character, and perhaps the sole individual in these parts possessing any
real personal power and authority. He resides at Abúthabí, and there are four
smaller Sheikhs subordinate to him residing at el-Bereymí. his tribe takes the
lead on the Hinawí side in all dissensions between the Hinawís and Gháirís at
el-Bereymí, and during Seyyid ’Azán’s reign held the predominant position here.
he Beni Yás occupy the villages of Jemí, Katáreh [Qattarah], Heylí [Hili]…
and the Wádí-Mes’údí… at el-Bereymí’.
Miles 1877: 52.
‘El-Bereymí is the appellation usually applied to a collection of seven villages

or settlements, of which the one, especially bearing that name, is the largest
and most important. he others are Su’areh [Suwara] to the N., Jemí [Jimi],
Katáreh [Qattara] and Heylí [Hili] to the N.W., and ’Ain [Al Ain] and Mo’taridh
[Mutaredh] to the S.E.; and the population of the whole may be estimated at
12,000 to 15,000. From the outside the appearance of these settlements is very
pretty and refreshing, the date palms and orchards forming a green-setting to the
low palm leaf huts, which are scattered throughout, and which just peep through
the foliage… hey are not dependent on the annual rainfall, which is small, but
are able to irrigate with certainty by means of their valuable aqueducts drawn
from the hill range as well as from wells, water being abundant and at no great
depth. Each settlement has at least one of these canals, that of el-Bereymí Proper
being brought from a perennial spring in the hills distant about twenty miles…
El-Bereymí formerly possessed two forts, only one of which is now standing,
the other has been demolished, and lies a heap of ruins. Both are said to have
been built by the Showámis, a strong clan of the Na’ím occupying chiely the
Wádi Jezze [Jizzi], but the fort still standing was improved and strengthened
by the Wahhábís during their occupation… Inside the fort is a residence for the
Sheikh with accomodation for the men, and some godowns [warehouses]. Water
is abundantly provided by two wells, which would yield suicient for a large
garrison. I tasted the water of one, and it was perfectly sweet and good. Near the
outer gate is a brass 24-pounder, mounted as a ield-piece, having the name of
Seyyid-bin-Sultán, A.H. 1258 in Arabic, and the English date 1842. It is one of a
batch of 20 that Seyyid Sa’íd procured from America at that time for his corvette
the Sultan. his gun was brought from Sohár by Seyyid ’Azán in 1870, in his
expedition against Bereymí, and was used against the fort it now defends…
Both as regards strength and position it is the most important fort in this part
of ‘Omán, and is generally regarded as the key of the country towards the west’.
Miles 1877: 53–55.
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On Abu Dhabi: ‘With the exception of a dozen houses and an imposing

castle, the whole town is built of date-mats, and extends along the seashore
for nearly 2 miles. he only industries of the town and of all the coast are
pearl-ishing and drying ish for export… he town of Abu habi is situated
on an island at high tide, as the backwater of its harbour turns in a few
miles beyond the settlement, and forms a channel 200 yards wide, and, even
at low water, 5 feet deep… Right in the midst of the tidal current stands a
fort, built by the predecessors of Sheikh Zeid… ordinary camels with their
riders have a close escape from drowning every time they cross. Our animals
were in up to the breast, and had there been a slip or a stumble we should
have come to grief ’.
Zwemer 1902: 56, 59–60.
Dubai ‘has many good houses built of native stone, and plastered on the
outside; the harbour is an inlet, or khor, and the town is built on both sides
of this, so that ferry-boats ply between continually, and the place has a
business-like aspect… At the present rate of growth, Debai will outstrip all
the other towns, and soon be a port of call for steamers’.
Zwemer 1902: 56.
Pearling: ‘In Oman a strange balance of labor has been set up by the
coincidence of the pearling season with the date harvest. Starting about
June there is a migration of men northward from the Batinah Coast to
the Trucial Coast; these men work the pearl isheries. Some go north in
caravans, others sail up in their bedens and other dhows. Opposed to the
lood of men who make this temporary migration is a counter-migration of
women who move southward from the Trucial Coast to the Batinah Coast;
these women are hastening to the date groves for the date harvest. Oten
the women journey southward on the caravans which are returning from
carrying the men to the Trucial Coast. Several months later, in September,
the journeyers start the return home’.
Bowen 1951: 169.
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Over time, the Trucial Coast, as it was commonly called from the 1850s onwards,
became more and more of a British protectorate, albeit one without a military
component or civil administration. Local sheikhs received annual subsidies in
return for prohibiting mining concessions or landing access to other nations
without British approval. More generally, this was part of a British policy aimed
at precluding any French, Russian or German establishment in the region. An
‘Exclusive Agreement’ of 1892 was intended to insure that this was the case as
it forbade the Trucial States to correspond with any power other than Britain
without express permission to do so; to receive any foreign political representatives
within their territories; or to transfer any part of their lands to another state. A
proposal for a formal protectorate was mooted in 1901 by the Government of
India, but rejected on the grounds that the status quo functioned perfectly well. Dhayah Fort, Ra’s al-Khaimah,
a strategic military fortiication
Fishing and pearling continued to be important occupations along the coast,
while herding and agriculture were practiced in the interior. British Indian that played a major role in the
rupees became the common currency in the port towns, while Maria heresa history of the UAE.
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On Shaikh Zayed – ‘His reputation

dollars circulated commonly inland. At the turn of the twentieth century
with certain tribes of the Dhahirah
the American missionary Samuel M. Zwemer made three journeys in the
had steadily increased from the
region: from Sharjah to Sohar, via Wadi Hatta, in May 1900; along the coast
time that he took up residence
from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, in February 1901; and from Abu Dhabi to Sohar
in the Buraimi Oasis in 1946. It
via Al Ain/Buraimi, in May 1901. Although he did not land there, he noted
was, for instance, largely through
that ‘Dalma is a great centre for the pearl-boats during the season, and one
his inluence with the Duru‘ and
the western Janabah at ‘Izz, in of the principal markets in the gulf. Merchants from the Arabian and the
Oman proper, that hesiger was Persian coast meet here to secure bargains in pearls, and competition is oten
able to travel through inner Oman very keen’. He noted that Abu Dhabi (see text box page 186) was ‘under an
in 1949–50. Zayid’s resoluteness independent ruler, Sheikh Zeid, and his inluence is wide and strong over
during the Saudi lodgement in the all the tribe inland as far as Jebel Akhdar’. He also made some prescient
Buraimi Oasis from 1952 to 1955 comments on Dubai.
increased his stature still further,
and in the succeeding decade it In 1911 the sheikhs of the Trucial States gave an undertaking not to confer
continued to grow. concessions for sponge ishing or pearling to anyone without irst discussing it
with the British Political Resident. A 1913 German report on trade in the region
Much of Zayid’s authority derives
listed pearls (see text box page 193) as the principal export of eastern Arabia.
from his standing with the bedouin
he power of the pearl, however, was soon to be sorely tested. Five years later the
tribes, like the ‘Awamir, which
irst cultured pearls were produced by Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan. his had a
frequent the vicinity of the oasis in
devastating efect on the economics of the pearling industry and by 1935 Japan
the course of their wanderings....
was producing 10,000,000 pearls per year. A further economic demand was
Zayid also has strong links… with
the Duru‘ and with the powerful made by Britain in 1922 when the sheikhs of the Trucial States were induced
Wahibah of the eastern sands, to give an undertaking that they would not confer oil concessions to any state
whose shaikhs visit him frequently. or company not sanctioned by the British government.
hese connections have obviously
been strengthened since he replaced Ater World War I Ibn Saud gradually consolidated his rule over much of the
his brother as ruler of Abu Dhabi Arabian peninsula and with this the old Wahhabi aspirations in southeastern
in August 1966. With the increased Arabia enjoyed a revival. In 1925 Ibn Jiluwi, governor of Al Hasa, sent a tax-
revenue which oil production collecting group to Buraimi. A Saudi claim to the frontier with Abu Dhabi
has brought him and with the right up to the Buraimi oasis was made in 1949 and in 1952 armed Saudi forces
sound basis of territorial and
occupied that part of the oasis belonging to Oman (see text box page 193). British
tribal strength which he has long
advisers dissuaded the rulers of Oman and Abu Dhabi from using force to drive
possessed, he will undoubtedly, if he
them out. Two years later a Saudi police post was set up in Buraimi as part of an
does not already, command as much
Anglo-Saudi arbitration agreement, but a year later, ater the breakdown of the
power in the Dhahirah and along
arbitration tribunal, the post was removed by force and the Abu Dhabi–Saudi
the desert marches of Oman as his
frontier was declared by the British government.
grandfather, Zayid ibn Khalifah,
commanded in his time’.
By the 1930s many changes were occurring in the region. British lights (Imperial
Kelly 1972: 141 Airways, later BOAC and now BA) began to use Sharjah as a refuelling stop and
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landing rights for seaplanes were acquired there and in Dubai, Ra’s al-Khaimah
and on Sir Bani Yas. Landing fees provided valuable income for the ruler of
Sharjah, and emergency landing strips existed on Sir Bani Yas and at Kalba.
Just prior to the outbreak of war, the British government began to approve
a series of oil exploration concessions in Trucial States territory. Petroleum
Concessions (Trucial Coast) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iraq Petroleum
Company (itself owned by a consortium consisting of British Petroleum, Shell,
Compagnie Française des Pétroles, Near East Development Corporation [jointly
owned by Mobil and Standard Oil of New Jersey], and Calouste Gulbenkian’s
Participations and Explorations Co.), acquired exploration rights for Dubai and
Sharjah in 1937, followed by Kalba in 1938 (prior to its reintegration into the
Emirate of Sharjah in 1951) and Abu Dhabi in 1939. In 1945 concessions were
obtained in Ra’s al-Khaimah, followed by Umm al-Qaiwain in 1949, Ajman in
1951 and Fujairah in 1952. Interrupted by the war, exploration in Abu Dhabi
only began in 1950. Superior Oil Co. of California acquired ofshore exploration
rights in Abu Dhabi in 1949, but abandoned these in 1952. Although a series
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right: he late Sheikh Zayed b. of exploration wells (Ra’s Sadr, in Abu Dhabi; Jebel Ali, in Dubai; and Juwaiza,
in Sharjah) failed to strike oil, discoveries in Abu Dhabi – ofshore in 1958
Sultan Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu
and onshore in 1959 – soon followed and led to oil production and export
Dhabi and President of the UAE,
beginning in 1962.
and the late Sheikh Rashid b. Saeed
Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and One further activity that occurred during the war was an anti-locust campaign
in 1943–1944. As part of Britain’s war efort, the Middle East Supply Centre
Vice President of the UAE.
(MESC) was created by the Ministry of War Transport with the aim of better
coordinating regional economic planning. his involved supplying British
forces with everything from foodstufs to silk for parachutes. Locusts were a
real threat to food supplies and in 1943 the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit was
formed to eradicate locust breeding grounds. he great Arabian explorer, Sir
Wilfred hesiger, participated in this work, much of which centred on the well-
watered oasis of Dhaid, at that time under the control of the Sheikh of Kalba.
he Anti-Locust Unit were responsible for opening a motor route between
Dhaid and the Batinah coast.
Politically, the status of the Trucial States had been under discussion since 1937,
when the Political Resident on Bahrain had made a proposal to the rulers of
the Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain calling for coordination and uniication of
education, judicial and legislative systems, as well as the creation of a common
nationality with a federal council. While there was considerable support for this
proposal, World War II intervened and the idea was never taken any further.
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that as it had been actively discussed
Qasr al-Hosn or the White
throughout the 1940s, the idea had gained ground.
Fort, former home of the
rulers of Abu Dhabi. Ater the partition of India in 1948 and the dissolution of the Government of
India, the employment of Native Agents was abandoned and a British Political
Oicer was appointed. he oice was upgraded in 1953 to a Political Agency
and transferred from Sharjah to Dubai in 1954. In 1957 a new Political Agency
was opened in Abu Dhabi. Security concerns for workers at remote locations
in the oil and construction industries led, in 1951, to the establishment of the
Trucial Oman Scouts, using British oicers, and the following year Britain began
giving modest assistance in matters of health, education and services. Just as
importantly, 1952 also witnessed the formation of the Trucial States Council in
which the rulers of the seven emirates could meet on an informal basis, chaired
by the British Political Agent. A ive-year plan was drated in 1956 and, in light
of events elsewhere in the Arab world, including the Suez crisis in Egypt, the
Dubai Creek in the 1960s. work of the Council became increasingly serious. Committees were established
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to oversee health, education and agriculture in 1958; a second ive-year plan

was drated in 1961; and a Deliberative Committee was formed in 1964 to set
priorities and make recommendations to the Council.
he next year saw the creation of a Development Oice and a Development

Fund. Although an ofer of funding was received from the Arab League, Britain
opposed this for fear that it could lead to revolution in the region, of the sort
propounded by Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, or communism, as had taken
root in the People’s Republic of Southern Yemen following the collapse in 1967
of the British-supported South Arabian Federation. he creation of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf (also known at times as
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman, and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf) did not do anything to lessen fears of
conlict ahead. British funds (£1.2 million) were therefore made available for
development and for the Trucial States’ second ive-year plan. But once Sheikh
Zayed b. Sultan Al Nahyan became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, replacing
he late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan his brother Sheikh Shakhbut, an initial grant £500,000 in oil revenues was
contributed to the Development Fund as well. Sheikh Zayed was soon the
Al Nahyan, frequently referred to
largest contributor to the fund.
as the ‘Father of the Nation’.
Meanwhile, in January, 1968, the British Labour government of Harold Wilson
informed the rulers of Qatar, Bahrain and the Trucial States that it would quit
the region within four years. his created real fears for the viability of the Trucial
States, particularly as Saudi Arabia continued to assert a claim to most of Abu
Dhabi, including all of its onshore oilields all the way up to Al Ain, as it had
done since the early nineteenth century, and Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran, had
revived a claim to the Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa islands, dating
back to the nineteenth century.
Just a few weeks ater learning of the British decision, Sheikh Zayed of Abu
Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid of Dubai met to discuss the future at Semeih, halfway
between their two capitals. his resulted in an agreement according to create a
federation and an invitation to the rulers of Qatar, Bahrain and the other Trucial
States to confer together on their common future. A meeting on 25 February
1968 led to an agreement to establish the ‘Federation of the Arab Emirates’,
but Qatar and Bahrain later withdrew from the project, deciding to opt for
independence. he election of Edward Heath’s Conservative government in
1970 did nothing to change the British position, although a decision reairming
the prior proposal to withdraw from the area was not made until 1 March 1971.
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On 10 July 1971, the rulers of the seven Trucial States met to discuss their future, ‘If the desert has made the tribes
now that Qatar and Bahrain were no longer interested in a union. On 18 July of the Trucial Coast, it is the sea
1971, a provisional constitution for a union of the United Arab Emirates, minus that made the Trucial States, and
Ra’s al-Khaimah, was signed in Jumeirah, with Sheikh Zayed as the UAE’s irst the contrasting circumstances of
bedouin and maritime life ofer
President, and Sheikh Rashid as Vice President.
a key to the understanding of the
political complex that has ensued.
he British treaties governing their presence in the area and their relations with
For here the two kinds of life have
the emirates were due to expire on 2 December 1971. he Shah then made it
not remained hostile and apart, each
clear to Sir William Luce, the British Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative
repelling the other. Whilst not the
in the area, that he would not tolerate the formation of the UAE unless he
same, bedouin society and the society
obtained control over Abu Musa, owned by Sharjah, and the Greater and Lesser of the settled people in the coastal
Tunb islands, owned by Ra’s al-Khaimah. In late November, 1971, under heavy towns and villages are not mutually
pressure, Sharjah signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran that exclusive and, just as the settled
provided for shared authority over Abu Musa, although without any concession people have been active in the desert,
on Sharjah’s part of sovereignty. On the inal day of Ra’s al-Khaimah’s protection the bedouin have played a part in
under its treaty with Britain, Iran attacked the Tunbs and seized them, killing urban life and the life of the sea’.
a number of Ra’s al-Khaimah policemen in the process. Finally, on 10 February
Lienhardt 2001: 25.
1972, Ra’s al-Khaimah joined the federation and the UAE was complete. With
such threats from outside forces thus realised, the wisdom of forming a union
was clearly vindicated. It was not until 1975 that Saudi Arabia’s claim to most
of Abu Dhabi territory was dropped, although the UAE has never accepted An aerial view of Abu Dhabi
their shared border. in the late 1960s.
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Capital Gardens, Abu Dhabi.

194
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eP ILogU e
epilogue
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196
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eP ILogU e
he UAE’s passage to modernity is an unusual one. Never a colony, nor even

a protectorate, the individual emirates retained their sovereignty, yet were
nonetheless shielded by treaties of protection for over 150 years before coming
together to achieve nationhood. Unlike the short-lived union between Egypt
and Syria, or the South Arabian Federation, the UAE has survived in troubled
times and forged not only an identity (see text box page 193), but a society and
a physical infrastructure that leaves many visitors to the country astonished.
Both the scale and the pace of development have been unparalleled in world
history. Despite many obstacles, some of which are rooted in the early history
of the region and involve complex social, religious, political and ethnic factors,
the UAE has achieved a standard of living, as well as social and political stability,
which is unrivaled in the Middle East today. It may be a young nation, but it
builds on a history, at once complex and multifaceted, stretching back many
millennia. Visitors to the area oten feel that the Trucial States and the UAE
let: Cofeepot sculpture on a
were uninteresting prior to the discovery of oil. he pages of this book have,
it is hoped, dispelled that myth, and replaced it with a far richer historical roundabout in Abu Dhabi.
tapestry replete with important and interesting topics for further research above: Sheikh Zayed Mosque in
and contemplation.
Abu Dhabi, the largest and most
spectacular mosque in the UAE.
here is, of course, a huge amount that could be said about the very recent past in
the UAE. Developments in all facets of life, combined with the rapidly increasing
geopolitical, commercial, educational, touristic and cultural importance of the
country, have not gone unnoticed in the wider world. Space does not permit
even a brief survey of all of the developments of the past few decades, but a poem
by one of the UAE’s best known poets, the late Hamad Bu Shihab (1936–2002),
can perhaps serve in its stead:
Yesterday these Emirates were torn apart

In them destructive men created havoc.
And today we are enjoying security and stability
Forcing envious people to admire us.
Yesterday these were disunited emirates
Sufering ignorance, poverty, illness and chronic disease,
And today the Lord has bestowed upon us his grace
In uncountable abundance.
Yesterday, few people knew of our name
And today our voice reaches all corners of the Earth.
Oh! What a diference between our yesterday and today.
Burj Khalifa, at 828 metres, is
the tallest building in the world.
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Dubai Creek is the historical heart and soul of the city.

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BIBLI o gr AP hI cAL e s s Ay
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bibliographical essay
he literature on both the archaeology and the history of the UAE has expanded dramatically in recent
years, but much of it is diicult for the non-specialist to ind. Books like the present one, if they do nothing
else, can at least bring the most important results of such studies to a wider audience. Within the UAE,
more particularly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, some general books dealing with the country’s archaeology
are already available, such as Shirley Kay’s Emirates Archaeological Heritage (Dubai: Motivate, 1988;
very out-of-date) and Peter Hellyer’s Hidden Riches (Abu Dhabi: Union National Bank, 1998), but the
pace of discovery is such that books like these, and that includes the present one, soon require updating.
In the pages that follow I have by no means listed everything of relevance. Rather, I thought it most
helpful to alert readers to a relatively small number of sources, mainly in English, to which they can
turn for more information (more extensive bibliographies, with many works in German and French, can
be found in Potts, D.T., he Arabian Gulf in antiquity, vols. 1–2. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990; ‘Before
the Emirates: An archaeological and historical account of developments in the region c.5000 BC to 676
AD’. In: Al Abed, I. and Hellyer, P., eds. United Arab Emirates: A new perspective. London: Trident Press,
2001: 28–69; and ‘he archaeology and early history of the Persian Gulf’. In: Potter, Lawrence G., ed.
he Persian Gulf in History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009: 27–56). What follows here is selective
and by no means exhaustive. Moreover, some of the titles listed with respect to speciic chapters discuss
material from a longer timespan, but I have generally refrained from listing the same work over and over
again, even though its contents relate to more than one chapter. Most of these works will not be available
in local libraries, but many of the books and monographs can be ordered online and an increasing
number of journals, like Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy and Antiquity, are available online as well.
Annual issues of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, a yearly meeting held in London
each July, contain new studies of archaeological material from the UAE, as does Tribulus, the Journal of
the Emirates Natural History Group, published in Abu Dhabi.
In the Land.indb 200 28/02/2012 12:17

Chapter 1 > Witnesses of the past

As this is a book for the general reader, it does not go into great detail on the geology or geomorphology of the UAE, but additional
information can easily be found in the works of Glennie, K.W. (‘Geology of Abu Dhabi’. In: Osborne, P.E., ed. Desert ecology of
Abu Dhabi: A review and recent studies. Newbury: Pisces Publications, 1996: 16–35; ‘Evolution of the Emirates’ land surface: An
introduction’. In: Al Abed, I. and Hellyer, P., eds. United Arab Emirates: A new perspective. London: Trident Press, 2001: 9–27). A
popular ield guide to the geology of Oman, published in 1995, is also useful for understanding the geological processes involved
in the formation of the landmass occupied by the UAE, particularly with respect to plate tectonics and the origins of the Hajar
Mountain range (Hanna, S. Field guide to the geology of Oman, vol. 1. Western Hajar Mountains and Musandam. Muscat: he
Historical Association of Oman, 1995). Anyone interested in better understanding the sea level and shoreline changes that have
afected the west coast of the UAE should consult Kurt Lambeck’s 1996 article on the subject (‘Shoreline reconstructions for the
Persian Gulf since the last glacial maximum’. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 142: 1996: 43–57). Early climate is dealt with
in Parker, A.G. et al. ‘Developing a framework of Holocene climatic change and landscape archaeology for the lower Gulf region,
southeastern Arabia’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 17: 2006: 125–130; Parker, A.G. et al. ‘A record of Holocene climate
change from lake geochemical analyses in southeastern Arabia’. Quaternary Research 66: 2006: 465–476; and Parker, A.G. and
Goudie, A.S. ‘Development of the Bronze Age landscape in the southeastern Arabian Gulf: New evidence from a buried shell
midden in the eastern extremity of the Rub’ al-Khali desert, Emirate of Ra’s al-Khaimah, U.A.E.’ Arabian Archaeology and
Epigraphy 18: 2007: 132–138.
Chapter 2 > he irst inhabitants

For the latest Palaeolithic data, see Armitage, S.J., Jasim, S.A., Marks, A.E., Parker, A.G., Usik, V.I. and Uerpmann, H.-P., ‘he
southern route “out of Africa”: Evidence for an early expansion of modern humans into Arabia’, Science 331 (2011): 453–456;
Zorich, Z., ‘New evidence for mankind’s earliest migrations’, Archaeology 64/3 (2011): 9–10, 66; and Petraglia, M.D. and Rose, J.I.,
eds. he evolution of human populations in Arabia: Paleoenvironments, prehistory and genetics. Berlin: Springer, 2009.
he available data on early diet is conveniently assembled in several studies by Mark Beech (In the land of the Icthyophagi:
Modelling ish exploitation in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman from the 5th millennium BC to the Late Islamic period. Oxford:
BAR International Series 1217, 2004); ‘Archaeobotanical evidence for early date consumption in the Arabian Gulf’. In: he date
palm: From traditional resource to green wealth. Abu Dhabi: he Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 2003: 11–31;
and ‘he development of ishing in the U.A.E.: A zooarchaeological perspective.’ In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P.,
eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E.
London: Trident Press, 2004: 290–308). For the excavations on Akab, see Charpentier, V. and Méry, S. ‘A Neolithic settlement
near the Strait of Hormuz: Akab Island, United Arab Emirates’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 38: 2008: 117–136;
and Méry, S., Charpentier, V., Auxiette, G. and Pelle, E., ‘A dugong bone mound: he Neolithic ritual site on Akab in Umm al-
Quwain, United Arab Emirates’. Antiquity 83: 2009: 696–708.
Studies of the stone tool technology of the prehistoric UAE can oten be very technical but two of the presentations at the First
International Conference on the Archaeology of the UAE, held in Abu Dhabi in 2001, can be recommended to the non-specialist
(Kallweit, H. ‘Remarks on the Late Stone Age in the U.A.E.’ In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of
the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident
201
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Press, 2003: 56–64; Uerpmann, M. ‘he dark millennium – remarks on the inal Stone Age in the Emirates and Oman’. In:
Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International
Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003: 74–81). Another study of material found near Abu
Dhabi Airport is Kallweit, H. ‘Lithics from the Emirates: he Abu Dhabi Airport sites’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian
Studies 34: 2004: 139–145. For the early development of shell ishhooks at Jebel Buhais, Marawah and Akab island, see Méry, S.,
Charpentier, V. and Beech, M. ‘First evidence of shell ish-hook technology in the Gulf ’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
19: 2008: 15–21.
Evidence of prehistoric burial practices are best attested at Jebel Buhais, on which several good, general studies now exist (Jasim,
S.A., Uerpmann, H.-P. and Uerpmann, M. ‘Neolithic life and death in the desert – 8 seasons of excavations at Jebel al-Buhais’.
In: Hellyer, P. and Ziolkowski, M., eds. Proceedings of the 1st Annual Symposium on recent Palaeontological & Archaeological
discoveries in the Emirates, Al Ain, 2003. Al Ain: Zayed Center for Heritage and History, 2005: 29–36; Kiesewetter, H. ‘he
Neolithic population at Jebel Buhais 18: Remarks on funerary practices, palaeodemography and palaeopathology’. In: Potts, D.,
Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on
the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003: 3–43; Beauclair, R. de, Jasim, S.A. and Uerpmann, H.-P. ‘New results
on the Neolithic jewellery from al-Buhais 18, UAE’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 36: 2006: 175–187; and Martin,
D.L. ‘Bioarchaeology in the United Arab Emirates’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 18: 2007: 124–131). For readers looking
for more detail, see Uerpmann, H.-P., Uerpmann, M. and Jasim, S.A., eds. Funeral monuments and human remains from Jebel
al-Buhais. Sharjah: Dept. of Culture and Information, 2006.
he western regions of Abu Dhabi are gradually coming into better focus (Kallweit, H., Beech, M. and al-Tikriti, W.Y. ‘Kharimat
Khor al-Manahil and Khor Al Manahil – New Neolithic sites in the south-eastern desert of the UAE.’ Proceedings of the Seminar
for Arabian Studies 35: 2005: 97–113). For sites in the desert of Dubai, see Cassana, J., Hermann, J.T. and Qandil, H.S. ‘Settlement
history in the eastern Rub al-Khali: Preliminary report of the Dubai Desert Survey (2006–2007)’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
20: 2009: 30–45. For the Northern Emirates, there is still relatively little published on the archaeology of the prehistoric era there
(Phillips, C.S. ‘Prehistoric middens and a cemetery from the Southern Arabian Gulf’. In: Zarins, J., Tosi, M. and Cleuziou, S., eds.
Essays on the late prehistory of the Arabian Peninsula. Rome: Serie orientale Roma 93, 2002: 169–186).
Connections between the UAE and Mesopotamia during the Ubaid period are discussed in a number of articles published in
volume 2 of the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy (1991) and in several more recent studies (Jasim, S.A. ‘An ‘Ubaid site
in the Emirate of Sharjah (U.A.E.)’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 1996: 1–12; Uerpmann, H.-P. and M. ‘’Ubaid pottery
in the eastern Gulf – new evidence from Umm al-Quwain’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 1996: 125–139; Beech, M.,
Elders, J. and Shepherd, E. ‘Reconsidering the ‘Ubaid of the southern Gulf: New results from excavations on Dalma Island, U.A.E.’
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 30: 2000: 41–47; Popescu, E.S. ‘he Neolithic settlement sites on the islands of Dalma
and Marawah, U.A.E.’ In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings
of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003: 46–54; and Beech, M., Cuttler,
R., Moscrop, D., Kallweit, H. and Martin, J. ‘New evidence for the Neolithic settlement of Marawah Island, Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 35: 2005: 37–56).
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Chapter 3 > he appearance of monumental tombs

he Hait graves around Al Ain are presented in Carter, R. and al-Tikriti, W.Y. ‘Archaeology’, in Aspinall, S. and Hellyer, P., eds.
Jebel Hait, A natural history. Abu Dhabi: Emirates Natural History Group, 2004: 48–64; and Potts, D.T. ‘Eastern Arabia and the
Oman Peninsula during the Late Fourth and Early hird Millenium B.C.’ In: Finkbeiner, U. and Röllig, W., eds. Gamdat Nasr:
Period or regional style? Wiebaden: Beihete zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients B 62, 1986: 121–170; he Arabian Gulf in
antiquity, vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990).
Chapter 4 > Magan

he amount written about the UAE and Oman in the later 3rd millennium BC relects the enormous quantity of data available
from sites of the Umm an-Nar period. here are a number of book-length reports on the tombs of the Umm an-Nar period,
including those on Umm an-Nar island (Frifelt, K. he island of Umm an-Nar, vol. 1. hird millennium graves. Aarhus: Jutland
Archaeological Society Publications 26/1, 1991), Al Sufouh (Benton, J.N. Excavations at Al Sufouh: A third millennium site in the
Emirate of Dubai. Turnhout: Brepols, 1996) and Asimah (Vogt, B. Asimah: An account of a two months rescue excavation in the
mountains of Ra’s al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Dubai: Shell Markets Middle East, 1994).
Information on the diet, pathologies, stature and collective burial practices of the Umm an-Nar period inhabitants of the UAE
continues to grow (Blau, S. ‘Limited yet informative: Pathological alterations observed on human skeletal remains from third
and second millennia BC collective burials in the United Arab Emirates.’ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11: 2001:
173–205; Blau, S. ‘Fragmentary endings: A discussion of 3rd-millennium BC burial practices in the Oman Peninsula.’ Antiquity
75: 2001: 557–570; Blau, S. ‘Young and alone: Discussion of an articulated third millennium BC burial at Tell Abraq, United Arab
Emirates.’ Adumatu 3: 2001: 7–14; Blau, S. and Beech, M. ‘One woman and her dog: An Umm an-Nar example from the United
Arab Emirates.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 10: 1999: 34–42; Cope, J.M., Berryman, A.C., Martin, D.L. and Potts, D.T.
‘Robusticity and osteoarthritis at the trapeziometacarpal joint in a Bronze Age population from Tell Abraq, United Arab Emirates.’
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 126: 2005: 391–400; Méry, S., Rouquet, J., McSweeney, K., Basset, G., Saliège, J.-F.
and Al Tikriti, W.Y. ‘Re-excavation of the Early Bronze Age collective Hili N pit-grave [Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE]: Results
of the irst two campaigns of the Emirati-French Project.’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 2001: 161–178; and
McSweeney, K., Méry, S. and Macchiarelli, R. ‘Rewriting the end of the Early Bronze Age in the United Arab Emirates through the
anthropological and artefactual evaluation of two collective Umm an-Nar graves at Hili [eastern region of Abu Dhabi]. Arabian
Archaeology and Epigraphy 19: 2008: 1–14).
he wider connections of the Umm an-Nar period, as revealed by the material found in the tomb at Tell Abraq, are discussed in
several general works (Potts, D.T. ‘Arabian time capsule’. Archaeology Magazine Sept/Oct 2000: 44–48; Potts, D.T. Ancient Magan:
he secrets of Tell Abraq. London: Trident Press, 2000).
he animal economy of the Umm an-Nar period is discussed in a paper by Margarethe Uerpmann (‘Remarks on the animal economy
of Tell Abraq (Emirates of Sharjah and Umm al-Qaywayn, UAE).’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 2001: 227–233)
while the plant economy is treated in Willcox, G. and Tengberg, M. ‘Preliminary report on the archaeobotanical investigations
at Tell Abraq with special attention to chaf impressions in mud brick.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 6: 1995: 129–138.
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he best studies of the metallurgy of the Umm an-Nar period are by Lloyd Weeks (‘Prehistoric metallurgy at Tell Abraq, U.A.E.,’
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8: 1997: 11–85; ‘Lead isotope analyses from Tell Abraq, United Arab Emirates: New data
regarding the ‘tin problem’ in Western Asia.’ Antiquity 73: 1999: 49–64; Early metallurgy of the Persian Gulf: Technology, trade,
and the Bronze Age world. Leiden: Brill, 2003).
he relevant cuneiform sources dating to the reigns of the Old Akkadian and Ur III kings are conveniently brought together by
Douglas Frayne in two volumes of the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia series (he Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Early
Periods, Vol. 2. Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334–2113 BC). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993; he Royal Inscriptions
of Mesopotamia, Early Periods, Vol.3/2. Ur III Period (2112–2004 BC). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997). I have also
discussed these in detail in he Arabian Gulf in Antiquity, vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.
Chapter 5 > Restructuring in the Middle and Late Bronze Age

In spite of the relatively large number of tombs excavated, the Wadi Suq period remains one of the most poorly known. Numerous
reports exist on the excavations conducted over the years in Ra’s al-Khaimah (Donaldson, P. ‘Prehistoric tombs of Ra’s al-Khaimah.’
Oriens Antiquus 23: 1984: 191–311, continued in Oriens Antiquus 24: 1985: 85–142; Vogt, B. and Franke-Vogt, U. Excavations of the
German Archaeological Mission in Ra’s al-Khaimah, U.A.E.: A preliminary report. Berlin: Berliner Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient
8, 1987; Hilal, A. ‘Excavations at Qarn al-Harf 67, Ra’s al-Khaimah, 2001.’ In: Hellyer, P. and Ziolkowski, M., eds. Proceedings of
the 1st Annual Symposium on recent Palaeontological & Archaeological discoveries in the Emirates, Al Ain, 2003. Al Ain: Emirates
Heritage 1, 2005: 37–47).
Evidence from settlements occupied during this period comes from Tell Abraq (Potts, D.T. A prehistoric mound in the Emirate
of Umm al-Qaiwain: Excavations at Tell Abraq in 1989. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1990; Further excavations at Tell Abraq: he
1990 season. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1991), Kalba (Carter, R. ‘he Wadi Suq period in south-east Arabia: A reappraisal in
the light of excavations at Kalba, UAE. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 27: 1997: 87–98) and Al Sufouh 2 (Gruber,
C., Ayoub, S., Brückner, H., von den Driesch, A., Manhart, H., Qandil, H., Werner, P. and Zander, A. ‘he site of Al Sufouh 2
within the Internet City of Dubai, UAE: Preliminary report on four campaigns of excavation (03/2001–11/2002)’. In: Hellyer, P.
and Ziolkowski, M., eds. Proceedings of the 1st Annual Symposium on recent Palaeontological & Archaeological discoveries in the
Emirates, Al Ain, 2003. Al Ain: Emirates Heritage 1, 2005: 48–70). he deinition of the period and its periodisation has been
discussed by Christian Velde in ‘Wadi Suq and Late Bronze Age in the Oman Peninsula’. In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and
Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of
the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003: 102–113.
Several studies deal speciically with the material culture of the Wadi Suq period. hese include works on sotstone vessels
(Häser, J. ‘Sot-stone vessels of the second millennium B.C. in the Gulf region.’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 20:
1990: 43–54) and bronze arrowheads (Magee, P. ‘he chronology and regional context of late prehistoric incised arrowheads in
southeastern Arabia.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 9: 1998: 1–12).
Changes in diet, as detected by isotopic analyses of human bone, are discussed by G. Grupe and H. Schutkowski (‘Dietary shit
during the second millennium BC in prehistoric Shimal, Oman Peninsula.’ Paléorient 15/2: 1989: 77–84).
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Broader issues of changes in settlement pattern have also been discussed by several authors (de Cardi, B., Kennet, D. and Stocks,
R.L. ‘Five thousand years of settlement at Khatt, UAE’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 24: 1994: 35–80; Phillips,
C.S. ‘he pattern of settlement in the Wadi al-Qawr.’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 27: 1997: 205–218; Magee,
P. and Carter, R. ‘Agglomeration and regionalism: Southeastern Arabia between 1400 and 1100 BC.’ Arabian Archaeology and
Epigraphy 10: 1999: 161–179).
Chapter 6 > he Iron Age

he chronology of Iron Age settlement in the UAE is becoming more and more precise as the number of radiocarbon dates
increases (Magee, P. ‘he chronology of the south-east Arabian Iron Age.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 1996: 240–252;
‘New chronometric data deining the Iron Age II period in south-eastern Arabia.’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
33: 2003: 1–10).
Reports on individual sites abound. Specialist articles can be found on all of the main settlements, such as Al huqaibah (Benoist,
A., Cordoba, J. and Mouton, M. ‘he Iron Age in Al Madam [Sharjah, UAE]: Some notes on three seasons of work.’ Proceedings
of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 27: 1997: 59–73; Carbó, A., Córdoba, J., Muñoz, A. and Ramos, P. ‘Retrieving the life of the
Iron Age: Archaeological excavations and geophysical survey at Al Madam [U.A.E. Sharjah], impressions ater the 1999 seasons.’
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 30: 2000: 61–68; Córdoba, J.M. ‘Villages of shepherds in the Iron Age: he evidence
of Al Madam [AM1 huqaibah Sharjah, U.A.E.]. In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United
Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003:
174–180); Bithnah (Benoist, A. ‘Excavations at Bithna, Fujairah: First and second seasons.’ In: Hellyer, P. and Ziolkowski, M., eds.
Proceedings of the 1st Annual Symposium on recent Palaeontological & Archaeological discoveries in the Emirates, Al Ain, 2003.
Al Ain: Emirates Heritage 1, 2005: 71–88; Benoist, A. ‘An Iron Age II snake cult in the Oman Peninsula: Evidence from Bithnah
[Emirate of Fujairah].’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 18: 2007: 34–54); Muweilah (Blau, S., Denham, T., Magee, P., Biggins,
A., Robinson, J. and Jasim, S. ‘Seeing through the dunes: Geophysical investigations at Muweilah, an Iron Age site in the United Arab
Emirates.’ Journal of Field Archaeology 27/2: 2000: 117–129; Magee, P. ‘Columned halls, power and legitimisation in the south-east
Arabian Iron Age’. In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the
First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003: 182–191; and Magee, P. ‘Beyond the
desert and the sown: Settlement intensiication in late prehistoric southeastern Arabia’. Bulletin of the American School of Oriental
Research 347: 2007: 83–105); Husn Awhala (Potts, D.T., Weeks, L., Magee, P., hompson, E. and Smart, P. ‘Husn Awhala: A late
prehistoric settlement in southern Fujairah’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 1996: 214–239; Petrie, C. 1998. he Iron Age
fortiication of Husn Awhala. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 9: 1998: 246–260); and Saruq Al Hadeed (Qandil, H. ‘Survey
and excavations at Saruq Al Hadeed, 2002–2003.’ In: Hellyer, P. and Ziolkowski, M., eds. Proceedings of the 1st Annual Symposium
on recent Palaeontological & Archaeological discoveries in the Emirates, Al Ain, 2003. Al Ain: Emirates Heritage 1, 2005: 121–139).
For the early falaj irrigation of the UAE during the Iron Age see al-Tikriti, W.Y. ‘he south-east Arabian origin of the falaj system’.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 32: 2002: 117–138.
he spread of South Arabian writing to the UAE is discussed in Magee, P. ‘Writing in the Iron Age: he earliest South Arabian
inscription from southeastern Arabia.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 10: 1999: 43–50.
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Iron Age bronze weaponry with Iranian parallels is treated by Pierre Lombard (Lombard, P. ‘Poignards en bronze de la péninsule
d’Oman au Ier millénaire: Un problème d’inluences iraniennes de l’Age du Fer. Iranica Antiqua 16: 1981: 87–93) while Peter Magee
discusses the evidence of the use of iron at this time (Magee, P. ‘New evidence of the initial appearance of iron in southeastern
Arabia.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 9: 1998: 112–117).
he evidence of Achaemenid Persian control over southeastern Arabia has been summarised in he Arabian Gulf in Antiquity,
vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990) and elsewhere (Potts, D.T. ‘From Qadê to Mazûn: Four notes on Oman, c.700 BC to 700
AD.’ Journal of Oman Studies 8: 1985: 81–95.
Chapter 7 > ‘Abi’el and the polities of the pre-Islamic era

he two main sites from this period, Mleiha and ed-Dur, have generated betweeen them a sizeable bibliography. Many studies
exist now on the French excavations at Mleiha (Boucharlat, R. and Mouton, M. Cultural change in the Oman Peninsula during
the late 1st millennium B.C. as seen from Mleiha, Sharjah Emirate (U.A.E.). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 21:
1991: 23–33; Mouton, M. Mleiha I. Environnement, stratégies de subsistance et artisanats. Lyon: Travaux de la Maison de l’Orient
Méditerranéen 29, 1999). he similarities between the funerary towers at Mleiha and those of the Syrian-Levantine region are
discussed in a paper by Michel Mouton (Mouton, M. ‘Les tours funéraires d’Arabie, nefesh monumentales.’ Syria 74: 1997: 81–98).
he most recent exposition of the Aramaic inscriptions from Mleiha is by Émile Puech (Puech, É. ‘Inscriptions araméennes du
Golfe: Failaka, Qala‘at al-Bahreïn et Mulayha (ÉAU).’ Transeuphratène 16: 1998: 31–55). he material from the fort at Mleiha is
presented in Benoist, A., Mouton, M. and Schiettecatte, J. ‘he artefacts from the fort at Mleiha: Distribution, origins, trade and
dating’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 33: 2003: 59–76. For the South Arabian beehive vessels of alabaster from
Mleiha, see Hassell, J. ‘Alabaster beehive-shaped vessels from the Arabian Peninsula: Interpretations from a comparative study
of characteristics, contexts and associated inds.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8: 1997: 245–281.
A monograph has been published on the graves excavated by the Belgian expedition at ed-Dur (Haerinck, E. Excavations at
ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates Vol. II. he tombs. Leuven: Peeters, 2001). In addition, David Whitehouse,
director of the Corning Museum of Glass, has published a monograph and a long article on the glass (mainly Roman) from
the Belgian (Whitehouse, D. Excavations at ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates Vol. I. he glass vessels. Leuven:
Peeters, 1998) and Danish excavations (Whitehouse, D. Ancient glass from ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, U.A.E.) 2. Glass excavated
by the Danish expedition. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 11: 2000: 87-128), respectively. he arrowheads from ed-Dur
are discussed in Delrue, P. ‘Trilobate arrowheads at ed-Dur (U.A.E., Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain)’. Arabian Archaeology and
Epigraphy 18: 2007: 239–250. Diet and subsistence at ed-Dur are treated in a study by Wim Van Neer and Achilles Gautier
(Van Neer, W. and Gautier, A. ‘Preliminary report on the faunal remains from the coastal site of ed-Dur, 1st–4th century A.D.,
Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates.’ In: Buitenhuis, H. and Clason, A.T., eds. Archaeozoology of the Near East: Proceedings
of the irst international symposium on the archaeozoology of southwestern Asia and adjacent areas. Leiden: Universal Book
Services, 1993: 110–118).
Contemporary inds from Dibba are reported on in Barker, D. and Hassan, S.A. ‘Aspects of east coast Hellenism and beyond:
Late pre-Islamic ceramics from Dibba 76 and Dibba al-Murabba‘ah, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates’. Proceedings of the Seminar
for Arabian Studies 35: 2005: 319–322.
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here are now three monographs published on the local pre-Islamic coinage from ed-Dur (Potts, D.T. he Pre-Islamic coinage of
eastern Arabia. Copenhagen: Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publication 14, 1991; Supplement to the Pre-Islamic coinage of Eastern
Arabia. Copenhagen: Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publication 16, 1994) and Mleiha (Callot, O. Catalogue des monnaies du Musée
de Sharjah (Émirats Arabes Unis): Essai sur les monnayages arabes préislamiques de la péninsule d’Oman / Essay on the pre-Islamic
Arabian coinages of the Oman Peninsula. Lyon: Collection de la Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée 30, 2004). In addition,
separate studies have been published on Greek and Roman coins (Howgego, C. and Potts, D.T. ‘Greek and Roman coins from
eastern Arabia.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 3: 1992: 183–189) from ed-Dur and Mleiha. he South Arabian coins from
Mleiha have been discussed by Alexander Sedov (‘Two South Arabian coins from Mleiha,’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 6:
1995: 61–64), Ernie Haerinck (‘South and [south]east Arabian silver Athenian owl imitations from Mleiha.’ Arabian Archaeology
and Epigraphy 9: 1998: 137–139) and Martin Huth (‘he ‘folded lange’ coinage of eastern Arabia: Some preliminary comments.’
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 9: 1998: 273–277).
here are several good studies of the camel and horse burials at Mleiha (Jasim, S.A. ‘he excavation of a camel cemetery at Mleiha,
Sharjah, U.A.E.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 10: 1999: 69–101; Mashkour, M. ‘he funeral rites at Mleiha (Sharja–U.A.E.);
the camelid graves’. Anthropozoologica 25–26: 1997: 725–736; Uerpmann, H.-P. ‘Camel and horse skeletons from protohistoric
graves at Mleiha in the Emirate of Sharjah (U.A.E.).’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 10: 1999: 102–118; and King, G.R.D.
‘Camels and Arabian balîya and other forms of sacriice: A review of archaeological and literary evidence’. Arabian Archaeology
and Epigraphy 20: 2009: 81–93). Bactrian-dromedary hybrids, with extensive references to their occurrence elsewhere in Central
and Western Asia, are discussed in an article devoted exclusively to this subject (Potts, D.T. ‘Camel hybridization and the role of
Camelus bactrianus in the Ancient Near East.’ Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 47: 2004: 143–165).
Problems relating to the historical geography of southeastern Arabia in the late pre-Islamic era (Parthian or Roman periods)
are treated in a series of articles extending back into the nineteenth century (Miles, Maj-Gen. S.B. ‘Note on Pliny’s Geography
of the East Coast of Arabia.’ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 10: 1878: 157–172; Papadopoulos, J.K. ‘A Western Mediterranean
amphora fragment from ed-Dur.’ Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 5: 1994: 276–279; Potts, D.T. ‘he Parthian presence in the
Arabian Gulf.’ In: Reade, J., ed. he Indian Ocean in antiquity. London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1996: 269–285;
Potts, D.T. ‘he Roman relationship with the Persicus sinus from the rise of Spasinou Charax (127 BC) to the reign of Shapur II
(AD 309–379).’ In: Alcock, S.E., ed. he early Roman empire in the East. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 95, 1997: 89–107).
Chapter 8 > he centuries leading up to the arrival of Islam

he last few centuries before the coming of Islam are extremely important but still poorly understood in the UAE. For a good
general overview of the situation in the entire region see Kennet, D. ‘On the eve of Islam: Archaeological evidence from Eastern
Arabia.’ Antiquity 79: 2005: 107–118.
he complex history, much of it only known from local Omani sources, is presented in Badger, G.P. History of the Imâms and
Seyyids of ’Omân, by Salîl-ibn-Razîk, from A.D. 661–1856. London: Hakluyt Society, 1871, several modern reprints of which are
available; and Ross, E.C. ‘Annals of ‘Omán, from early times to the year 1728 A.D. From an Arabic MS. by SHEYKH SIRHA´N
BIN SA‘ID BIN SIRHA´N BIN MUHAMMAD, of the Benû ‘Alí tribe of ‘Omán’. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 43: 1874:
111–196. John C. Wilkinson has discussed these sources in great detail in many of his publications including ‘Arab-Persian land
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relationships in late Sasanid Oman’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 6: 1973: 40–51; ‘he Julanda of Oman’. Journal
of Oman Studies 1: 1975: 97–108; and Water and tribal settlement in south-east Arabia: A study of the alaj of Oman. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1977.
For the site of Kush see Kennet, D. ‘Kush: A Sasanian and Islamic-period archaeological tell in Ra’s al-Khaimah (U.A.E.)’. AAE 8:
1997: 284-302; and Kennet, D. Sasanian and Islamic pottery from Ra’s al-Khaimah: Classiication, chronology and analysis of trade
in the Western Indian Ocean. Oxford: BAR International Series 1248, 2004. A study of the glass from Kush is published in Worrell,
S. and Price, J. ‘he glass from Kush, Ra’s al-Khaimah, U.A.E.’ In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology
of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident
Press, 2003: 248–252).
Chapter 9 > he irst centuries ater the coming of Islam

he literary evidence surrounding the conversion of Oman and the UAE to Islam is treated by Shoufani, E. Al-Riddah and the Muslim
conquest of Arabia. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1972; and Abu ‘Ezzah, ‘A.M. ‘he political situation in Eastern Arabia at the
advent of Islam’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 9: 1979: 53–64. G.R.D. King’s study of the coming of Islam to the
UAE brings the entire set of problems associated with this period into sharp focus (‘he coming of Islam and the Islamic period in
the UAE,’ In: Al Abed, I. and Hellyer, P., eds. United Arab Emirates: A new perspective. London: Trident Press Press, 2001: 70–97).
he archaeological evidence for the transition to the Islamic era in Ra’s al-Khaimah is discussed in Kennet, D. ‘Jazirat al-Hulayla
– early Julfar, with an historical appendix by G.R.D. King. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Ser 3 4/2: 1994: 163–212. For Julfar’s
development under Hormuzi control, see Kennet, D. ‘he development of northern Ra’s al-Khaimah and the 14th-century Hormuzi
economic boom in the lower Gulf’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 32: 2002: 151–164.
Several studies have been published on the Nestorian site on Sir Bani Yas (King, G.R.D. ‘A Nestorian monastic settlement on the
island of Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi: A preliminary report.’ Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 60: 1997: 221–235;
Elders, J. ‘he lost churches of the Arabian Gulf: Recent discoveries on the islands of Sir Bani Yas and Marawah, Abu Dhabi Emirate,
United Arab Emirates.’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 2001: 47–57; Elders, J. ‘he Nestorians in the Gulf: Just
passing through?’ In: Potts, D., Al Naboodah, H. and Hellyer, P., eds. Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the
First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press, 2003: 229–236; Carter, R.A. ‘Christianity
in the Gulf during the irst centuries of Islam’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 19: 2008: 71–108).
Many of the Arab geographical writers works have been published in translation, including Al Muqaddasi. he Best Divisions for
Knowledge of the Regions, trans. Collins, B. Reading: Garnet, 2001; Minorsky, V. trans. and ed. Hudūd al-‘Ālam ‘he Regions of the
World’, A Persian geography 372 A.H.–982 A.D. London: Luzac & Co., 1937; or Ibn Battuta. Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354,
trans. and ed. by Gibb, H.A.R. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1939.
Apart from the original Omani works noted in chapter 8, the complex history of Oman is treated in many works, such as Miles,
Col. S.B. he countries and tribes of the Persian Gulf. Reading: Garnet, 1994 (repr. of 1919 ed.); and Wilkinson, J.C. he Imamate
tradition of Oman. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987.
208
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For the foreign dynasties and their involvement, see e.g. Bosworth, C.E. he History of the Safarids of Sistan and the Maliks
of Nimruz (247/861 to 949/1542–3). Costa Mesa and New York: Mazda Publishers, 1994; Williamson, A. ‘Hormuz and the
trade of the Gulf in the 14th and 15th centuries A.D. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 3: 1973: 52–68; Piacentini,
V. ‘Harmuz and the ‘Umani and Arabian world (iteenth century)’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 30: 2000:
177–188; Vosoughi, M.B. ‘he Kings of Hormuz: From the beginning until the arrival of the Portuguese’. In: Potter, Lawrence
G., ed. he Persian Gulf in History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009: 89–104. For Banu Jabr relations involvement in the
region see Abu ‘Ezzah, ‘A.M. ‘Imam ‘Umar b. Al Khattab of Oman and Banu Jabr of al-Hasa’. Proceedings of the Seminar for
Arabian Studies 25: 1995: 1–13.
On the numismatic evidence, see Vasmer, R. ‘Zur Geschichte und Münzkunde von ‘Omān im X. Jahrhundert’. Zeitschrit für
Numismatik 37: 1927: 274–287; Bivar, A.D.H. and Stern, S.M. ‘he coinage of Oman under Abū Kālījār the Buwayhid’. Numismatic
Chronicle, 6th ser. 18: 1958: 147–156; Lowick, N.M. and Nisbet, J.D.F. ‘A hoard of dirhems from Ra’s al-Khaimah’. Numismatic
Chronicle, 7th ser. 8: 1968: 231–240; Lowick, N.M. ‘An eleventh century coin hoard from Ra’s Al-Khaimah and the question of
Sohar’s decline’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 16: 1986: 89–100; and Bates, M.L. ‘Unpublished Wajīhid and Būyid
coins from ‘Umān in the American Numismatic Society’. Arabian Studies 1: 1974: 171–175.
Chapter 10 > From the Portuguese to modernity

A well-written and authoritative summary of the UAE’s early history is found in Heard-Bey, F. From Trucial States to United Arab
Emirates, second ed. London and New York: Longman, 1996.
Two recent books by Willem Floor can be highly recommended: Floor, W. he Persian Gulf: A political and economic history of
ive port cities, 1500–1730. Washington DC: Mage Publishers, 2006; and he Persian Gulf: he rise of the Gulf Arabs, he politics
of trade on the Persian littoral, 1747–1792. Washington DC: Mage Publishers, 2007. Unfortunately, Slot, B.J. he Arabs of the Gulf,
1602–1784. Leidschendam, 1993, which relies mainly on VOC sources, is virtually unobtainable.
he Portuguese, Dutch, Ottoman and English presence in the region are discussed by Teles e Cunha, J. ‘he Portuguese presence
in the Persian Gulf’; Floor, W. ‘Dutch relations with the Persian Gulf’; Anscombe, F. ‘he Ottoman role in the Gulf’; and Peterson,
J.E. ‘Britain and the Gulf: At the periphery of empire’. In: Potter, Lawrence G., ed. he Persian Gulf in History. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2009: 207–234, 235–260, 261–276 and 277–294.
For more detail on the Portuguese presence see Birch, W. De Gray. he commentaries of the great Afonso Dalboquerque, second
viceroy of India. London: Hakluyt Society 1884 [reprinted New York: Burt Franklin, 1970]; Dames, M.L. he Book of Duarte
Barbosa, An Account of the Countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their Inhabitants, written by Duarte Barbosa, and
completed about the Year 1518 A.D., vol. 1. Millwood: Kraus Reprint, 1967; Sinclair, W.F. he Travels of Pedro Teixeira; With his
‘Kings of Harmuz’ and extracts from his ‘Kings of Persia’. London: Hakluyt Society, 1902 [reprinted Gosport: Kessinger Publishing,
2007]; Boxer, C.R., ed. Commentaries of Ruy Freyre De Andrada, In which are Related his Exploits from the Year 1619, in which he
let this Kingdom of Portugal as General of the Sea of Ormuz, and Coast of Persia, and Arabia, until his Death. London and New
York: Routledge Curzon, 2005; and Couto, D. and Loureiro, R.M., eds. Revisiting Hormuz: Portuguese interactions in the Persian
Gulf region in the Early Modern period. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2008.
209
In the Land.indb 209 28/02/2012 12:17

For readers interested in historic maps (especially Portuguese, Italian, French, Dutch, English, German) of the region, see Al
Qasimi, S. bin M. he Gulf in historic maps, 1493–1931. Leicester: Haley Sharpe, 1996, and Couto, D., Bacqué-Grammont, J.-L.
and Taleghani, M., eds. Atlas historique du golfe Persique (XVIe–XVIIIe siècles) / Historical atlas of the Persian Gulf (sixteenth to
eighteenth centuries). Turnhout: Brepols, 2006.
Detailed studies dealing with the other Western forces present in the region include Özbaran, S. ‘he Ottoman Turks and
the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf, 1534–1581’, Journal of Asian History 6: 1972: 45–87; Floor, W. ‘First contacts between the
Netherlands and Masqat or A Report on the Discovery of the Coast of ‘Oman in 1666: Translation and Introduction’. Zeitschrit
der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschat 132: 1982: 289–307; Hughes homas, R., ed. Arabian Gulf Intelligence: Selections
from the Records of the Bombay Government, N.S., No. XXIV, 1856, concerning Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat and Oman,
Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the Islands of the Gulf. Cambridge: Oleander Press, 1985; Risso, P. ‘Cross-cultural perceptions
of piracy: Maritime violence in the western Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf region during a long eighteenth century’. Journal
of World History 12: 2001: 293–319; and Tuson, P. he Records of the British Residency and Agencies in the Persian Gulf. London:
India Oice Records, 1979.
he later history of Oman is no less complicated than the earlier history. Several works that attempt to sort out the chronology
of reigns and events include Said-Ruete, R. ‘Dates and references of the history of the Al Bu Said Dynasty from the time of its
founder, Ahmed bin Said, till the death of Said bin Sultan (1741–1856), with genealogical table and bibliography’. Journal of the
Royal Central Asian Society 18: 1931: 233–255; Beckingham, C. ‘he reign of Ahmad Ibn Sa‘id, Imam of Oman’. Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society 1941: 257–260; Kelly, J.B. ‘A prevalence of furies: Tribes, politics, and religion in Oman and Trucial Oman’.
In: Hopwood, D., ed. he Arabian Peninsula. London: Allen & Unwin, 1972: 107–141.
For the changing political landscape of southeastern Arabia over time see Wilkinson, J.C. ‘he Oman question: he background to
the political geography of South-East Arabia’. he Geographical Journal 137: 1971: 361–371; and ‘Traditional concepts of territory
in South East Arabia’. he Geographical Journal 149: 1983: 301–315.
On the early Wahhabis see Cook, M. ‘On the origins of Wahhabism’. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ser. 3/2/2: 1992: 191–202;
and Rentz, G. he birth of the Islamic reform movement in Saudi Arabia: Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703/4–1792) and the
beginnings of Unitarian Empire in Arabia. Riyadh: King Abdulaziz Public Library and London: Arabian Publishing, 2004. For
the irst Wahhabi actions in the Al Ain/Buraimi area and Wahhabi relations with the Trucial sheikhs, see Abdullah, M.M. ‘he
irst Sa‘udi dynasty and ‘Oman, 1795–1818’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 1: 1971: 34–41; Z.M. Al-Rashid, Su‘ūdī
relations with Eastern Arabia and ‘Umān (1800–1871), London: Luzac & Co., 1981. On the events of the 1830s, see Kelly, J.B.
‘Mehmet ‘Ali’s expedition to the Persian Gulf, 1837–1840’. Middle Eastern Studies 1: 1964: 350–381 and 1965: 2: 31–65. he best
account covering the entire nineteenth century of Wahhabi actions in the region is still Winder, B. Saudi Arabia in the nineteenth
century. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1965.
On the Qawasim, see Kelly, J.B. Britain and the Persian Gulf, 1795–1880. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968; Al-Qasimi, S.M. he
myth of Arab piracy in the Gulf. London: Croom Helm, 1986; and Davis, C.E. he blood-red Arab lag: An investigation in Qasimi
piracy, 1797–1820. Exeter: Univ. of Exeter Press.
210
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For some of the journeys of Miles and Zwemer see Miles, Lt.-Col. S.B. ‘On the Route between Sohár and el-Bereymí in ‘Omán,
with a note on the Zatt, or gipsies in Arabia’. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 46: 1877: 41–60; and Zwemer, S.M. ‘hree
journeys in northern Oman’. he Geographical Journal 19: 1902: 54–64.
he development of Julfar over time is treated in Kennet, D. ‘Julfar and the urbanisation of Southeast Arabia’. Arabian Archaeology
and Epigraphy 14: 2003: 103–125. See also Sasaki, T. and H. ‘Japanese excavations at Julfar: 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 seasons.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 22: 1992: 105–120; King, G.R.D. ‘An Islamic trading city in the Arabian Gulf: he
port of Julfâr, Ra’s al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates’, in P. Hellyer and M. Ziolkowski, eds., Emirates Heritage vol. 2, Proceedings
of the 2nd Annual Symposium on Recent Archaeological Discoveries in the Emirates and of the Symposium on the History of the
Emirates, Al Ain, 2004, Al Ain: Zayed Center for Heritage and History, 2008: 81–100; and de Cardi, B. ‘Trucial Oman in the 16th
and 17th centuries’. Antiquity 44: 1970: 288–295. For the original excavations there, with emphasis on the later periods and the
ceramics in particular, see Hansman, J. Julfar, an Arabian port: he settlement and Far Eastern ceramic trade from the 14th to the
18th centuries. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1985.
For the archaeology and monuments of the last few centuries on the Abu Dhabi islands, see Hellyer, P. Filling in the blanks: Recent
archaeological discoveries in Abu Dhabi. Dubai: Motivate, 1998; King, G. and Tonghini, C. ‘he western islands of Abu Dhabi
Emirate: Notes on Ghagha’’. In: Phillips, C.S., Potts, D.T. and Searight, S., eds. Arabia and its neighbours: Essays on prehistorical
and historical developments presented in honour of Beatrice de Cardi. Turnhout: Brepols [=Abiel II], 1998: 117–142; and King,
G.R.D. Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, season 1. London: Trident Press, 1998. For seventeenth to nineteenth century
sulphur mining at Jebel Dhanna, see King, G.R.D., ed. Sulphur, camels and gunpowder: he sulphur mines at Jebel Dhanna, Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: An archaeological site of the late Islamic period. Dubai: Zodiac Publishing, 2004.
For some of the pre-modern architecture of the region see Kennet, D. and Connolly, D. Towers of Ra’s al-Khaimah. Oxford:
British Archaeological Report International Series 601, 1995; Ziolkowski, M.C. and al-Sharqi, A.S. ‘Fujairah Fort and associated
settlement: A study based on historical, archaeological and ethnographic information. In: Hellyer, P. and Ziolkowski, M., eds.
Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Symposium on recent archaeological discoveries in the Emirates and of the Symposium on the History
of the Emirates, Al Ain, 2004. Al Ain: Zayed Centre for Heritage and History, 2008: 112–132; Ziolkowski, M.C. and al-Sharqi, A.S.
‘Tales from the old guards: Bithnah Fort, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates’. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 20: 2009: 94–107.
For the ruling families of the emirates prior to the beginning of the oil era, see Lienhardt, P. (ed. A. Al-Shahi). Shaikhdoms of
Eastern Arabia. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. On the economics of pearling in the pre-modern era, see Bowen, R. LeBaron, Jr. ‘he
pearl isheries of the Persian Gulf’. he Middle East Journal 5: 1951: 161–180; and Carter, R. ‘he history and prehistory of pearling
in the Persian Gulf’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 48: 2005: 139–209.
211
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index
A Al Aryam 26 ‘Amr b. Al ‘As 143

‘Abd Al Malik 146 Al Baladhuri 143-144 anaemia 31, 59
‘Abdullah b. Ibad 147 Al Bu Falah 174, 184 Anatolia 42, 50, 60, 91, 129
Abi’el 113-114, 130, 135-136, 206 Al Bu Sa‘id 172, 174, 179, 184 anhydrite 20
Abu Al ‘Arab 172 Al Bununa 146 Anshan 52
Abu Bakr 92, 144, 151 Aldane 165 Antioch 139
Abu Bakr b. Muhammad b. Al Husayn Al Alexander the Great 107, 113-114, 119, 122 Arabian Bifacial Tradition 19
Karaji 92 Alexandria 117, 130 Arabian oryx 23-24, 32, 52, 55, 90, 102,
Abu’l ‘Abbas Al Safah 147 Al Gharbia 39 108, 123
Abu Muhammad b. Mukram 149 Al Hasa 111, 148-149, 153, 162, 188 Arab League 192
Abu Musa islands 192 Al Hinnah 116 Aramaic 111, 113-115, 127, 130, 135,
Abu Tahir 148 Al Hira 141 145, 206
Abu Zaid 143-144 Al Idrisi 149-150 Ardashir II 119
acacia 108 alik Tilmun 84 Ardashir-i Papakan 136
Achaemenids 67, 89, 94, 103-104, 107, Al Julanda 141, 143-147 Aretas IV 123
110, 113-114, 136, 206 Al Madam 108, 205 ‘arish 19, 23, 25-26, 50, 53, 69, 92-93
Aden 153, 159 Al Madar 23, 35 Ariston 117
Adiya 113 Al Mataf 147, 153 aromatics 84, 87
Afghanistan 60, 62, 90 Al Muqaddasi 149, 208 arrowhead 18-20
agate 20, 38, 60, 125 Al Mu‘tadid 148 Arsaces 113
Agiman 165 Al Qasimi 172, 179, 210 Artabanus IV 136
Agwad b. Zamil 159 Al Qusais 94, 96-98, 104 Artaxerxes II or III 104
Ahmad b. Sa‘id 172-174 Al Saud 178 Ascalon 123
Ajman 11, 54, 59, 165, 181, 189 Al Sufouh 13, 60, 62, 105, 203-204 ‘Ashaq’aws 111
Akab 23, 35, 201-202 Al huqaibah 92-93, 97, 107, 205 Ashkelon 123
Akala 66 Al Ufzaiyyah 133 Asimah 45, 54, 56, 98, 203
Akkadians 50-52, 63-64, 204 Al ‘Ula 111 Aspasine 122
alabaster 61, 206 Al Yamama 144 Assurbanipal 93-94
Al Ain 20, 42-43, 48, 73, 81-82, 93, 96, Amar-Sin 64 Assur Sultan 172
98, 141, 147-149, 202-206, 174, 178, Ammon 113 Assyrians 92-94, 113
184-185, 188, 192, 203-205, 210-211, 174 ‘Amr Al Julanda 143 Atabegs 151
212
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I ND e X
Athenaeus 124 beach rock 19, 24, 54, 98 Cassapeo 169

‘Atik 148 beads 20, 23, 25, 27, 32, 38-40, 42, 60, cattle 18-19, 24, 32-33, 52-53, 76-77, 90,
Attambelos III 123 68-69, 82, 118-119, 125 102, 109, 118, 123, 139
Attambelos IV 123 Bet Mazunaye 139, 141, 145, 147 caulking 67
Attambelos VI 123 Bet Qatraye 139, 141 celadon 151, 155, 159
Attana 130 BHS 18 20, 24, 26, 29-32, 35, 38 Cenozoic 9
‘Awamir 188 Bibby, T.G. 46 Chanhu-Daro 63
Awlad Shams 141 Bida bint Saud 94 Characene 122-123, 127, 132
Aws 111 Bidyah 48-49, 81, 162, 168 Cherizan 165
Azd Oman 141 Bimhal 103 chert 9, 18, 19, 20
B Bithnah 81, 90, 97, 172, 205, 211 China 123, 141, 143, 153, 158
Baba Jan 94 bitumen 67, 119 Choga Zanbil 91
Babylonia 84, 91, 103, 120, 127, 136 black-on-grey ware 62 Climatic Optimum 13, 15, 25
Bactrian camel 129, 207 Bombay Marine 179 cloth 66, 97
Baha’-Al Din Ayaz 151 Bonaparte, Napoleon 179 Cogeatar 161
Bahrain 12, 27, 39, 42, 45, 50, 62-63, 69, Bos indicus 52, 53 coinage 65, 95, 112-115, 130, 135, 149,
73, 76, 84-85, 87, 91, 94, 96-97, 101, 114, Bos taurus 52 162, 207, 209
122-124, 127, 130, 148, 151, 153, 155, 158, British Petroleum 189 Colba 168
164-165, 181, 183, 190, 192-193, 210 Brymee 184 collective burial 36, 57, 100, 203
Bahram Gur 141 Bukhara 149 Connan, Jacques 119
Balbi, Gasparo 165, 169 Buraimi 141, 147-149, 174, 178, 184, Constantinople 143
Baluchistan 47, 52, 62-63, 67-68, 81, 122 188, 210 copper 38, 40-42, 60, 65-66, 84-85, 97,
Bamael 103 Burchardt, Hans 132 108, 113, 119, 123, 132, 149
Bandar Abbas 168, 172-173, 179 burials 18, 21, 27, 29-30, 32, 35-36, 57, coral 20
Bandar-e Taheri 173 72, 75, 77, 81, 90, 125, 127, 139, 203, 207 core 17, 19-20, 63
Bandar Jissah 38 burnished grey ware 62 crabs 21, 101
Bani Ma’in 173 Bushehr 50, 87, 141, 179, 183-184 Cretaceous 9, 11
Bani Qitab 178 Buyids 148-149, 151 cribra orbitalia 31, 59
Bani Sama 148 Byzantium 143 Croesus 112
Bani Yas 12, 24, 141, 143, 145-146, 165, C crucible 41
169, 174, 179, 184-185, 189, 208 calcite 116 cylinder seals 39-40, 60, 98
Banu Jabr 159, 162, 164-165, 178, 209 Cambay 151 D
Banu Za‘ab 173 camel 25, 32, 52, 55, 76-77, 89, 102-103, DA 11 21
Barbar 84 112, 115-116, 123, 127, 129, 174, 207 da Cavilhã, Pero 158
Barygaza 132 Cana 132 Dadnah 159
Basra 150-151, 162, 164-165 Canton 147 da Gama, Vasco 158
Batinah 50, 73, 148, 161, 165, 168, 186, 190 Carmania 130 daggers 38, 60, 67-68, 75, 82 , 94,
Batrasavave 130 Carmathians 148-149, 159, 162, 178 97-98, 115
Baynuna 146 carnelian 20, 38, 59-60, 125 Daioin 165
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Dalbergia sissoo 67, 84 Doriscus 103 gazelle 19, 21, 23, 25, 32, 52, 55, 90, 98,
Dalma 12, 18, 21, 23-26, 35, 53, 151, 155, Duarte Barbosa 163, 209 102, 123
165 , 188, 202 dugong 21, 23, 52, 102, 201 Genghis Khan 151
d’Andrade, Ruy Freyre 165 Dutch East India Company 165 Ghairi 184
Darab 155 E Ghalilah 73, 81, 90, 98
Darius the Great 67, 103-104 ed-Dur-type tombs 125, 127, 133 Ghallah 139
date palm 21, 25, 53, 72, 100-101, Edmunds, Capt. T. 183 Ghudana 111
123, 201 Elam 43, 115 Girsu 65
dates 21, 53, 59, 100, 109, 132, 184 El-Bereymí 185, 211 glass 82, 117-118, 125, 133, 136, 139, 146,
de Albuquerque, Afonso 159, 161-162 Elymais 115 206, 208
de Barros, João 161-162, 164 Emigovien 165 Glennie, K.W. 201
de Meerkadt 168 enamel hypoplasia 31, 59 Glob, P.V. 45-46
débitage 20 English East India Company 169 Goa 161, 162, 168
de Cardi, Beatrice 56, 73, 211 Enlil 52, 65 goat 18-19, 21, 23-24, 32-33, 52, 66-67,
Delmephialmas 165 ensi 64 75-77, 90, 102, 109, 123, 139
demography 32 equid 53 Godin Tepe 94
Dhahirah 178, 184, 188 Eros 126 Gombroon 168
Dhahran 42, 87, 116 Erythraean Sea 103, 122, 124, 130 Gondwana 9
Dhaid 37, 92, 107-108, 135, 190 es-Sirr 147 Goodman, Alan 59
Dhariyyat 111 F Gorfocan 168
Dhawahir 174, 179 faience 82, 91, 98 Greater and Lesser Tunb Islands 192
Dhayah 82-83, 181, 187 Faisal b. Turki Al Sa‘ud 184 groundstone 18, 20, 32
Dhofar 84, 123, 129 falaj 91-93, 205 groupers 21, 52, 77, 101, 123
dhub 25 Falaj al-Mu’alla 108 Guassums 173
Dibba 9, 11, 93, 126, 132-133, 141, farming 18 Gujarat 60, 85, 132, 151, 162
144-145, 148-149, 159, 165, 168-169, Fars 63, 119, 138, 148-149, 151, 153, 172 Gulbenkian, Calouste 189
174, 206 farush 19, 54, 98, 125 Guti 63
Dibei 165 Fasad point 18 gypsum 96, 129
diet 21, 24, 30-31, 52-53, 57, 65, 72, 76, Fashgha 82, 98, 100 H
90, 100-102, 201, 203-204 Fattah 67 Hadramawt 84, 132
Dihan 165 FAY-NE15 29 Hafeet 184
Dilmun 42-43, 50, 69, 84-87, 91, 93, 97 ish plate 122 Hait 184
diorite 52 ishing 23, 47, 77, 123, 162, 186, 188, 201 Hait-type tombs 35-36, 38, 46
Diqdiqqah 64 lint 17-20, 29-32, 46 Hatanboxt 136
Diriyya 178 foliate 20 Hajar Mountains 10-11, 18, 32, 38, 40,
Doe, Brian 73 Frifelt, Karen 73 55, 97, 172, 201
dog 53, 123, 203 frit 60, 82 Hallock, Richard 104
Donaldson, Peter 73, 81, 98 G Hamam al-Alil 67
donkeys 53, 55, 101, 109 Gaifar 143-144 Hameem 9
214
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I ND e X
Hamerton, Capt. Atkins 184 Hyspaosines 122 Jebel Dhanna 9, 10, 165, 211
Hamriyah 35 I Jebel Faya 17, 18, 24, 29, 32-33
Harappa 63 Iati’e 113 Jebel Hait 9, 18, 35-38, 85, 87, 94, 203
Harappan civilisation 50, 85 Ibadis 147 Jebel Kenzan 114
hare 25, 123 Ibbi-Sin 65, 68 Jebel Qamar 9
Harsha 143 Ibn Battuta 147, 153, 208 Jebel Rann 9
Hasaitic 111 Ibn Jiluwi 188 jerz 94
Hatra 115 Ibn Majid 158 jet 20
Hawasina Series 9 Ibn Saud 188 jewellery 18-21, 32, 38, 41, 47, 60-62,
health 30, 57, 190, 192 Ibn Sayyid Al Nas 144 95, 125, 202
Heath, Edward 192 Ibrahim b. Sulaiman b. ‘Ufaisan 174 Jia Dan 147
Heracles 113, 135 Ibrahim Pasha 181 jizya 143
herding 18, 24, 66, 187 ‘Ibri 184 Joktan 147
Herodotus 103 ‘Ikrimah b. Abi Jahl 144 Juba 130
Heylí 185 Ilkhanids 153 Julanda b. Mas‘ud 147
hides 65 Imamate 148-149, 155, 169, 172, 178, 208 Julfar 146-149, 153, 155, 158-159,
Hili 2 92, 93 Indus Valley 46, 50-53, 62-63, 69, 85, 107 161-165, 168-169, 172, 208, 211
Hili 8 43, 48-49, 52, 69, 73 ingots 41, 65 Jumeirah 148, 193
Hili 14 92-93 Iraq Petroleum Company 189 Juwaiza 190
Hili 17 92-93 Irdumasda 104 K
Hili North Tomb A 46, 57, 59 iron 41, 97-98, 108, 118, 124-125, 139, 206 KHM0035 20, 24-26
Hillyard, Temple (Tim) 45 Iron Age 36, 71, 77, 89-115, 120, Ka’aba-e Zardosht 138
Hina 148 205-206 Katari 63
Hinawi 184 irrigation 91-93, 162, 205 Kalba 11, 48-49, 76-78, 84-85, 89-90, 98,
Hittites 91 Isidore of Charax 124 101-102, 153, 155, 163, 168, 189-190, 204
Hofuf 42, 111, 141, 149, 162 Iske/Izkie (Izki) 94 Kalba (K4) 76
Holocene 18, 25, 201 Istakhr 136 Karim Khan Zand 173
Homna 130 Iulufar 169 Kashan 150
Horfacam 162 ivory 39, 42, 62-63, 66, 68, 94, 126 Kashf al-Ghumma 141, 144, 146, 169
Hormizd IV 139 J Kassites 91
Hormuz 9-10, 47-48, 50, 130, 132, 151, Jamdat Nasr 42, 46 Katáreh 185
153, 155, 158-165, 173, 179, 201, 209 Jarun 151, 153 Keir, Sir William Grant 181
Hormuz salt 9 Jazirat al-Hamra 20, 26, 35, 173, 181 Kelly, J.B. 184
horses 107, 116, 123, 126-129, 162, 207 Jebel Akhdar’ 188 Kerman 47, 81, 130, 153
houbara bustard 25 Jebel al-Emalah 18, 37-38, 46 Khalid b. Saud 183
Hudhaifah b. Mihsan Al Makhzumi 145 Jebel Ali 9, 190 Khan Bahadur ‘Abd Al Latif 183
Hudud al-‘Alam 149 Jebel Barakah 17, 32 Khan Bahadur ‘Isa b. ‘Abd Al Latif 183
Hula 173 Jebel Buhais 20, 24-26, 29, 38, 71, 79, 85, Kharg island 153, 168
Husn Awhala 93, 97, 101, 205 94, 107, 118, 202 Kharijites 145, 147
215
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Kharimat Khor al-Manahil 20, 202 Longquan 151, 159 Mesopotamia 18, 27, 32, 38-46, 50-53,
Khasab 165 , 168-169 Lorimer, J.G. 178 60-69, 76, 84, 87, 89, 113-115, 120, 122,
Khatt 81, 181, 205 Lower Sea 50, 52, 68-69 127, 129, 139, 202, 204
Khor al-Yfrah 120 Ludovico Varthema 159 metallurgy 38, 41, 204
Khorassan 149 Lu-Enlilla 65-68 Middle East Anti-Locust Unit 190
Khor Fakkan 11, 150, 155, 159, 161-165, Lu-Magan 68 Middle East Supply Centre 190
168-169, 179 Luwar 162 Minab 151
Khurshid Pasha 183-184 M Miocene 9
Khusraw II 139 Ma’awil 141 Mithradates I 120
Khuzestan 67, 91, 104, 119 Macdonald, Michael 113 Mleiha 54, 55, 89, 107-127, 129, 133,
Khvajeh ‘Ata 159 Mačiya 103-104 135-136, 139, 206-207
Khwarazmshahs 151 Macumber, Phil 49 Mleiha-type tombs 110-112, 117, 125, 127
Kish 151, 153 Madagascar 158 Mobil 189
Kitab al-Fawa’id 158 Madhya Pradesh 119 Mocha 179
Kokichi Mikimoto 188 Mael 163 Mogadishu 153
Konar Sandal 47 Magan 43-45, 50-52, 63-69, 84, 94, Mohenjo-Daro 63
Kuchuk 90 103, 203 Molla ‘Ali Shah 172-173
Kumzar 132 Magan boat 67 Molla Hussain 173
Kush 110, 133, 136, 139, 147, 150, 208 Maka 94, 103-105, 107, 112, 114, 136 Mongols 151, 153
Kyzyl Tepe 90 Makkaš 104 Mo’taridh 185
L malaria 31 mother-of-pearl 20-21, 27, 118
Labedia 162 Maldives 158 Mowaihat 54, 59
Lakhmids 141 Manasir 24 Muhammad ‘Ali 179, 181
lamp 129 mangrove 101-102 Muhammad b. ‘Abd Al Wahhab 178
Landen, R.G. 179 Manishtushu 50, 51-52, 64 Muhammad b. Al Qasim 148
lapis lazuli 60, 68, 125 Mantiqa al-Sirra 169 Muhammad b. Nur 148
Laqit b. Malik 144 Marashams 115 Muhammad Ibn Habib 141
Lar 159, 161-162, 173 Marawah 12, 18-19, 24-29, 35, 202, 208 Muhammad Ibn Sa‘d 143
Latif Khan 169, 172 Marib 116 Muhammad Taqi Khan 172
leather 23, 65, 75, 82 Martello tower 49 Mu‘izz Al Dawla 148
Lihyanite 111 Marwan I 146 Mukramids 149
Lima 165 , 169 Mar Zadoe 139 Muscat 38, 153, 161, 164, 168-169, 172,
limestone 9, 20, 24, 54-55, 64, Masai 56 179, 201, 210
129-130, 135 Mazun 136, 138, 141, 147 Mutaredh 185
lions 126 Mazyad 85, 87 Mycians 103
Liwa 9, 15, 24 Medinat Zayed 39 N
Liyan 87 Mehmet ‘Ali 183-184, 210 Nabahinah 149, 169
Loa 162 merlons 110 Nabataean 110-111, 115, 123
Lobato, Sebastião Rafael 164 Mesene 115 Nader Shah 172
216
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I ND e X
Nad-i Ali 90 pearls 20, 23-24, 27, 40, 85, 124, 132, Qirqishan 165
Nadu-beli 64 163, 165, 173, 186, 188, 211 Qurayyah 159
nafs 111, 116 People’s Republic of Southern Yemen 192 Qutbu-’d-Din Tahamtan II 153
Na‘im 178 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 130 R
Najd 158 Permian 9, 11 Rahma b. Matar 172-173, 179
Namord ware 122, 136 Persepolis 94, 103-104, 136 rainfall 13
Naqsh-e Rustam 94, 138 Persis 119 Rams 147, 165, 169, 179
Naram-Sin 64 Phillips, Carl 29 Ranuz 169
Naslah 81-82, 98, 100 Philostratus 124 Rasaelchime 165
Nasr b. Murshid 169, 172 Pleistocene 17-18 Rasagiar 165
Nasr b. Qahtan Al Hilali 169 Pliny the Elder 116 Ra’s al-Ajer 165
Nasser, Gamal Abdel 192 Polybius 92 Ra’s al-Hadd 67, 161
Natanzi 151 Popular Front for the Liberation Ra’s al-Hamra 38
Nelson, Horatio 172 of Oman 192 Ra’s al-Jinz 2 67, 84
Neolithic 17-18, 23, 32-33, 120, 201-202 porotic hyperostosis 31 Ra’s Bilyaryar 133
Nestorians 139, 141, 147, 208 Portuguese 147, 153, 158-165, 169, 172, Ra’s Musandam 132, 153
net sinkers 123 209, 210 Ra’s Sadr 190
Niebuhr, Carsten 172, 174, 207 pre-Cambrian period 9 Reçoyma 163
Nineveh 93, 94 Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) 33 reeds 67
Nippur 41, 91, 96, 120 Profam 163 retouch 20
Nizaris 147 Prosopis 107, 109 Rev-Ardashir 141
Nush-e Jan 94 Puech, Émile 115, 206 Rhodian amphorae 117
Nysa 120 purple 132 Riyadh 178, 183, 210
O Q Roçaque 163
Ögödei 151 Qade 94 Rokn Al Din 165
Omana/Ommana 130, 132 Qahtan 147, 169 Rosalgate 163
ophiolite 40 Qais b. ‘Azzan 184 Rumeilah 92-94, 97-101
Orfação 162 Qalat al-Bahrain 63, 97 Rusa I 92
osteophytes 59 Qalhat 151, 153, 155, 159, 161 Rustaq 138, 141, 169, 174
ostrich 77-78, 108 Qani’ 132, 136 S
P Qarn al-Harf 81, 204 Saab 173
Pade 94 Qarn Bint Sa’ud 82 Sa‘ad b. Mutlaq 183-184
Pahlavi, Shah Reza 192 Qaryat al-Faw 110, 112, 116 Sabah Abboud Jasim 127
Palaeozoic Era 9 Qatar 12, 27, 39, 139, 150, 165, 190, Sabkha Matti 10, 15
Palmerston, Lord 184 192-193, 210 saddle 103
Palmyra 110-112, 122 Qatif 151, 153, 155, 162, 164-165, 183 Sadlier, Capt. George F. 181
Parthians 120, 122 Qattarah 73, 75, 81-82, 104, 185 Safavids 161, 165, 168-169, 172
Pasargadae 94 Qawasim 172-174, 178-179, 181, 210 Safarids 148, 209
pearl diving 124, 173 Qeshm 151, 173, 179 Sagartians 103
217
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Sa‘id b. Sultan 179, 181 sheep 18, 21, 23-24, 32-33, 52, 66, Socotra cormorant 21, 53
Sa‘id b. Tahnun 184 76-77, 90, 102, 109, 123, 139, 150 sotstone 62, 83-84, 87, 96-97, 103, 116,
Saif b. Hamud 184 Sheikh Abdullah b. Rashid 181 118, 204
Saif b. Sultan 169, 172 Sheikh Hassan b. Rahmah 181 Sohar 73, 138, 144, 148-149, 161-162,
Saifu-’d-Din Aba Nadar 151 Sheikh Husain b. ‘Ali 181 164, 168-169, 172, 174, 184, 188, 209
Saifu-’d-Din Mahar 155 Sheikh Qadhib b. Ahmad 181 Spasinou Charax 122, 207
Salghur Shah 159 Sheikh Rashid 192, 193 spearheads 60, 82, 84
Salgur 159 Sheikh Rashid b. Humaid 181 spina biida 59
Salil b. Razik 146-148, 172, 178 Sheikh Shakhbut 45, 181, 192 spiny-tailed agamid 25
Salimah 148 Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan 45 stamp seals 85, 87, 98, 119
Salim b. Bilal Al Harq 178 Sheikh Sultan b. Saqr 181, 183 Standard Oil 189
Samanids 149 Sheikh Tahnun 181 steatite 84, 116
Samarkand 149 Sheikh Zaid b. Saif 181 stone tools 17-18, 20, 32-33, 35, 38, 47
Samsi 113 Sheikh Zayed b. Khalifa 184 Straits of Hormuz 10, 47-48, 50, 130,
Sarangians 103 Sheikh Zayed b. Sultan Al Nahyan 192 132, 151, 173
Sarba 165 shell 9, 18, 20-21, 23-24, 26, 38, 60, 68, Su’areh 185
Sargon II 92 78, 82, 90, 118, 125, 201-202 Subur 65
Sargon of Akkad 50 Shell 189 Suez crisis 190
Sarouq al-Hadeed 97-98, 104 shellish 18, 21, 24, 52, 76, 90, 101, 109, Sulayman b. Sulayman Nabhani 159
Sasanians 136, 138-139, 141, 144-145, 123-124, 139 Sultan b. Saqr Al Qasimi 179
147, 208 shell middens 38, 90 Superior Oil Co. 189
Sayf b. ‘Ali b. Salih Al Qasimi 172 Sherikhum 50 Surat 165, 168
Sayyid ‘Abdul Jalil 181 Shihuh 69, 94 Susa 39, 50, 63, 67, 85, 87, 91, 94,
sea level 12, 15, 23, 201 Shimal 53-57, 62-63, 72-73, 77, 81, 85, 103-104, 114, 127
sea turtle 21, 23, 52, 102 90, 153, 204 Suwara 185
Seleucus II 119 Shulgi 51-52, 64 Syria 33, 42, 45, 60, 110, 112, 119, 122,
Seljuqs 149 Shu-Sin 65 148, 197, 206
serpentinite 20 Sidi Ali Çelebi 158 T
sesame oil 65 silk 123, 165, 190 Tabari 143-144
Seyyid ’Azán 185 Sin-gamil 84 Tabu’a 113
Seyyid Sultan 179 Siraf 133, 151 Tahir b. Muhammad 148
sgraiato 150 Sir Bani Yas 12, 141-146, 165, 169, 189, 208 tamarisk 108
Shabankara 151 Sirbeniast 165, 169 Tamerlane 153
Shahdad 47 Sirhan b. Sa‘id 146 Tamna‘ 116
Shamatkutba 111 sissoo 60, 67, 84 Tang dynasty 143
Shams 130, 135, 141 skeletal remains 54, 82, 100, 105, 112, Tarut 42, 87, 141
Shapur I and II 138-139, 207 125, 203 Te’elhunu 113
Sharaf Al Din 162 slag 40, 41, 118 Teixeira, Pedro 153, 165, 209
Sharm 81, 100 snakes 55, 96-97, 126, 205 Teixidor, Javier 115
218
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I ND e X
Tell Abraq 13, 48-49, 52-56, 59-63, Ubaid 27, 32, 39-40, 46, 87, 202 Winder, Bayly 179
67, 72, 76-78, 81-85, 89-92, 97-98, ‘Ubayda 111 wine 81, 104, 117-118, 122, 126-127,
100-105, 133, 139, 203-204 Uerpmann, Hans-Peter 129 132, 146
temples 42, 61, 65-66, 93, 119, Uerpmann, Margarethe 24, 35, 203 wood 9, 19, 25-26, 38, 41, 53, 56, 60, 67,
129-130, 143 Ujjain 119 75, 82, 84, 94, 109, 132
Tepe Hissar 39 Umayyads 147 wool 65-67
Tepe Yahya 39, 47, 90 Umm al-Zumul 18, 25 World War I 188
Terebralia palustris 101 Umm an-Nar 8, 45-63, 68-83, 89-90, World War II 190
terra sigillata 122 130, 203-204 X
Tethys 9 unguents 84, 116 Xerxes 103
textiles 42, 66, 67 Upper Sea (Mediterranean) 65 Y
haj 101, 111, 114, 116, 118, 122 Ur 41, 51, 63-67, 69, 84-85, 87, 204 Yahmad 148
hamaneans 103 Ur-Namma 63-65 Yamani 147
hesiger, Wilfred 190 Urartu 92 Ya‘rubi Imams 169
hird Dynasty of Ur 51, 63-64, 85 Uruk 39, 41, 87, 111, 116 Yasat islands 133
Tiberius 122 Utians 103 Yemen 25, 33, 63, 78, 116, 132, 144, 147,
Tillya Tepe 90 Uzbekistan 90 150, 179, 192
Timur 153 V Yusuf b. Wajih 148
Tipu Sahib 179 Velde, Christian 72, 204 Z
Tomb N Hili 56 VOC 165, 168, 173, 209 Zabibê 113
Tom-e Namord 122 Vogel, Jacob 168 Zamašba 104
towers 48-50, 51, 53, 69, 73, 76, 93, Vogt, Burkhard 56 Zanzibar 63, 158
110-111, 120, 136, 145, 161, 169, 206 W zebu 52-53, 76, 90
Transoxania 149 Wa’ab 4 82 Zercho 165
treaties 193, 197 Wadi al-Qawr 81, 96, 101, 205 Zeus 113-114, 130, 135
trephination 31 Wadi Ashwani 40 Zheng He 153
Triassic 9 Wadi Hilo 40, 41 Zirkuh 165
truces 181 Wadi Jizzi 185 Zur 173
Trucial Oman 181, 190, 210, 211 Wadi Madhab 149 Zwemer, Samuel M. 188
Trucial States 187-190, 192-193, Wadi Suq-type tomb 73, 75, 81-83, 87
197, 209 Wahaballat 115
Trucial States Council 190 Wahhabis 162, 178-179, 183-184, 210
Tul-e Peytul 87 Wakidi 143
Turkmenistan 120, 129 Wedum 64
turtles 21, 23, 52, 102 Wellesley, Marquis of 179
Tuwam 141 Whitelock, Lt. H.H. 178
Tylos 130 Wilkinson, John 181
U Wilson, Capt. 179
UAQ 2 29, 32 Wilson, Harold 192
219
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Potts 2012 in the Land of the Emirates T- في أرض الإمارات آثار وتاريخ الإمارات العربية المتحدة

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Potts 2012 in the Land of the Emirates T- في أرض الإمارات آثار وتاريخ الإمارات العربية المتحدة

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emirates

In the Land of the

The ArchAeoLogy and hIsTory of the

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Production: Paula Vine

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:

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Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

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1 Witnesses of the past 6

2 The irst inhabitants 16

3 The appearance of monumental tombs 34

5 restructuring in the Middle and Late Bronze Age 70

6 The Iron Age 88

7 ‘Abi’el and the polities of the pre-Islamic era 106

8 The centuries leading up to the arrival of Islam 134

9 The irst centuries after the coming of Islam 142

10 From the Portuguese to modernity 160

Bibliographical essay 198

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he families we belong to, the tribes and states in which we claim

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of adjacent landforms in the environment is in fact a geological palimpsest.

Each of these features was the product of a speciic set of circumstances in

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he Hajar Mountains, such a dominant feature in Fujairah, Ra’s al-Khaimah

Stratigraphic Unit classiication Main components Age (Ma)

Basement autochthonous Pre-cambrian sedimentary rock 850-650

Lower Autochthon autochthonous limestones, dolomites 650-270

Upper Autochton or hajar supergroup autochtonous limestones, dolomites 270-90

Aruma group allochthonous limestones, shales, conglomerates 90-70

The hawasina allochthonous calcareous sandstones formed 270-70,

semail Nappe/ophiolite allochthonous oceanic crust formed 105-95

Neo-Autochthon autochthonous limestones 70-30

after Weeks 2003: Table 2.1

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Geologic map of the

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As archaeological research programmes develop in the UAE, more and more

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Detail of artefacts on the surface

he evidence from BHS 18 reveals some interesting diferences in the jewellery

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Additional evidence of a more varied diet is provided by the remains of sheep

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On Marawah the situation is very diferent. here, a roughly oval, dry-stone

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caused by using a certain type of tool, such as a grinding stone, or repeatedly

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