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| During he past 25 years the archaeology of the UAE has become on of the most intensively studies in the entire area. A range of sites has been excavated, extending from the late prehistoric era of the fifth/fourth millennium BC to the Islamic era. Finely pressure-flaked, bifacial stone tools belonging to what has been called the ‘Arabian bificial tradition’ have been found on a large number of sites in a wide range of environmental zones throughout the Emirates. Painted pottery of Ubaidtype, imp0orted from Mesopotamia, has been found on many of the coastal sites in the UAE, revealing the existence of contacts between these regions and the peoples of the northern Gulf region in the fifth millennium BC. At Jabel Buhays in Sharjah, excavation off an important collective burial from this period has recently commenced. Collective burials, in the form of above-ground tombs built of unworked stone, first appear at two sites in the UAE, Jabel Hafit (including Mazyad) and Jabel al-Emalah, dating from around the end of the fourth millennium, c. 3100-3000 BC. These ‘Hafit’-type tombs are completely without precedent in the local archaeological sequence and a number of them have yielded small, biconical ceramic vessels, on some of which a panel of painted, geometric decoration in black can still be seen. Analyses of examples have confirmed that this material was imported, some of it from the type site Jamdat Nasr in south-central Iraq. The earliest proto-cuneiform texts from Uruk in southern Mesopotamia which date to c. 3400-3000 BC - the so-called 'Archaic Texts' from Uruk - already contain references to 'Dilmun' copper. T e copper in question seems to have come from the vein which uns from Fujairah to the south, through the mountains of Oman, and it seems likely that trade between Mesopotamia and the land f the UAE was established in connection with this copper. The key to early settlement in the UAE was the date-palm (Phoenix dactylifern) without which the shade necessary for the growth of other, less hardy cultivars, including cereals, vegetables and fruits, was lacking. Once the bustan-type of garden came into existence, watered by wells which tapped the relatively abundant and shallow lenses of sweet water found throughout much of the UAE, the basis was laid for the development of the kind of oasis living which is so characteristic of the wadi settlements of the region. Herd animals, such as sheep, goat and cattle of course played a part in the development of a full oasis economy, but no single species was so critical in this process as the date-palm. Agricultural settlement brought with it the need to defend land, valuable water sources, and crops from marauders and thus the need for fortifications. Such buildings appear for the first time in the middle of the third millennium. Examples of Umm an-Nar fortresstowers have been excavated at Hill, Bidya, Tell Abraq and Kalba. : By the late third millennium BC, the peninsula on which the UAE is situated was identified in Mesopotamian cuneiform sources as Magan (Sumerian) or Makkan (Akkadian). Umm an-Nar circular tombs from this period, first encountered by a Danish expedition on the island of Umm an-Nar in Abu Dhabi in 1958, have now been excavated in both coastal and inland Abu Dhabi (Umm an-Nar :island, Hill area), Dubai (Al-Sufouh and Hatta), Ajman (Moweihat), 'Umm al-Qaiwain (Tell Abraq), and Ras al-Khaimah (Shimal, Wadiy'i). The better preserved examples show that literally reds of individuals were buried in these tombs along with a range of grave furniture. Precisely what happened during the period 2000 to 1200 BC remained, until recently, something of a mystery. The camel (Camelus dromedarius) was probably domesticated sometime in the second millennium perhaps enabling local people to revert to full-time nomadism. However, sites such as Tell Abraq, and Nud Ziba in pas al-Khaimah indicate the continued existence of some settled communities throughout this Wadi Suq period, notable for an explosion in metallurgy. Some Wadi Suq tombs, such as the horseshoe-shaped structure at Qidfa, have yielded a considerable number of weapons and vessels. Whereas the Umm an-Nar period was characterized by daggers and spears, the Wadi Suq period witnessed the introduction of the long sword, the bow and arrow, and a new, light type of socketed spearhead. Also in the late third millennium, an industry arose in the manufacture of soft-stone vessels - generally bowls, beakers and compartmented boxes - decorated with dotted-circles made using a bow drill, many of which were deposited in tombs. Evidence of wealth is provided by aninterestingclassof gold and electrumplaques in the form of two animals, standing back to back, often with their tails curled up in a nniral. During the ensuing era (c. 1200 to 300 BC), traditionally referred to as the 'Iron Age', introduction of falaj irrigation had major implications for life in southern Arabia. These developments resulted in a major increase in establishment of permanent settlements throughout the peninsula. By the third century BC southeastern Arabia was free of foreign political influence. None of Alexander the Great's Seleucid successors was able to establish any sort of Greek dominance in the region. With the exception of Mleiha, a sprawling settlement on the gravel plain south of Dhayd in the interior of Sharjah which extends over an area several square kilometres, we have no other settlements which can be attributed to this time horizon. Both settlements and graves have yielded quantities of ceramics indicating widespread trading and cultural links. Whilst some pottery is of local manufacture, others are clearly of foreign origin, including Greek pottery, imported from the Aegean or Mediterranean and stamped amphora handles from Rhodes. n\e Past According to the Roman writer Pliny the Younger (23/24-79 AD), who completed his Natural History in 77 AD; and the second century AD testimony of CI. |
Ptolemy's map of Arabia, the area of the UAE was by this time full of settlements and occupied by distinct tribes. Pliny and Ptolemy's mentioned town of Omana may be identified with the large, nearly 4 kilometre square settlement of ed-Dur in Umm al-Qaiwain. While ed-Dur was the prime settlement of this period on the Gulf coast, Mleiha was certainly the leading centre in the interior. One of the most important discoveries made in recent excavations at the site was a square fort with square corner towers, the main outer wall of which was 55 metres long. A stone mould for the production of coins was found there and as the right to strike coinage was generally a royal prerogative in the ancient world, it is likely that the Mleiha fort was an administrative centre. The end of the pre-islamic era is considered to run from around 240 to 635 AD. Nestorian Christianity was a decidedly important component of the religious milieu at this time. The recent discovery on the island of Sir Bani Yas, off the coast of Jebel Dhanna, of a monastery complete with carved stucco ornamentation including across is of enormous interest in this respect
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