ABU DHABI PRE-HISTORY BY Sheeba patras

OBJECTIVES To learn the names of seven Emirates of UAE. Recognize the first archaeological sites in Abu Dhabi Emirate in the UAE. Locate the archaeological sites on the map of the UAE. Appreciate the cultural value of the archaeological exploration and findings.

SEVEN EMIRATES ABU DHABI DUBAI SHARJAH AJMAN UMM AL QUWAIN FUJAIRAH RAS AL QAIHMA United Arab Emirates celebrates its National Day on 2nd December every year.

Main idea Abu Dhabi is considered one of the first archaeological sites in the UAE. It has important geographical location because it is situated on the Arabian Gulf coast and the important internal regions of the country lie on it.

HAFEET MOUNTAIN UMM AL NAR HILI

Hili Archaeological Park Hili Archaeological Park is the location of a Bronze Age site in Al Ain, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Hili is the largest Bronze Age site in the UAE and dates from the 3rd millennium BCE. Other remains include settlements, tombs, and a falaj dating from the Iron Age. Some of the site is located outside the park in a protected area. Finds from the site can be seen in the Al Ain National Museum in central Al Ain. The Hili Grand Tomb is a 12 m diameter tower that has been reconstructed. The tombs belong to the Umm al- Nar culture.

Umm an-Nar Bronze Age First excavated in 1959 by a Danish team, and subsequently surveyed by archaeologists from the UAE and Iraq, the island of Umm al Nar has yielded finds that have made an enormous contribution to our understanding of the culture and lifestyle of the early inhabitants of the UAE. From around 2500 to 2000 BC the island was involved in fishing and the smelting of copper, and traded as far afield as Mesopotamia and the Indus valley.

Hafeet area in Stone and Bronze Ages Situated at the foot of the imposing Jebel Hafeet mountain, the 5000- year-old Jebel Hafeet tombs mark the beginning of the Bronze Age in the UAE. Excavations by Danish archaeologists in 1959 found evidence for ceramic vessels and copper artefacts in these tombs. These artefacts indicate the importance of maritime trade across the Arabian Gulf. The tombs are single-chamber tombs and are made of local unworked or roughly cut stones. These differ from later Umm an-Nar tombs which were made from finely worked blocks that contained the remains of hundreds of people. Some 500 ancient graves, in different dome-shaped tombs, lie at the bottom of Jebel Hafeet. This site was discovered on the top of mountains in the south of Al Ain. From this site archaeologists recovered some copper materials, pottery, coloured beads and a bronze-engraved sword. They all date back to the third millennium BC.

Archaeological findings in excavation

MAP OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Q. Why did they call the cemeteries of Hafeet by “beehive cemeteries”? They called the cemeteries of Hafeet by “beehive cemeteries” because they were built like the shape of stone hill. Q. Which types of findings were found in Hafeet? Many findings were found such as pottery, stone tools, a number of bronze products like arrows, daggers, swords, amounts of beads and ovals vessels. Q. Which types of findings were found in Hili? A. The most important findings were a group of pottery, stone tools, a lot of agate, bones, sea shells, silver, arrows and daggers.