Al Thuqeibah

Last updated
Al Thuqeibah Archaeological Site today. Thuqeibah.jpg
Al Thuqeibah Archaeological Site today.

Al Thuqeibah is an Iron Age archaeological site located near the town of Al Madam in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The site was originally excavated by teams from the Autonomous University of Madrid in the mid-1990s. Thuqeibah has been dated from the Iron Age II and III periods (1,100-400 BC). A settlement consisting of a number of houses and a well, it has been associated with a nearby Iron Age falaj system, [1] thought to date from the Iron Age II era. [2]

Contents

Analysis of the finds from Thuqeibah show that its inhabitants kept livestock, although a significant number of Iron Age arrowheads were found at the site. The combination of husbandry and hunting is consistent with the transition in society which took place throughout the Wadi Suq era. [3] In addition, bronze blades, needles, awls and pins were found, pointing to a wide range of economic activity. Located in a natural crossing of the Hajar Mountains, finds at Thuqeibah suggest an unusual amount of sea fish was consumed by the inhabitants (the village is 80 km from the nearest sea) and that the village was therefore integrated into a wider Iron Age economy. An unusually large number of storage jars were found at the site. [4]

The nearby necropolis at Jebel Buhais is thought to be linked to Thuqeibah, which has itself yielded no discoveries of tombs. [5]

An unusual find, House H4, is located some 200m from the core of Thuqeibah and has a large number of well constructed fireplaces which appear unconnected with the main structure and which showed no evidence of any food processing or other associated craft. [2]

Al Thuqeibah has been likened to the similar Iron Age development at Rumailah in Al Ain. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the United Arab Emirates</span> Aspect of history

The United Arab Emirates is a country in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula located on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf and the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Oman. The UAE consists of seven emirates and was founded on 2 December 1971 as a federation, after UK armed forces left the region. Six of the seven emirates declared their union on 2 December 1971. The seventh, Ras al Khaimah, joined the federation on 10 February 1972. The seven sheikdoms were formerly known as the Trucial States, in reference to the truce treaties established with the British in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Ain</span> City in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Al Ain is a border city on the eastern side of Tawam oasis and the seat of the administrative division, the Al Ain Region, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi in the Al Buraimi Governorate. It is the largest inland city in the Emirates, the fourth-largest city, and the second-largest in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The freeways connecting Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai form a geographic triangle in the country, each city being roughly 130 kilometres (81 mi) from the other two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah</span> Emirate and one of the constituents of the United Arab Emirates

Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city of Ras Al Khaimah, abbreviated to RAK or RAK City, is the capital of the emirate and home to most of the emirate's residents. It is linked to the Islamic trading port of Julfar. Its name in English means "headland of the tent". The emirate borders Oman's exclave of Musandam, and occupies part of the same peninsula. It covers an area of 2,486 km2 (960 sq mi) and has 64 km (40 mi) of beach coastline. As of 2015, the emirate had a population of about 345,000.

Umm Al Nar is a Bronze Age culture that existed around 2600-2000 BCE in the area of modern-day United Arab Emirates and Northern Oman. The etymology derives from the island of the same name which lies adjacent to the city of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which provided early evidence and finds that came to define the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jebel Faya</span> Hill and archaeological site in the UAE

Jebel Faya is an archaeological site and limestone hill or escarpment near Al Madam in the Emirate of Sharjah, the UAE, located about 50 km (31 mi) east of the city of Sharjah, and between the shoreline of the Gulf and Al Hajar Mountains. It contains tool assemblages from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Iron Age, and Bronze Age. Because its deepest assemblage has been dated to 125,000 years ago, it was thought to be the world's most ancient settlement yet discovered of anatomically modern humans outside of Africa at the time of its discovery in 2011. Finds of a yet earlier date have since been found at Misliya cave in the Levant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Abraq</span> Archaeological site in the UAE

Tell Abraq was an ancient Near Eastern city. Located on the border between Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates about 50 kilometers north-east of Dubai, the city was originally on the coastline of the Persian Gulf but changing sea levels have placed the remains of the city inland. It is located on the main road from Umm Al Quwain to Falaj Al Mualla.

Saruq Al Hadid is an archaeological site in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and stands as one of the most important and enigmatic historical sites in the country. Findings from the site are displayed in a museum with the same name in the city of Dubai. The site was originally discovered by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, while flying his helicopter across the desert.

Bithnah is a village in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), long occupying a strategic location in the Wadi Ham, which is the only natural link to the interior of the UAE and the Persian Gulf from the East Coast city, and Emirate of Fujairah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mleiha Archaeological Centre</span> Archaeological centre in the UAE

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadi Suq culture</span>

The Wadi Suq culture defines human settlement in the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the period from 2,000 to 1,300 BCE. It takes its name from a wadi, or waterway, west of Sohar in Oman and follows on from the Umm Al Nar culture. Although archaeologists have traditionally tended to view the differences in human settlements and burials between the Umm Al Nar and Wadi Suq periods as the result of major external disruption, contemporary opinion has moved towards a gradual change in human society which is centred around more sophisticated approaches to animal husbandry as well as changes in the surrounding trade and social environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Madam</span> Town in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Al Madam is an inland town of the Emirate of Sharjah, the UAE. Located at the intersection of the Dubai-Hatta (E44) and Mleiha-Shwaib (E55) roads, its development has mainly centred around these road links and the road traffic through Hatta to Oman. The volume of traffic to Oman through Madam and Hatta has lessened since the closure of the 'soft' Omani border at Mahda in 2016, although traffic volumes remain at some 5,000 travellers daily. The road from Madam to Hatta is now only open to UAE or Omani nationals and permit holders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jebel Buhais</span> Archaeological site in the "United Arab Emirates"

Jebel Buhais or Jebel Al-Buhais is a geological feature, an extensive rocky outcrop, as well as an archaeological site located near Madam in the central region of the Emirate of Sharjah, the UAE, about 48 kilometres southeast of the city of Sharjah. The area contains an extensive necropolis, consisting of burial sites spanning the Stone, Bronze, Iron and Hellenistic ages of human settlement in the UAE. Burials at Jebel Buhais date back to the 5th Millennium BCE. The site is located to the side of a limestone outcrop rising to some 340 metres above sea level and which runs almost contiguously from the town of Madam north to the town of Mleiha, itself an important archaeological site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hafit period</span> Early Bronze Age human settlement period

The Hafit period defines early Bronze Age human settlement in the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the period from 3200 to 2600 B.C. It is named after the distinctive beehive burials first found on Jebel Hafit, a rocky mountain near Al Ain, bordering the Rub Al Khali desert. Hafit period tombs and remains have also been located across the UAE and Oman in sites such as Bidaa bint Saud, Jebel Buhais and Buraimi.

Bidaa Bint Saud is an archaeological site in Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E., notable for its Hafit Period tombs, Iron Age irrigation systems and rare remains of an Iron Age building thought to have been a distribution centre for water from two aflaj. It is a listed UN World Heritage Site. Finds from the site are displayed at Al Ain National Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qattara Oasis</span>

Qattara Oasis is an area of irrigated date farm in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates featuring a distinctive falaj irrigation system as well as a late Bronze Age archaeological site dated to 1800–1500 BCE. The oasis has been extensively surveyed by students from Al Ain University since 2015, and is home to 19 buildings of varying antiquity, of which nine are mosques. Among these are thought to be some of the oldest buildings still standing in Al Ain.

The UAE's Iron Age I spanned 1,200–1,000 BCE; Iron Age II, 1,000–600 BCE and Iron Age III from 600–300 BCE. This was followed by the Hellenistic Mleiha era, from 300 BCE onwards through to the Islamic era which commenced with the culmination of the 7th century Ridda Wars.

The territory currently known as the United Arab Emirates was home to three distinct Iron Age periods. Iron Age I spanned 1,200–1,000 BCE, Iron Age II from 1,000–600 BCE, and Iron Age III from 600–300 BCE. This period of human development in the region was followed by the Mleiha or Late Pre-Islamic era, from 300 BCE onwards through to the Islamic era which commenced with the culmination of the 7th-century Ridda Wars.

Wadi Asimah is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. It runs broadly westward from the village of Asimah to join the Wadi Fara, its confluence forming the locus between Wadi Fara and Wadi Sidr.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively new country – it was formed in 1971. However, the history of the land that the UAE occupies dates back to the Neolithic Age, which is evidenced by inscriptions, drawings and archaeological finds uncovered in the seven emirates during the period from the early 1950s to the present day.

The Sharjah Archaeology Museum is the first museum in Sharjah, the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It was established on October 5, 1997, by His Highness, the ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates. The museum is located in the Halwan suburb, close to the infamous Cultural Square in Sharjah. It is considered the first museum in the UAE that specializes in archaeology on a national level. The museum showcases artifacts that were found in Sharjah and that belong to pre-Islamic eras. These discoveries were the results of the archaeologists’ relentless efforts whose missions to Sharjah started from 1973 until contemporary times. They also resulted from the efforts of the local expedition which started in 1993, under the supervision of Professor Sabah Jassim. The department of archaeology falls under the Sharjah Department of Culture. The expedition accomplished a number of important excavations in Sharjah on its own and in partnership with other foreign expeditions. 

References

  1. Mouton, Michael; Benoist, Anne; Cordoba, Joaquin (June 2011). "The Snake Figuration in Iron Age Society" (PDF). Liwa. 3 (5): 16–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  2. 1 2 Cerro, Carmen (2013). "Biological Remains at Al Madam (Sharjah, UAE)" (PDF). Bioarchaeology of the Near East: 23, 24.
  3. Carter, R. (1997). "The 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: 87–98. JSTOR   41223590.
  4. Cerro, Carmen del. "Only Storage Jars? Large Jars at al Thuqeibah, Sharjah (UAE): An Interpretation according to the Excavation Data and the Nature of the Environment".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Uerpermann, Hans-Peter (2006). "Funeral Monuments and Human Remains from Jebel al-Buhais" (PDF). The Archaeology of Jebel Al-Buhais: 82.
  6. Daniel T Potts; Ḥasan Muḥammad Nābūdah; Peter Hellyer, eds. (2003). Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates. London: Trident Press. ISBN   190072488X. OCLC   54405078.