Asia

[Visited: August 2021]

We leave the flashy skyline of Dubai behind us, and an easy drive almost straight east brings us to Mleiha, which we find just behind a mountain with sand dunes against its slopes. It is already late, the sun is sinking towards the horizon, and we know we don't have much time. We drive straight to the visitor centre, where we see the circular Umm al-Nar era burial tomb. Built in the Bronze Age, the tomb is over 4000 years old. There is even a platform built over it, allowing for a good peek inside from above. When we walk around it a little later, we are dwarfed by the tall wall. We are getting the taste of things, decide it is too late for more exploration here, and drive to the burial tombs which are on the other side of the Mleiha-Al Madam road. Some of them are restored, some look like they were just unearthed. Some are rectangular, some are circular. Nearby, we see reconstructed outlines of farmhouses, with shards of vases, remains of ovens. It is an interesting mix of completely rebuilt structures and local archaeological finds.
A few days later, after exploring more of the country, we make sure to return early in the morning to Mleiha. We first stop at the Fort, which was discovered at the end of the 1990s. The road was ordered to be redirected so that the ruins could be uncovered. What we see now, however, is a rebuilt version of the 2-3rd century CE building. It has been made almost to perfection, stripping it from any sense of antiquity. We now drive back to the other side of the road, and start exploring the hinterland of the visitor centre. We start at the furthest point that can be visited here: the Jebel Faya Rock Shelter, dubbed Fay-NE-01. This is the site where the first evidence was found of the so-called Anatomically Modern Humans outside Africa. It is thought that people already used this shelter in the Palaeolithic Period. We climb a small, orange-red sand dune, and look down on the area with awe. There is no one else around, and we try to imagine how this place must have looked like some 120.000 years ago.
From here, we head north for a short distance, and see the circular burial tombs of Fay-NE-20, 21, and 22. They all look quite different, and were constructed at different stages of the Bronze Age. A little further north, we find a water spring called Fay-NE-15 which Neolithic people used as a water source. From here, we walk into a dry valley along a clearly marked trail. We find the first wadi cave Fay-NE-11. There are three (Fay-NE-09 and 10) and they all had various functions during their extended usage period spanning the Neolithic to the Late-Pre-Islamic period. We manage to squeeze ourselves into the first cave which turns out to be deeper than we thought. We walk up to 10, where a platform gives us a good view over the valley below us. Back at the visitor centre, we buy our tickets to see the exhibition. Here, we finally get the general picture of the area. Clear explanations make a convincing case for how Africans crossed the much shallower Red Sea, and swarmed over the Arabian Peninsula. There are finds of tools that are very similar to ones found in East Africa. There are lots of other finds, too: jewellery, tombstones, arrowheads, stones, and other tools, all displayed in a delightful way. Excavations are still under way, so who knows which new finds will be discovered in the rich earth of the area?

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Mleiha Archaeological Centre (United Arab Emirates)

Mleiha Archaeological Centre > United Arab Emirates > Asia

[Visited: August 2021]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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