Posts Tagged ‘fort’

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Meandering through UAE Archaeology

December 8, 2013

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

entrance of the park

We headed out to Maleha with the intention of visiting the wildlife center there. Unfortunately, this is a private park and not open to the public. So, the closest one can get is these pictures and this video.

From there we went just down the road to the Umm an-Nar Tomb of Maleha.

round stone structure

This was interesting, although it was clear that no one visits this site or uses the park around it.

stone structure

This tomb dates back to around 3000 BC. There are eight chambers.

brown road sign

Next we went across the road to the fort archeological site.

partially restored stone structure

The structure has been partially restored. The lower, rougher wall in the foreground is most likely the original wall remains.

camel laying by the side of the road

We headed north a bit to look for the camel race track and saw this fellow just taking a rest by the side of the road.

stone ruins of a tobacco drying shed

On the way back to Fujairah we stopped off at Al Fara to drive past the remains of Sheikh Suhail bin Hamdan’s home and tobacco farm. These walls were a tobacco drying shed. Most of the site is not easily accessible due to a current residence near the site. We didn’t want to trespass.

covered archeological site, stone riuns

After a quick, late lunch in Fujairah, we headed up the coast to Bidya to search for the ancient fort site. This site dates to back approximately more than 4,000 years. This is one of the oldest archaeological finds on the East Coast of the UAE. It was a small, round fort built around a well.

These places are not necessarily easy to find (although some are right on the side of the road). They are also not necessarily set up for visitors as there is little to no information displayed at the sites. (A bit of a missed opportunity for education and tourist attractions.) However, information on some of the sites is available at area museums. Information and artifacts related to the archaeological sites in Maleha are on display at the Sharjah Archaeology Museum in downtown Sharjah city. Fujairah Museum– located near Fujairah Fort- is small, but very nice, and includes information and artifacts from the fort at Bidya in its archaeological section.