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Hafit period

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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,[1] Jebel Buhais and Buraimi.[2]

An unrestored beehive tomb from the Hafit period at Jebel Hafeet, on the border of the U.A.E. and Oman. Most of the hundreds of tombs to be found at the eastern foothills of the mountain have collapsed.

Discoveries

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See also: History of the United Arab Emirates, History of Oman, and Eastern Arabia

The first find of Hafit era tombs is attributed to the Danish archaeologist PV Glob in 1959, and the first of many excavations of these took place a few years later.[3]

Located in the area south of the city of Al Ain, the Jebel Hafeet Desert Park contains the original necropolis of Hafit Graves which led to the naming of this period in the human history of the emirates. A series of ridges leading from the main part of Jebel Hafit toward Al Ain each harbour groups of Hafit tombs.[1]

Finds at Jebel Hafit include the remains of some 317 circular stone tombs and settlements from the Hafit period, as well as wells and partially underground falaj irrigation systems, as well as mud brick constructions intended for a range of defensive, domestic and economic purposes. The Al Ain Oasis, in particular, provides evidence of construction and water management enabling the early development of agriculture for five millennia, up until the present day.[4]

Pottery finds at Hafit period sites demonstrate trading links to Mesopotamia, contiguous to the Jemdat Nasr period (3100 – 2900 B.C.).[3] Evidence of trading links with Mesopotamia are also found in the subsequent Umm Al Nar and Wadi Suq periods of UAE history.

Finds have shown that locally manufactured pottery emerged during the transitional period between the Hafit and Umm Al Nar periods, approximately 2800 to 2700 BCE[5] It is now thought the transition between the two cultural periods is marked by a decline in links between Southeastern Arabia and Mesopotamia,[5] a pattern that would be repeated, albeit more emphatically, in the transitional period between the Umm Al Nar and Wadi Suq cultures.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Salama, Samir, ed. (2011-12-30). "Al Ain bears evidence of a culture's ability to adapt". GulfNews. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  2. ^ "Front Matter", The Bronze Age Towers at Bat, Sultanate of Oman, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc., pp. i–vi, doi:10.2307/j.ctv2t4ct6.1, ISBN 9781934536070, retrieved 2018-07-16
  3. ^ a b Magee, Peter (2014), "Adaptation and Social Formation in Ancient Arabia", The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 275–278, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139016667.011, ISBN 9781139016667
  4. ^ "Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  5. ^ a b Typological and Chronological Consideration of the Ceramics at Bat, Oman - Christopher P. Thornton & Royal Omar Ghazal.
  6. ^ "Mezyad Desert Park". Gustafson Porter + Bowman. 2007–2012. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  7. ^ "Annual Report 2017" (PDF), Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, vol. 1: Culture, p. 119, 2017, retrieved 2019-03-09
  8. ^ "Annual Report 2018 – Culture" (PDF), Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, vol. 1, p. 117, 2018, retrieved 2019-05-06
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