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Umm Al Nar culture
Umm Al Nar (Arabic: أُمّ الـنَّـار, romanized: Umm an-Nār or Umm al-Nar, lit. 'Mother of the Fire') is an Early Bronze Age, Prehistoric Arabian culture that existed around 2600–2000 BCE in the area of the 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.
The Umm Al Nar people were important regional trading intermediaries between the ancient civilisations of Sumer in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Harappan culture. Known to the Sumerians as 'Magan', the area was the source of Sumer's copper and diorite as well as a trading entrepot for other goods from the Indus Valley, including carnelian jewellery.
The key site on the island, today known as Sas Al Nakhl, is protected, but its location between a refinery and a sensitive military area means public access is currently prohibited.
A key indicator of the Umm Al Nar culture is circular tombs typically characterized by well fitted ashlar in the outer wall and multiple human remains within. The tombs are frequently associated with towers, many of which were built around water sources.
The first archaeological excavations in Abu Dhabi began at Umm Al Nar in 1959, twelve years before the foundation of the United Arab Emirates. Seven tombs from a total of fifty and three areas at the ruins of the ancient settlement were examined by a Danish Archaeological Expedition under Danish archaeologist PV Glob. During its first visit the expedition identified a few exposed shaped stones fitted together at some of the stone mounds. The following year (February 1959) the first excavations started at one of the mounds on the plateau, now called Tomb I. Two more seasons (1960 and 1961) involved digging more tombs, while the last three seasons (1962/1963, 1964 and 1965) were allocated to examining the settlement.
The Danish excavations on Umm Al Nar halted in 1965 but were resumed in 1975 by an archaeological team from Iraq. During the Iraqi excavations which lasted one season, five tombs were excavated and a small section of the village was examined. Between 1970 and 1972 an Iraqi restoration team headed by Shah Al Siwani, former member of the Antiquities Director in Baghdad, restored and/or reconstructed the Danish excavated tombs.[citation needed]
At Al Sufouh Archaeological Site in Dubai, archaeological excavation between 1994 and 1995 revealed an Umm Al Nar type circular tomb dating between 2500 and 2000 BCE. An Umm Al Nar tomb forms the centrepiece of the Mleiha Archaeological Centre in Sharjah.
Dilmun Burial Mounds in Bahrain also feature Umm Al Nar Culture remains.
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Umm Al Nar culture
Umm Al Nar (Arabic: أُمّ الـنَّـار, romanized: Umm an-Nār or Umm al-Nar, lit. 'Mother of the Fire') is an Early Bronze Age, Prehistoric Arabian culture that existed around 2600–2000 BCE in the area of the 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.
The Umm Al Nar people were important regional trading intermediaries between the ancient civilisations of Sumer in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Harappan culture. Known to the Sumerians as 'Magan', the area was the source of Sumer's copper and diorite as well as a trading entrepot for other goods from the Indus Valley, including carnelian jewellery.
The key site on the island, today known as Sas Al Nakhl, is protected, but its location between a refinery and a sensitive military area means public access is currently prohibited.
A key indicator of the Umm Al Nar culture is circular tombs typically characterized by well fitted ashlar in the outer wall and multiple human remains within. The tombs are frequently associated with towers, many of which were built around water sources.
The first archaeological excavations in Abu Dhabi began at Umm Al Nar in 1959, twelve years before the foundation of the United Arab Emirates. Seven tombs from a total of fifty and three areas at the ruins of the ancient settlement were examined by a Danish Archaeological Expedition under Danish archaeologist PV Glob. During its first visit the expedition identified a few exposed shaped stones fitted together at some of the stone mounds. The following year (February 1959) the first excavations started at one of the mounds on the plateau, now called Tomb I. Two more seasons (1960 and 1961) involved digging more tombs, while the last three seasons (1962/1963, 1964 and 1965) were allocated to examining the settlement.
The Danish excavations on Umm Al Nar halted in 1965 but were resumed in 1975 by an archaeological team from Iraq. During the Iraqi excavations which lasted one season, five tombs were excavated and a small section of the village was examined. Between 1970 and 1972 an Iraqi restoration team headed by Shah Al Siwani, former member of the Antiquities Director in Baghdad, restored and/or reconstructed the Danish excavated tombs.[citation needed]
At Al Sufouh Archaeological Site in Dubai, archaeological excavation between 1994 and 1995 revealed an Umm Al Nar type circular tomb dating between 2500 and 2000 BCE. An Umm Al Nar tomb forms the centrepiece of the Mleiha Archaeological Centre in Sharjah.
Dilmun Burial Mounds in Bahrain also feature Umm Al Nar Culture remains.