|  | New excavations at Ed-DurMay 13, 2009 - 03:35 - WAM Umm Al Qaiwain, 13 May 2009 (WAM) -- A major new survey of the important archaeological site of Ed-Dur, in Umm al-Qaiwain, commenced yesterday. It is being undertaken in partnership between the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development and the Umm al-Qaiwain Department of Archaeology and Heritage.
Being led by Eisa Yousuf, an Emirati archaeologist working with the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information, the ten day project will be the first-ever major survey in the country to be undertaken wholly by a UAE archaeological team.
The team includes personnel from Sharjah Museum, the Sharjah Department of Heritage, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and the Umm al-Qaiwain Museum. The survey will cover an area of 12 sq. kilometres, and will be followed, where appropriate, by excavation. Restoration and conservation of sites and structures already identified and excavated during earlier work in the area will also be undertaken.
Commenting yesterday during a formal ceremony to inaugurate the survey, the Director of the Umm al-Qaiwain Department of Archaeology and Heritage, Sheikh Khaled bin Humaid Al Mu'alla, said that it was an important step that was expected to yield positive results in terms of the archaeology of the Emirate.
Thanking the joint survey team and promising them all necessary support, Sheikh Khalid added: "The Ed-Dur area has for a long time received much attention from overseas archaeologists, because of its importance. Finds dating back to 3,000 BC have been discovered in the area." According to the Executive Director for Culture and Art in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, Bilal Al Budoor, "the survey is being undertaken within the framework of the UAE federal government's strategy to preserve the country's indigenous material and intangible cultural heritage." "This survey is part of plans by the Ministry to enhance work at a national level in terms of archaeological excavations and reflects the Ministry's commitment to conserve and to revive the UAE's rich heritage." He added that the survey will focus on areas within the Ed-Dur area which have not previously been excavated by foreign archaeological teams. During the first day of work, several interesting new discoveries had been made, he said.
"The Ministry also intends to use the survey as a step towards applying for registration of the Ed-Dur site on the World Heritage List maintained by UNESCO," Al Budoor added.
It is considered to be one of the UAE's most important sites, along with others at Umm al-Nar, near Abu Dhabi, Hili, in Al Ain, Jumeirah and Al-Qusais, in Dubai, and Mleiha, in Sharjah.
Although there is evidence of occupation in the Ed-Dur area from the early Bronze Age, around 3,000 BC, until the Late Islamic period, it is primarily important as the site of a town that flourished from around 200 BC to 300 AD. Previous excavations by Australian, Danish, Belgian and French teams in the 1980s and 1990s have shown that Ed-Dur was a major trading port, with links away to India, in the east, and to the Mediterranean, in the west. Among discoveries at the site have been imported Roman glass, weaponry and artifacts made of ivory, imported from central Asia. Numerous coins have also been discovered, some imported from as far away as Rome, but many of which were minted in the UAE. Bearing the name Abi'el, probably that of a local ruler, they are the first known UAE coinage.
Thousands of tombs are believed to be present in the area, some of which have been excavated. Major buildings include a square fort and a well-preserved ancient temple, dedicated to the pre-Islamic Semitic solar deity, Shams. Some of the finds are currently on display in the Umm al-Qaiwain Museum.
Al Budoor said that plans for the renovation of the temple building would be drawn up in association with the archaeologist who originally directed the excavations there, as well as with French archaeologists. This work would be linked to plans to promote the Ed-Dur area as a destination for tourists, he added.
Besides undertaking the field survey and excavations, the joint Culture Ministry and Umm al-Qaiwain team will also carry out studies on geographical and topographical aspects of the site and will collect documents, maps and other material from previous excavations in the area. A new map of the archaeology of the Ed-Dur area as a whole will then be prepared WAM/SA |
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