Cities Buried Under the Sands of Dubai Desert

Hidden beneath the desert sands of Dubai, today's modern city with its magnificent architecture, are once-prosperous cities.

Illustrated map from the book Desert Emperors of Oman published by Methuen in 1947. Photo: Ancient Origins

Many archaeological sites and ruins of ancient cities are being unearthed. More than 100,000 years ago, when humans began migrating from Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, they spent millennia hunting and gathering, moving to farming and then turning this land into a center for bronze making, a technology that changed the world. From here, the ancients developed and built prosperous cities.

The mysterious land of Magan

5,000 years ago, people found a rare source of copper in an area near what is now the Oman border. Instead of living a nomadic life relying on hunting and gathering, people began to learn how to mine copper and mix it with tin to create copper alloys.

The "Land of Magan" quickly became a supplier of copper for the production of tools and weapons throughout the Middle East. Copper helped increase agricultural productivity and the formation of civilizations in the region.

Several archaeological sites were excavated over an area of ​​more than 50 hectares in Hili, north of the city of Al Ain. The highlight is a beautiful circular tomb, about 10 meters in diameter. Above the entrance to the tomb are carved images of two African antelopes. The stones are cut so precisely that dental floss cannot be threaded through the gaps. The wall surrounding the tomb resembles a miniature version of the giant stone wall of the Incas at Machu Picchu. However, the Inca stone wall was built only 500 years ago, while this tomb is 4,700 years old.

Iron Age Cities

About 2,000 years later, iron replaced bronze. A revolution in the lives of people on the Arabian Peninsula began. Mleiha, a town near Al Dhaid and an hour's drive from Dubai, became a center for iron production.

During its heyday, Mleiha was one of the most populous cities in the region. Despite being only about a mile wide, it contained hundreds of houses and metalworks that existed for more than 500 years from the mid-Iron Age.

Iron was transported from Mleiha to the coast of Tell Abraq and Ad-Dur. From there, it was shipped to the Persian Gulf for delivery to customers in Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean.

By the first century AD, the city was abandoned and forgotten. Its walls were crumbling and covered with sand. Today, some of the iron furnaces have been excavated, restored, and preserved.

Tell Abraq and Ad-Dur are also notable sites. Tell Abraq was a densely populated city for 2,000 years after Hili was conquered. Al-Dur was a large city on the coast, opposite the modern emirate of Umm al-Quwain. Stone blocks from houses are still preserved in the sand dunes here.

Julfar - famous medieval city

Julfar was the largest and most important port city in the southern Persian Gulf for over 1,000 years. The 10th-14th centuries were the golden age of Julfar, as well as of Arab shipping and trade. Arab sailors reached European waters before Europeans crossed the Atlantic to the Persian Gulf. Arab merchants traveled as far as India, the Far East, and China to trade all kinds of goods. Their voyages could last up to 18 months.

Julfar has always been coveted by surrounding powers. It was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and attacked by the Persians in the 17th century. In 1750, the city fell to the Qawasim tribe of Ras al-Khaimah. Today, Ras al-Khaimah still exists, but Julfar has been forgotten.

Covering 95% of the United Arab Emirates, the desert still holds many secrets. Important discoveries are being made every year, gradually completing the picture of the country's history.

According to VnExpress