Located on the eastern flank of Abu Dhabi’s highest peak, Jebel Hafit Desert Park contains a rich variety of archaeological and historical remains. This informative guide describes its role in early human settlement and survival. The story starts in the Neolithic Period and then moves to the Bronze Age ‘Hafit Tombs’. There are more than 100 of these tombs, dating to 3000 BCE, some of which have yet to be excavated. These structures were part of some of the earliest agricultural settlements in the region. Discoveries of beads, copper objects and pottery also reveal the presence of mining and ceramics industries and maritime trade in the Arabian Gulf. During the Iron Age from 1300–300 BCE the tombs were reused.

This was a time of great expansion in the area with the introduction of the falaj irrigation system and agricultural settlements. Jebel Hafit Desert Park is one of the Cultural Sites of Al Ain which make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised in 2011 as having ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ with its sites providing “exceptional testimony to the development of successive prehistoric cultures in a desert region, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age”.