Approximately 5,000 years ago, in the shadow of the steeply rising, 1,160-metre Jebel Hafeet mountain, early inhabitants of the Al Ain region chose its northern and eastern slopes for a series of tombs for their dead. Hundreds of tombs have been found in this area, with artefacts at the tombs showing trade links with ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), Iran, and the Indus Valley (modern-day Pakistan and India).
These Bronze Age tombs were built over a 500-year period between 3200 BCE and 2700 BCE, with the most prominent located in a necropolis along the eastern foothills. Other tombs are found along the crests of prominent hills and ridges leading northward from Jebel Hafeet toward Al Ain city, which lies approximately 20 kilometres to the north.
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Family & Education Resources
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UNESCO
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Al Ain Oasis
Al Ain Oasis reflects what agriculture in this region has been like for millennia
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Bida Bint Saud
The area was an important stop on a possible caravan route extending from Al Ain to the north of the United Arab Emirates
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Hafeet Tombs
This ancient caravan site features Bronze Age tombs and a rare Iron Age mud-brick building and irrigation system
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Hili sites
An elaborate falaj system and one of the country’s earliest mosques make this an important historic site
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Al Ayyala
A traditional performing art of the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates
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Al Azi
art of performing praise, pride and fortitude poetry
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Al Majlis
a cultural and social space
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Al Razfa
a traditional performing art of the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates
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Al Sadu
traditional weaving skills in the United Arab Emirates
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Al Taghrooda
traditional Bedouin chanted poetry in the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman
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Falconry
a living human heritage
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Gahwa
a symbol of generosity
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