It was towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC that the Bronze Age of Southeast Arabia reached its peak. This achievement marked a turnaround in the fortunes of the region. Towards the beginning of the millennium, Southeast Arabia lagged behind its neighbours. Agriculture was only adopted in the mid-3rd millennium BC, much later than elsewhere in the Middle East. The switch to growing crops, such as barley, dates, wheat, and melons, brought an increase in settlements as rural communities flourished. The fruits of this agricultural revolution were only one reason for the region’s rising fortunes, though. Another came from access to trade links with some of the era’s greatest powers, including Iran, Mesopotamia, Early Dilmun, and the Indus Valley. This was aided by having easy access to the southern coast of the pinch-point between the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman created by the Strait of Hormuz. Southeast Arabia was also rich in copper – a commodity that was extremely important during the Bronze Age and attracted maritime traders working these routes. Mesopotamian records recovered from Ur, in what is now Iraq, record receipt of metal from this general region, which was known as ‘Magan’. Archaeologists, though, refer to the culture that presided over the heyday of the Bronze Age in Southeast Arabia as the Umm an-Nar.
In its entirety, the Umm an-Nar period runs from roughly 2700-2000 BC. During the course of that era, a uniform material culture appeared over an area of some 70,000km², focused on what is now the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and northern Oman. The handiwork of the Umm an-Nar culture can be seen in its colourful pottery, impressive toolkit of bronze implements, and increasingly sophisticated house plans. More than anything, though, it is the distinctive Umm an-Nar tombs that serve as monuments to the achievements of these prehistoric people. Collective burial places were built alongside the homes for the living, and took the form of low circular buildings up to 14m in diameter and less than 2m high. These contained narrow chambers with straight walls that were roofed with horizontal stone corbels; numerous individuals would be interred within – more than 400 in some cases. The finest examples of these tombs boasted outer walls of close-fitting white ashlar, the shape and colour of which have seen it nicknamed ‘sugar-lump’ masonry. These were skilfully made and impressive monuments. Such tombs testify to a unity of burial concept across a wide area, as well as the existence of highly skilled masons. As there was nothing else in the Umm an-Nar villages that required such high-quality stonework, it is suspected that these masons were itinerant specialists who roamed widely in the region, constructing the tombs for many communities, rather than residing in a single settlement.
The good times were not destined to last, though. As the Umm an-Nar era gave way to the following Wadi Suq period (c.2000-1600 BC), so too the archaeology of the region indicates an abrupt transformation. Change is apparent across all aspects of life, with the unity of the Umm an-Nar era effectively disintegrating. The iconic ‘sugar-lump’ tombs fell out of favour and were no longer built, possibly indicating that the masonry skills had been lost. They were replaced with myriad different local approaches to disposing of the dead. There are also signs that the copper trade was disrupted, and in most areas the number of visible settlements plummets. But against this backdrop of fragmentation and collapse, there is one area where population numbers seem to remain stable, or even rise: the plains of Ras al-Khaimah. This small pocket of land, measuring just 50km by 12km, lies beside the Strait of Hormuz, placing it between the Arabian Gulf and the northern edge of the Hajar Mountains. Around 2000 BC, it apparently offered an enclave of stability as the Umm an-Nar world fell apart. An opportunity to learn more about this pivotal region emerged when the Department of Archaeology at Durham University was engaged to excavate a prehistoric cemetery at Qarn al-Harf. The results will shortly be published (see ‘Further information’ box below).
