Jebel Hafeet

The UAE’s best-known mountain, located on the outskirts of Al Ain on the border with Oman. It is a favourite with bikers and one of the training routes for the UAE’s national cycling team. It has settlements from the early Bronze Age and a falaj, or water channel system, from the Iron Age. Jebel Dhanna SulPHur Mines

A less-visited mountain is Jebel Dhanna, home to a sulphur mine that dates back to at least the 18th century. Pottery of the late Islamic Age has been found near the mountain, which could indicate the mine was in use up to 400 years ago. The 114-metre Jebel Dhanna in western Abu Dhabi overlooks a cluster of islands, includ- ing Sir Bani Yas. Many were inhabited by prehistoric people. An archaeological survey in 1998 found 100 circular shafts dug up to 10 metres deep into the mountain’s slopes, and trench mines up to 50 metres long and 2 metres wide. There were 12 mining areas, comprising 180 mining shafts and covering just under 2,000 cubic metres of tunnel space. The mines and pits would have produced be- tween 60 and 90 tonnes of sulphur, and up to 1,500 cubic metres of rock was re- moved during mining. Miners probably worked during the autumn and winter. Radiocarbon samples indicated the mines may date to the 17th and 18th centuries, when the sulphur may have been mixed with salves to treat camel wounds. Sulphur is also a key component in gunpowder, introduced to the Arabian Gulf by the Ottoman Empire.

Jerz axe Juss A traditional local alternative to cement, juss is a plaster-like render that was used in building forts, mosques, palaces and burj. Juss had to be burnt, powdered and mixed In the Ru’us Al Jibal mountains, no man attends a wed- with water before it could be used. Because it was made from the same coral, sea stone ding without his jerz, a long-handled axe. Only a handful and sea shells as the buildings it rendered, juss helped to create walls and ceilings that of smiths still make the axe, which is carried by mountain were not only insulated but breathable. This became invaluable when it was used in tribesmen in the UAE and northern Oman. The short axe building small, well-ventilated rooms such as those at Qasr Al Hosn, which were cool head has been likened to similar axes excavated in eastern during the day and warmed up at night as their walls released the day’s heat. Arabia, suggesting a 4,000-year-old tradition. Jerz craftsmen, usually of Baluch origin, continue to use simple tools such as chisels, clamps, picks, hammers and tongs to shape and embellish the axehead. Wood is imported or ex- changed by barter with mountain tribesmen, who own the rights to trees of the Ru’us Al Jibal. Patterns are minimal and JINN include dallah coffee pots, diamonds, zigzags and lines. To- day, the jerz is carried as formal wear at tribal gatherings. Good and evil, jinn are supernatural beings acknowledged by Arabs since the pre-Islam- ic era. The Quran states that they were created in smokeless fire. The most notorious of Emirati jinn is Umm Al Duwais, the vicious seductress who lures unfaithful men with her charms before murdering them with her sickle-bladed hands or legs. Another malicious spirit is Nagat Al Eid, the Eid camel, who eats greedy children who overindulge during Eid Al Fitr. Equally murderous is Baba Daria, the jinn with no lips and arms severed at the wrist. Once a slave, he slays sailors indiscriminately. Other jinn are less malevolent. There is Salama, who guards sunken treasure near a sea- side mountain, and the humpbacked Sabr, a patient and lucky labourer of the souq. The giant Shang may be friendly, but keeps friends at bay with his imposing physique. Few could fault the long-nosed Fatouh, protector of the mangroves. Jahala

Gourd-shaped earthenware pots, jahalas were used for storing water and were often car- ried on the heads of women as they walked to and from wells. Rather than having handles, jahalas were fitted with a noose-like cord around their necks. This allowed water to be drawn directly from a well, and also meant the pot could be hung up when it was not in use. Not only did this keep the jahala, and the water inside it, away from the hot ground but it also meant that air passing around the pot would evaporate the water that seeped through its porous surface, like sweat, thus cooling the water inside.