Sixth Report (1990 - 1992) Annual Magazine concerned with publication of the result of archaeological excavations and researches in the Emirate of Sharjah Sharjah Archaeology Authority - Govt. of Sharjah Chairman: Dr. Sabah Abood Jasim General Supervisor: Eisa Yousif Managing Editor: Fawzy Saleh CONTRIBUTORS: Marc Barbier - B. Briand M. Drieux - A. Gautier M. Mouton - R. Boucharlat R. Dalongeville - P. Garczynski K. Mokaddem - A.P. Lambert Directorate of Archaeology Dept of Culture & Information Sharjah - U.A.E French Archaeological Mission Ministère des Relations Extérieurs GIS- Maison de l’Orient- CNRS- France Designed & Printed by: Fairmont P.P.S Copyright Reserved© for Sharjah Archaeology Authority Seventh Edition - 2019 P.O. Box: 30300 - SHARJAH Tel.: +971 - 6 - 5668000 Fax:+971 - 6 - 5660334 Website: www.sharjaharchaeology.com E-mail: [email protected] Index Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 I- Al Madam - Jabal Buhais area Archaeological survey of the region of Al-Madam: a preliminary report ....... 9 The excavations at Jabal Buhais ................................................................................................ 15 Note on an Iron Age hilli-settlement in Jabal Buhais ........................................... 19 II- Mleiha area Excavations at Mleiha 1990 and 1992 campaigns ................................................... 21 The Industries of Mleiha mineralogical and archaeological data recovered from the site and its environment in 1990 ...................................... 33 The bone objects workshop of Mleiha (Area BV) ...................................................... 38 Preliminary report on the fauna of Mleiha ..................................................................... 43 Conversation in Sharjah: a brief assessment ............................................................... 45 INTRODUCTION Remy Boucharlat This report concerns the last two campaigns of the joint archaeological mission to Sharjah under the chairmanship of Dr. R.Boucharlat, carried out between mid-January and the beginning of March 1990, and during the same period in 1992, particularly on the site of Mleiha. No field activity took place in 1991, the campaign for that year having been cancelled because of the Gulf War. As in the past, the mission was placed under the patronage of H.H.Dr. Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammad al-Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah. The mission was supported at Sharjah by the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, (Department of Culture and Information) directed by Mr. Nassir H. Al Aboodi, assisted by Mr. Musafa Tawfiq al-Hazeem. On the French side the mission is financed by the Commission des Fouilles, Ministère des Relation Extérieurs, and receives aid from the CNRS (URA 913, maison de l’Orient, Lyon and CRA, Valbonne). Our activities were greatly aided by the Embassy of France with H.E.H. Colin de verdiere, then H.E.B. Poletti, by J-Y Le Brcquir, French Consul at Dubai, as well as by the French Business Council, directed by Mr. B. Chaignon, of which the Emirate and French added Mr. J. De Vaulx, Representative at Abu Dhabi TOTAL - Compagnie Française des Pétroles, Mr. J-C. Gagnant, Subtec Co. in Sharjah, and in France, Mr. M. Albouy, Electricité de France (EDF), Direction Etudes et Recherches. To all these authorities and persons, the mission expresses its thanks. In 1990 the team consisted of Miss. A. Benoist (archaeologist), Mr. V.Bernard (draftsman and archaeologist), Dr. B. Briand (geologist), Mr. E. Jean (archaeologist), Dr. R. Dalongville (geomorphologist), Miss M. Drieux (conservator), Miss. A. Dupeyron (archaeologist), Mr. P. Garczynski (architect), Dr. M. Mouton (archaeologist), Mrs. A. Pecontal-Lambert (archaeologist). In 1992, the team consisted of Mr. M. Barbier (archaeologist and specialist in bone working), Miss. C. Cochin (draftswoman), Miss. A. Drieux (conservator), Mr. P. Garczynski (architect), Mr. K. Mokaddem (archaeologist), Dr. M. Mouton (archaeologist). To these participants in the field must be added our specialist colleagues who study the Sixth Report 7 data in France, Dr. V. de Medwecki (sedimentologist), Miss. M. Millet (lithic industry), Dr. A. Prieur (malacologist), Dr. Ch. Robin (South Arabian Inscriptions), Dr. J. Teixidor (Aramaic inscriptions). The work has been carried out primarily on the site of Mleiha, excavated since 1986, following a program which should have been completed in 1990; the accidental discovery, on the edge of the main road, of a mould designed for casting coins and of traces of monumental architecture necessitated the organisation of a supplementary campaign to verify the importance of these remains. This was successfully carried out in 1992. At the same time, short checking operations took place elsewhere on the site. In the Southern part of the plain, at the foot of Jabal Buhais, an Iron Age necropolis was partly excavated in 1990; in the plain of Al-Madam, the first phase of a systematic survey carried out in 1992. In view of the promising results obtained at Mleiha and the work to be pursued in the region of Al Madam, a new program of research will begin in 1993 under the direction of Dr. Michel Mouton. At the same time, the different specialists who have worked at Sharjah up to the present are preparing the final publications concerning the work form 1985 to 1992; in 1992 they have also worked with the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in setting up the Museum of Sharjah which is nearly completed. Lyon December 1992 8 Sixth Report ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE REGION OF THE REGION OF AL MADAM PRELIMINARY RESULTS 1992 Michel Mouton The region of the Western piedmont of the Oman mountains belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah is today divided into three agricultural sectors: from North to South, Dhaid, Mleiha, and Al-Madam. The villages are concentrated around the farmed areas, which are becoming more and more numerous. According to the archaeological surveys, the ancient settlements are found in general in the same places as those of today, in the sectors most propitious for agriculture. From this point of view, the case of Mleiha is good example; the present farmlands lie in the same place as the ancient site. We know that the sector of Al-Madam was also occupied in antiquity. Several sites have already been found at the periphery of the cultivated zone: in the foothills of Jabal Buhais, a building in stone and an Iron Age cemetery, partially excavated (see below Boucharlat; Boucharlat & Pecontal-Lambert); tombs of the 3rd millennium at the foot of Jabal Emaleh and knapped flints in various places. But did there exist in the location of village of Al-Madam an important occupation dating to the Iron Age, or contemporary with Mleiha (3rd c.BC - 1st c.AD)? The report by UAE-Iraq Archaeological Mission of 1973 indicates in this sector of the piedmont the presence of remains similar to those Mleiha (Madhloon, 1975:149), and among the ceramics deposited at the Al Ain Museum are sherds of glazed pots comparable to material at Mleiha. It is, however, possible that the Iraqi archaeologists used this generic name to include all the piedmont up to Mleiha. The need of a systematic survey of the cultivated zone of Al-Madam was obvious to complete the reconnaissance of the region. The discovery in 1987 of a late Iron Age habitation near the present village of Thuqaibah, excavated by the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage (Boucharlat, 1988), in a sector partly invaded by sand, situated between modern cultivated areas, makes such an operation urgent. The existence of ancient habitations in the same locations as today was confirmed, and the rapid mapping of the sites was necessary before their destruction by the rapid growth of farmed land. A systematic survey was therefore undertaken during the 1992 campaign, and will be completed in 1993. Sixth Report 9 Geographical situation The agricultural palin of Al-Madam is situated along the present Dhaid-Shwaib road, which skirts the piedmont of the Jabal Fayah, 15 km south of Mleiha. If stretches in a band 10 km long from North to South, about 4 - 5km wide, on the lightly sanded fringe situated between the stretch of dunes which crosses the Oman peninsula from North to South and the gravely terraces of the piedmont. In the Southern part, the Wadi Yuddayah constitutes the Western limit of cultivation. Beyond this extend the dunes. The winter rains, flowing periodically in the wadi, carry the sand accumulated in its bed and slow down the encroachment of sand in the cultivated zone. In north, a short tributary of Wadi Yuddayah which passes at the foot of Jabal Emaleh plays a similar role. To the North-West, the Jabal Buhais, a continuation of the Jabal Fayah which delimits the plain of Mleiha to the West, is also a barrier. The mountain ranges also from a break against the sand blown from the West. These naturally protective features render this area particularly good for agriculture, as they reduce sanding up in a sector of the piedmont which is quite far from the mountains, and retain subterranean water flow from the Oman mountain. Method The zone which has been surveyed in a systematic manner is covered by maps of 1/2000 established by the Municipality of Sharjah, inventoried under the name of «Al- Madam» and numbered from 1 to 31. Limited reconnaissance was also carried out beyond the territory covered by the maps, in areas of the piedmont