{"id":154611,"date":"2023-03-24T22:45:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T22:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=154611"},"modified":"2023-03-31T20:40:20","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T20:40:20","slug":"ancient-pearling-town-unearthed-on-siniyah-island-uae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/news\/ancient-pearling-town-unearthed-on-siniyah-island-uae\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Pearling Town Unearthed on Siniyah Island, UAE"},"content":{"rendered":"           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#9259b9;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#9259b9;background-color:rgba(146, 89, 185, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>Archaeologists discovered the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on Siniyah Island in the UAE, dating back to the late 6th century and predating the rise of Islam.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The town represents the oldest example of a \"very specifically Khaleeji pearling town\" and is considered a spiritual ancestor of modern cities like Dubai.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The pearling town shows signs of year-round habitation, with homes of varying sizes and layouts suggesting social stratification among the inhabitants.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Archaeologists found loose pearls and diving weights inside the homes, indicating the pearling activities of the town's residents.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The discovery holds significant importance in the UAE's history, as the nation faces a future reckoning with its fossil fuel legacy and prepares to host the United Nations COP28 climate talks.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            \n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Archaeologists have discovered the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Emirates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dating back to the late 6th century, this pre-Islamic town is said to be the spiritual ancestor of modern cities like Dubai.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discovery was made by a team of experts from UAE University, Umm al-Quwain&#8217;s Department of Tourism and Archaeology, the Italian Archaeological Mission, and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University, explained that this town represents the oldest example of a &#8220;very specifically Khaleeji pearling town,&#8221; with &#8220;Khaleeji&#8221; meaning &#8220;Gulf&#8221; in Arabic.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Unique Archaeological Findings: Homes and Pearling Artifacts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pearling town, occupying 12 hectares (143,500 square yards), is situated on Siniyah Island, which protects the Khor al-Beida marshlands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The island, whose name means &#8220;flashing lights&#8221; due to the effect of the white-hot sun overhead, has previously seen the discovery of an ancient Christian monastery dating back as many as 1,400 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The town is located south of this monastery, featuring a variety of homes constructed from beach rock and lime mortar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The varying sizes and layouts of these homes, ranging from cramped quarters to sprawling houses with courtyards, suggest social stratification among the inhabitants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike other pearling operations in the region, this town shows signs of year-round habitation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n                        <!-- <div class=\"container-c\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"row justify-content-between\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"col-post-800\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- start html -->\r\n                        <div class=\"blockquote-wapper\">\r\n                            <div>\r\n                                <span class=\"text_quot\">\r\n                                    <p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The island, whose name means &#8220;flashing lights&#8221; due to the effect of the white-hot sun overhead, has previously seen the discovery of an ancient Christian monastery dating back as many as 1,400 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n                                <\/span>\r\n\r\n                                <div class=\"quot_icon\">\r\n                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                                <\/div>\r\n                            <\/div>\r\n\r\n                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"quot_tick\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot_tri.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n                        <!-- end html -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                                    \n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Power said, &#8220;The houses are crammed in there, cheek by jowl. The key thing there is permanence. People are living there all year around.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the homes, archaeologists have discovered loose pearls and diving weights, which the free divers used to quickly drop down to the seabed while relying solely on their held breath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The town predates the rise of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula, making its residents likely Christians.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Islam&#8217;s Prophet Muhammad was born around 570 and died in 632 after conquering Mecca in present-day Saudi Arabia.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Pearling and the UAE&#8217;s History: Lessons for the Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discovery of this ancient pearling town holds significant importance in the UAE&#8217;s history, particularly as the nation faces a looming reckoning with another extractive industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While crude oil sales built the country after its formation in 1971, the UAE will have to confront its fossil fuel legacy and potentially plan for a carbon-neutral future as it hosts the United Nations COP28 climate talks later this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pearling industry, which rapidly collapsed after World War I due to the introduction of artificial pearls and the Great Depression, left behind a colossal waste.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Archaeologists found a nearby dumpsite filled with discarded oyster shells, with one pearl found in every 10,000 shells.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Power mentioned that the pearling industry produced a massive amount of waste, with countless oyster shells being discarded. Even today, visitors to the island can find the remnants of these shells.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":154913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3588],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}