Al Madam () is an inland town of the Emirate of Sharjah, in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Located at the intersection of the

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

-Hatta ( E44) and Mleiha- Shwaib (E55) roads, its development has mainly centred around these road links and the road traffic through Hatta to

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. The volume of traffic to Oman through Madam and Hatta has lessened since the closure of the 'soft' Omani

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

at Mahda in 2016, although traffic volumes remain at some 5,000 travellers daily. The road from Madam to Hatta is now only open to UAE or Omani nationals and permit holders.

Description

The strip development of Madam along the E44 towards the 'dune bashing' tourist centre of Badayer (with its celebrated 'Big Red' sand dune) has resulted in the town becoming elongated, and includes the 'first shopping mall' to open there. This is in addition to municipal facilities, a medical centre, a wedding hall and a large number of shops located along the main street of the town. Al Madam is home to an annual shopping festival. In an area of desert to the south of Madam, a small and deserted development of houses and a mosque can be found, referred to locally as both Madam Old Town and Al Madam Ghost Town ( Sharjah Ghost Village) . As of 2020, those towns have been abandoned for a few decades due to desertification and dune movement. The area around Al Madam is also home to a number of

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

archaeological sites, including those of Al Thuqaibah and Jebel Buhais, as well as '' aflāj'' (indigenous water management systems) dating back to the

1st millennium BC File:1st millennium BC.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: The Parthenon, a former temple in Athens, Greece; Aristotle, Greek philosopher; Gautama Buddha, a spiritual teacher and the founder of Buddhism; Wars of Alexander the Great last from ...

. To the east of the town is the C19th Fili Fort.

References

Archaeological sites in the United Arab Emirates Al-Madam, Sharjah Populated places in the Emirate of Sharjah {{UnitedArabEmirates-geo-stub

Description

See also

References