Mleiha

Mleiha, also Mileiha or Malaihah (), is a town in the Emirate of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a population of 4,768 (2015), located some south of the inland Sharjah town of Dhaid. It is the location of archaeological remnants dating from the Neolithic to pre-Islamic Arabia and home to the Mleiha Archaeological Centre. Mleiha is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History of Mleiha

The widespread archaeological evidence unearthed throughout the Mleiha area dates back as far as the Palaeolithic period, some 130,000 years ago.

Archaeologists from the German University of Tübingen made the original finds of tools at the site of Faya-1 at Mleiha, which have been dated using single-grain optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) to at least 125-130,000 years ago.

Settlements have also been identified pointing to Neolithic communities at Mleiha from 11,000 years ago, with finds of tools at the location consistent with the Neolithic Ubaid or Arabian Bifacial tradition of 5,000-3,100 BCE. Succeeding Bronze Age evidence dating from 3,000 BCE onwards at Mleiha includes an Umm Al Nar tomb, something absent from the nearby necropolis at Jebel Buhais which otherwise represents uninterrupted evidence of human burial throughout all periods of human settlement in the area.

The centuries that followed witnessed the introduction of the underground ''falaj'' irrigation system and the cultivation of dates and other cereal crops.

The 'Mleiha period'

An extensive fortified compound, 'Mleiha Fort', nearby the site of the present archaeological center, was discovered in the late 1990s and is thought to have been possibly the seat of an ancient South Arabian kingdom dating back to 300 BCE.

The period from 300–0 BCE has been dubbed both the Mleiha period and the Pre-Islamic Recent (PIR), and follows on from the dissolution of Darius III's Persian empire. Although the era has been called Hellenistic, Alexander the Great's conquests went no further than Persia and he left Arabia untouched.

Mleiha appears to have been a cultural crossroads, with two distinctive cultures attested in the PIR - along with domestic production of ceramics, Greek amphorae have been found dating to between 100 and 300 BCE, but there are also finds of engraved bronze bowls and alabaster-ware, distinctively south-Arabian, and marked both in Aramaic and Hasaitic. Inscriptions mention the ‘King of Oman’, one particularly rich find dated between 214 222 BCE reads, in Aramaic, ‘This is the memorial of Amud, son of Gurr, which built over him his son Amud, son of Amud, year 90 (or 97)’ and then, in Hasaitic, ‘Memorial and tomb of Amud, son of Gurr, son of Ali, inspector of the King of Oman, which built over him his son Amud, son of Amud, son of Gurr, inspector of the King of Oman.’

Mleiha at this time has been linked to Seleucid Persia, the Parthians, Sasanians and the peoples of southern Arabia. It also yields rare evidence of iron production, something almost entirely lacking during the Emirates' three Iron Ages, and there have been finds of nails through to weapons that are clearly of a local origin.

Links to Ed Dur

Mleiha is strongly linked to the Ancient Near Eastern city of Ed Dur on the UAE's west coast. Macedonian-style coinage unearthed at Ed-Dur dates back to Alexander the Great. Hundreds of coins were found both there and at Mleiha featuring a head of Heracles and a seated Zeus on the obverse, and bearing the name of ''Abi'el'' in Aramaic. These coins match moulds found at Mleiha which, together with finds of slag at the site, suggests the existence of a metallurgical centre. Contemporary Greek manuscripts have given the exports from Ed-Dur as 'pearls, purple dye, clothing, wine, gold and slaves, and a great quantity of dates' and there is a strong history of trade between the coast and the interior. Similarities in burial rituals — of laying animals to rest with their owners — and vessels, decorations and small bronze snake figures have also been unearthed. Camels buried with their heads reversed are a common feature of both the animal burials at Ed-Dur and inland Mleiha.

A trove of some 409 Hellenistic era coins was unearthed, stored in a clay pot, at Mleiha in February 2021. The nine-kilo find was described as 'hugely significant'.

Mleiha represents the most complete evidence of human settlement and community from the post-Iron Age era in the UAE. A thriving agrarian community benefited from the protection of the Mleiha Fort. It was here, and during this period, that the most complete evidence of early iron usage in the UAE has been found, including nails, long swords and arrowheads as well as evidence of slag from smelting.

The fall of Mleiha

There is evidence in the archaeological record of Mleiha that the city and area underwent a great sack at a time contiguous to the rule of the first Sasanian king, Ardashir I, who reigned from 224–240 CE. Pillaged graves and firelines attest to a conflict, but Mleiha had already undergone a period of decline. While both Mleiha and Ed Dur were, in their eflorescence, major centres of regional power and wealth, their decline meant that by 200 CE, both cities had shrunk and occupation appears to have been concentrated around central fortified areas, testament to a long series of conflicts.

Although the Sasanians recorded campaigns against Arabia, they were limited and there was no imposition of direct rule but, in northern Arabia at least, the Sasanians' Lakhmid clients held sway. Evidence of Sasanian artefacts is found at Kush, Khatt, Hulayla and Mleiha but there is scant evidence of any enduring Sasanian occupation of Southeastern Arabia.

References

See also

* List of Ancient Settlements in the UAE

{{Sharjah

Populated places in the Emirate of Sharjah
Central Region, Sharjah