Chronology of Southeast Arabia (late 2nd mill. BCE – 7th cent. CE)

Two main terminologies are currently used to describe the chronology of Southeast Arabia between the 2nd millennium BCE and the 7th century CE. In the United Arab Emirates, the terminology is organized into two main periods, labelled the Iron Age (late 2nd millennium BCE – 250 BCE) and the Late Pre-Islamic period (250 BCE - 7th cent. CE). In the Sultanate of Oman, a distinct terminology has been proposed: including an early Iron Age (1200-300 BCE) and a Late Iron Age (1st cent. BCE – 9th cent. CE).

Unlike other Arabian regions, no written testimony is known for southeast Arabia — a territory covering the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and the Sultanate of Oman — until the end of the first millennium BCE. Thus, the chronology of this region is based exclusively on archaeological research, mostly on 14C dating and comparative studies of artefacts recovered in excavations.

Distinct terminologies characterize the chronology employed in the north-western (UAE) and south-eastern (Sultanate of Oman) parts of the region due to differences observed in the evolution of cultures and more especially pottery traditions (Table 1).

The Iron Age in the UAE (1300–250 BCE)

Archaeological research in southeast Arabia began in the late 1970s with the exploration of the region by Danish and British archaeologists (K. Frifelt, G. Bibby, B. De Cardi), who carried out excavations in different regions of the UAE. In several places — Dibba in northern Ras al-Khaimah, cairns 20 and 22 on the Jabal Ḥafīt, the settlement site of Rumeilah and collective graves at Qarn Bint Saʿūd in the region of al-ʿAyn, Abu Dhabi —, they discovered material attributed to between the end of the 2nd mill. BCE and the mid-1st mill. BCE, on the basis of comparisons with material collected in Iran and at Bahrain (Lombard 1985; Potts, 1990). The term ‘Iron Age’ began to be used in the late 1970s, to distinguish 1st mill. BCE cultures from older ones.

Between 1980 and 1984, the excavation of the ancient settlement of Rumeilah, in the oasis of al-ʿAyn (Abu Dhabi) by a French archaeological mission, resulted in a first periodization of the 1st mill. BCE culture into two successive phases (Rumeilah I and Rumeilah II), which were called Iron Age A and B (Lombard 1985). The multiplication of settlements and the development of agriculture showed that the Iron Age A (1300–700 BCE) was a period of prosperity. It was characterized by the development of a pottery tradition including bowls, bridge-spouted jugs and red or black slip jars, sometimes painted or incised, an industry in soft stone, comprising barrel-shaped and carinated vases with lids and spouted shallow bowls, and a copper industry associating weapons (arrowheads, axes, daggers and knives) tools, and vessels (Fig. 1). It was largely represented in southeast Arabia, from the north-western Emirates to central Oman (see below: Lizq Culture). Iron Age B (700–250 BCE) pottery assemblages were characterized by the emergence of a group of fast-wheel-made vessels with a red or black burnished slip. It was only represented at Rumeilah and was considered as a phase of decline with the possible regionalisation of cultures. The dating of that period was equated to the Iron Age III-Achaemenid period in Iran, i.e., between the 7th and the mid-3rd cent. BCE (Lombard 1985).

Following excavations at Shimal (settlement SX) and Tell Abraq in the 1990s, P. Magee defined a new cultural phase for the beginning of the Iron Age, and proposed a further subdivision of the Iron Age into three periods, on the basis of the Iranian chronology: Iron Age I (1300–1100 BCE) with pottery exclusively composed of coarse handmade vessels (Fig. 2), Iron Age II (1100–600 BCE) corresponding to the cultural assemblage recognized at Rumeilah and on most Iron Age sites in southeast Arabia, and Iron Age III (600–300 BCE), compared by the author to the Iranian Iron Age III – Achaemenid tradition reflecting possible Achaemenid rule over the region (Magee 1996) (Fig. 3).

The Late Pre-Islamic Period in the UAE (250 BCE – 632 CE)

This period covering the last three centuries BCE and the first six centuries CE was initially referred to in southeast Arabia as ‘Hellenistic’ or ‘Seleuco-Parthian’, in reference to the appearance in the material culture of a certain number of artefacts imported from Mesopotamia and Iran. The term ‘Late Pre-Islamic period’ was proposed in 1992 by M. Mouton, who built up the chronology of the UAE between 250 BC and 350 AD, following excavations carried out on the sites of Mleiha (Emirate of Sharjah) and ed-Dur (Emirate of Umm al-Quwayn) (Mouton 2008).

The Late Pre-Islamic period in the UAE is characterized by critical changes in cultural traditions, including changes in funerary practices, the emergence of writing (see Script) (Fig. 4) and coinage, and the development of new traditions in several crafts: iron metallurgy, glass and soft-stone vessel production (wheel-made chlorite vessels).

The [Late Pre-Islamic period](Late Pre-Islamic period) is divided into five successive phases called Late Pre-Islamic A, B, C, D, and E.

The Late Pre-Islamic A period (250–150 BCE) is characterized at Mleiha by the emergence of Greek amphorae in pottery assemblages, including stamped Rhodian amphorae dated between the second half of the 3rd and the first quarter of the 2nd century BCE (Fig. 5). Imports include glazed pottery and moulded glass vessels from Mesopotamia and Iran. At that time, the site of Mleiha was a large seasonal camp, associated with a necropolis of tower graves, a type previously unknown in the region. These have been linked to funerary practices from central Arabia and the Southern Levant (Qaryat al-Fāw, Petra), indicating that the nomadic peoples who settled in Mleiha could have originated from those regions (Mouton 1997).

The Late Pre-Islamic B Period (150 BCE–1 BCE) is characterized by the disappearance of Rhodian amphorae and by changes in the assemblage of domestic pottery (disappearance of strip-burnished ware, appearance of grey-black ware). At Mleiha, the first mudbrick houses appeared in small scattered units (Fig. 6).

During the Late Pre-Islamic C Period (1–150 CE), the production of grey-black ware increased and a greater quantity of transportation jars of various origins were found (torpedo jars in yellow ware with bitumen or in a sandy buff or orange fabric). Blown glass vessels also made their appearance (Fig. 7). In Mleiha, houses become more complex, forming large units with lateral courtyards. The coastal site of Ed-Dur was founded during this period, comprising a few houses, graveyards, a sanctuary and a fort.

In the Late Pre-Islamic D Period (150 CE–350 CE), pottery is characterized by local light buff to pinkish common ware with red painted decorations, and by the importation of Fine Orange Painted ware (FOPW) from South Iran (Fig. 8). Imports also include Indian vessels, lamps from Nubia, and Egyptian amphorae. Settlement at Mleiha declined and became confined to the centre of the site. Domestic areas include large houses enclosed by a wall and organized around central courtyards, and two fortified buildings. In ed-Dur, a second fortified building was built in Area F, on a high dune at the edge of the lagoon. Mleiha was suddenly abandoned at the end of this period, after a possible conflict resulting in the burning of buildings in the central part of the site.

The following so-called Sasanian period is sometimes also referred to as the Late Pre-Islamic E period (4th cent. CE until the beginning of Islam) and is still poorly known. It was identified by a British archaeological mission in the deepest layers of the coastal site of Kush in Ras al-Khaimah, and in the area of Khatt, in the same region. Pottery from this ancient level (Phases I-II in the stratigraphy reported by Kennet, 2004) still includes FOPW and grey-black ware similar to those from Mleiha, but also comprises new or formerly less-represented elements, e.g., new designs on FOPW (Mouton & Schiettecatte 2014: 69-70).

The Iron Age in central Oman

In central Oman, a distinct chronology was proposed in 1981 by the German archaeological mission. Archaeological investigations since 1981 in several regions from the Sultanate of Oman (Lizq, al-Maysar, Samad, Rākī, Nizwa, Izkī, Bawshar) distinguished two different cultures, respectively called the Lizq culture and the Samad culture (Weisgerber & Yule 1981).

The earlier, the Lizq culture, is quite similar to that found in the earliest levels of Rumeilah and the Iron Age II period in the UAE, and a similar dating has been suggested (ca. 1200–600 BCE). As in the UAE, it is characterized by a pottery tradition including red or black slipped vessels, painted carinated bowls (Fig. 9) and bridge-spouted jugs, and incised jars. The Lizq culture was later referred to as the “Early Iron Age” or “EIA Period” (Yule 1999a; 2014).

The later culture, the Samad Culture (see Samad Late Iron Age) is unprecedented in the UAE. It is mainly represented by handmade pottery with medium to coarse temper, including jars, jugs and large deep bowls with incised herringbone and wavy line decorations distributed horizontally around the shoulder, and sometimes short vertical lines on the body of vessels (Fig. 10). Small balsamaria in finer ware were found in graves. This material is associated with iron weaponry, wheel-made chlorite vessels and luxury goods similar to some Late Pre-Islamic Period assemblages in the UAE. The Samad Culture was referred to as the “Late Iron Age” or “LIA Period” (Yule 1999b; 2014), although it represents most, but not all, of the cultural assemblages encountered in Oman (Yule 2009: 70). A series of 14C dating on several graves provisionally led to date the Samad Culture between the 1st and the 9th cent. CE. However, these 14C dates were reconsidered and the LIA Period was eventually limited to the pre-Sasanian Late Pre-Islamic Period, although differences of opinion still persist among specialists (Kennet 2007, Yule 2009, Mouton and Schiettecatte 2014; Yule 2014).

Another chronology was recently proposed by C.S. Phillips after excavations carried out by the Italian Mission to Oman at Salūt. These excavations show that the cultural features defining the Lizq culture or Early Iron Age appeared at Salūt at an earlier date than in the UAE, i.e., as early as the 14th–13th cent. BCE. Thus, the Lizq culture could be directly derived from previous regional second-millennium-BCE traditions (“Wadi Suq” period), without the cultural break determining the Iron Age evidenced in the UAE (Schreiber 2010). These pottery traditions might have spread north-westwards, reaching the UAE around the 11th cent. BCE. C.S. Phillips proposed restricting the expression “Early Iron Age” to this period, extending in Oman between the 13th cent. BCE and the 6th cent. BCE (Phillips 2010).

On the site of Salūt, this phase is followed by a similar cultural phase to that characterizing the Iron Age III in the UAE, including fast-wheel-made vessels inspired by Iranian traditions (Fig. 11). C.S. Phillips proposed the terminology “Late Iron Age” to designate the period dated between the 6th and the 3rd cent. BCE. (Phillips 2010: 77). The term is thus used here in a different sense to the one proposed by G. Weisgerber and P. Yule. Both terminologies are still in use in this region.

Anne Benoist

References

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