............. The Iron Age Culture
At the very beginning of the first millennium BC, or even slightly earlier, a new period emerged in the UAE, which we call the Iron Age. Despite the fact that the Iron Age inhabitants only began using iron for the first time in the second half of the first millennium BC, the term "Iron Age" is widely used to cover the period between 1200 and 300 BC. The absence of inscriptions and subsequently the name of the races that lived in the Arabian Peninsula are the reasons for using the term more broadly. Man in the ancient Near East however, discovered and used iron during the 13th century BC.


The Iron Age culture is different from the Bronze Age culture. Unlike the Bronze Age, large settlement sites having different layouts became common in the Iron Age. The Bronze Age tower-like buildings were replaced with other structures and separate building units, which were known in the region in the earlier periods.

The exhibits of the Iron Age in the Al Ain museum came from the archaeological sites of Hili 2, Rumailah, Garn Bint Saud and Qusais. A picture and a plan of some of the excavated houses illustrate the large village site of Hili 2, which was excavated by the Department of Antiquities and Tourism in Al Ain. Bronze arrowheads, stone lids, shells and pottery vessels from this site are on display in cases 145 and 146. The vessels, which were found for the most part outside the houses, represent only a small selection of what has been found. These finds and the number of fire places that were excavated in the open spaces indicate that the inhabitants practiced most of their daily activities outside the houses.

Two cases have been allocated for the settlement of Rumailah. In the first case (147) there is a picture illustrating one side of the site and three pottery vessels, on which a coiled snake can be seen.

A number of elaborate stone vessels, (of particular note the barrel-shaped one with four lugs) are also displayed in the same case. The second case (148) shows mainly bronze objects. Among the displayed objects are two hoes, two hand axes, a dagger and a number of bronze arrowheads. In this case there are also a few seals and two pairs of bronze bangles.

It is worth noting that the first archaeological investigations at Rumailah were carried out by a Danish team in the 1960s. Limited, excavations were also carried out by a small local team in the 1970s. The most extensive, excavations were conducted by the French in the 1980s. The French excavations revealed a number of mud brick buildings and traces of three different layers on top of each other, These successive layers period. According to archaeologists, they date from the first half of the first millennium B.C, although a slightly earlier date cannot be entirely discounted.

After seeing the Rumailah finds the visitor returns to gallery 3 to face large storage jars. These were discovered at both Hili2 and Rumailah.

On the right the visitor can see more objects from the same date, coming this time from the cemetery site of Bida Bint Saud which is located at a distance of 12 km north of Hili.

Case 149 - 152 contain objects found at the former site, most of which belong to the Iron Age. These objects for the most part, consist of nicely decorated stone vessels and a number of stone lids. Smaller finds on display are a pair of golden earrings, some beads and shell buckles. There are also two copper tweezers and an awl (case150). In the tomb that, were built on the top of the outcrop a few swords blades and arrowheads were found (case 151).

The bonze axe heads which is displayed with the arrowheads and the above mentioned blades were found in a small Iron Age grave on top of Hili 8, the Bronze Age site. The large stone bowl with a lid was accidently found at the Sarooj area in Al Ain. It is one of the largest bowls found so far.

Iron Age sites are not restricted to Al Ain and Abu Dhabi only, but can be found in many places in the UAE. The site of Quasis is one of the earliest Iron Age sites to have been discovered in the northern emirates. This site is located on the outskirts of Dubai and was excavated by an Iraqi team in the 1974.The department of Antiquities in al Ain supervised the archaeological excavations that were carried out at the site. Two types of graves have been discovered; single and collective. Skeletons provided with various objects were found in the single graves. These objects include stone, pottery and bronze vessels. Daggers made of bronze were also found. Some of these skeletons, especially the females, were adorned with jewellery such as necklaces and rings. A single grave showing a crouched skeleton was removed and displayed at Dubai museum.

Two collective tombs were excavated at Qusais. The first one has several chambers and it may have been built over a long period, originating perhaps during the 2nd millennium BC. The second one is rectangular in shape and was partly excavated. It is of a type, which is widely known elsewhere in the UAE. The usual date for such grave is the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The Al-Qusais graves, however, need further study, taking in consideration the recent excavations that have taken place at the same site and at other archaeological sites as well during the last two decades.

While the Al Ain museum has some of the Qusais materials, the majority is housed in the Dubai museum. Case 153 of the Al Ain museum shows pottery vessels and case 154 displays stone vessels, lids, a bronze dagger and a number of small finds. The third case (155) contains stone vessels, most important the barrel-shaped vessel, which is similar to the one from Rumailah. The case also shows some bronze vessels and two calcite pots.

In the 1990s, the museum in Dubai has carried out further investigations. These led to the discovery of more graves and objects.

Before leaving the Iron Age culture wing and proceeding to displays of the Hellenistic period, the visitor can see the archaeogical map of the UAE. This map shows the wide distribution of the sites all over the Emirates, along the coast and in the oases. These sites range from the Stone Age to the Islamic period.

By the map there is a large, horizontal case (156) which is allocated to the coins acquired by the museum. It is a random selection from the Greek, Parthian, Sassanian, Byzantine and Islamic eras. The selection contains gold dinars, and silver dirhams. Among the Islamic coins are Dinars and Dirhams from the Ummayed, Abbasid, Ayubi and Mamluk. There are also bronze coins that were used in the Gulf region and Hormuz. These coins were either purchased or donated and they were represented only a small collection of what the museum has.