Excavations at ed-Dur II: The Tombs

Located on the coast of the Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain (UAE), the site of ed-Dur is without doubt the largest coastal site of the late 1st. cent.B.C.- 1st cent. A.D. between Qatar and the promontory of Musandam. It could have been the site of Ommana, mentionned as a harbour, by Classical authors. In 1986 a European consortium of four countries (Belgium, Denmark, France and Great Britain) was created in order to launch full scale excavations at this site in SE-Arabia. A team from Ghent University was active there, on a yearly basis, until 1995. During these 9 seasons numerous architectural remains and objects were discovered. In the present volume 121 tombs, with their burial goods, are published in full. All tombs and objects are presented in drawings and photographs, so as to provide a quick release of the discoveries. Different types of graves were found, from plain individual tombs to rectangular cists and large semi-subterranean multiple tombs covered by a barrel vault and accessible via an entrance, occasionally with stairs. However, a large above-ground grave was equally discovered. Although mostly plundered, several undisturbed tombs of different type were found, containing numerous objects.