2,000-year-old tombs discovered in UAE desert

Umm Al Quwain - Coins in a style derived from the coins of the Greek emperor Alexander the Great were also found.

Further excavations have been carried out at the archaeological site of ed-Dur by the Department of Tourism and Antiquities in Umm Al Quwain announced.
Alia al-Ghafli, the Director General of the Department, said that discoveries included 15 tombs, settlement remains, bronze statuettes, pottery and jewellery, dating back to the 1st Century AD.
Coins in a style derived from the coins of the 4th Century BC Greek emperor Alexander the Great were also found, she said.
Sometimes called 'Arabian Alexanders', such coins circulated widely in the eastern Arabian peninsula around the beginning of the Christian era. The discovery several years ago of a stone mould for making coins at Mleiha, Sharjah, confirmed that some of this coinage was minted in the UAE.
"The excavations project is in line with the strategy of Umm Al Quwain's Government to support archaeological exploration across the emirate," Al Ghafli said. The objective is to learn more about the region's history through identifying more burial sites and by excavating more material, she added.

• Umm Al Quwain