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Watch: Inside Sharjah’s red sand Faya desert that holds 210,000 years of history
Last week, this expansive landscape earned its place as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only Arab country to do so
- PUBLISHED: Mon 21 Jul 2025, 6:00 AM UPDATED: Mon 21 Jul 2025, 11:16 AM
Beneath the vast, rust-coloured dunes of Sharjah’s Al Faya desert lies an untold history of human resilience that stretches back an astonishing 210,000 years. Last week, this expansive landscape earned its place as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only Arab country to do so.
The honour cements Al Faya’s status not just as a regional marvel, but as a global testament to humanity’s earliest struggles and triumphs in the face of an unforgiving climate.
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A desert that breathes history
To stand in Al Faya is to walk in the footsteps of Palaeolithic hunters and Neolithic pastoralists who turned this arid expanse into a lifeline. The people first settled here because of water, and where there was water, there was life.
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The terrain is a dramatic mosaic of red-coloured sands, jagged rock formations, and fossilized riverbeds, which at some point in time was all under an ocean.
Al Faya has archaeological layers that include 18 distinct strata, which were uncovered over 30 years by teams of archaeologists who have come from far and wide, revealing how humans adapted to climatic shifts between extreme aridity and fleeting rainy epochs.
What sets Al Faya apart is its continuity. Unlike fragmented sites elsewhere, this landscape preserves a near-unbroken record of human activity. Flint tools, animal bones, and the very stones tell of hunter-gatherers who tracked gazelles and crafted weapons from the area’s fine-grained stone. Actual findings by archaeologists can be found in the nearby museum. Later, pastoralists dug wells and herded livestock through the same valleys, their ingenuity etched into the earth.
Echoes in the sand
Today, visitors at Al Faya can trace these stories through its geology. It is important to note that some areas are designated as core zones, in which entrance is restricted to private tours.
If you find yourself aboard one of those tours, be sure to visit the fossilized rock. Once wet, you may see evidence of these very rocks which were once upon a time, millions of years ago, under the water.
At dawn, when the Sun stains the dunes crimson, it’s easy to imagine a Palaeolithic family crouched near a fire, shaping tools under the same sky.
Hind Aldah is a business reporter based in Sharjah. In her spare time, you will find her playing classical guitar, painting amateur oil paintings, or crocheting the same old scarf that leads nowhere.