Bidaa Bint Saud

UNESCO World Heritage Site
A panoramic view of the Eastern slopes of Bidaa Bint Saud, showing Hafit period beehive tombs. The Iron Age building is at the top of the tell.
LocationThe Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E.
Part ofCultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas)
CriteriaCultural: (iii), (iv), (v)
Reference1343
Inscription2011 (35th Session)
Coordinates24°23′7″N 55°43′6″E / 24.38528°N 55.71833°E / 24.38528; 55.71833
Bidaa Bint Saud is located in United Arab Emirates
Bidaa Bint Saud
Location of Bidaa Bint Saud in United Arab Emirates
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Bidaa Bint Saud (Arabic: بِدَع بِنْت سُعُوْد, romanized: Bidaʿ Bint Suʿūd) is an archaeological site in Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E., notable for its Hafit Period tombs, Iron Age irrigation systems and rare remains of an Iron Age building thought to have been a distribution centre for water from two aflaj (systems of underground and surface waterways). It is a listed UN World Heritage Site.[1][2] Finds from the site are displayed at Al Ain National Museum.[3]

The dating of pottery from the aflaj (singular falaj) waterways found at the site demonstrates a south-eastern Arabian origin for this distinctive system of irrigation,[4] previously thought by many scholars to have been Persian in origin.[1][5] The dating of aflaj in Bidaa bint Saud, Al Ain and Buraimi, both of which are in the historical region of Tawam,[6] has been placed several centuries prior to the Achaemenid Empire, which had previously been credited with the innovation.[7]

The site, located some 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) north of Al Ain, is thought to have been a stopping place on a long-established caravan route from settlements at Al Ain to the Northern Emirates. The rocky outcrop of Garn bin Saud looms some 40 m (130 ft) above the site and is dotted with burial remains.

  1. ^ a b "Bidaa Bint Saud". Abu Dhabi Culture. 2018-02-11. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  2. ^ "Al Ain wins World Heritage List honours". The National. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  3. ^ "Al Ain National Museum". www.abudhabi.ae. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  4. ^ Kazmi, Aftab (2003-03-16). "New evidence shows falaj in Al Ain is world's oldest". GulfNews. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  5. ^ TIKRITI, WALID YASIN AL (2002). "The south-east Arabian origin of the falaj system". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 32: 117–138. JSTOR 41223728.
  6. ^ Leech, Nick (2015-10-22). "The long read: has a lost Arab capital been found on the Oman-UAE border?". The National. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  7. ^ Angelakis, Andreas Nikolaos; Chiotis, Eustathios; Eslamian, Saeid; Weingartner, Herbert. Underground aqueducts handbook. Boca Raton. ISBN 978-1-3153-6856-6. OCLC 966358839.