Jebel Buhais | |
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 340 m (1,120 ft) |
Prominence | 135 m (443 ft) |
Isolation | 7.8 km (4.8 mi) |
Coordinates | 25°1′1″N 55°47′41″E / 25.01694°N 55.79472°E |
Naming | |
Native name | |
Geography | |
Location | Sharjah, the U.A.E. |
Parent range | Al Hajar Mountains[1] |
Jebel Buhais or Jebel Al-Buhais (Arabic: جَبَل بُحَيْص \ جَبَل ٱلْبُحَيْص, romanized: Jabal Buḥayṣ / Jabal Al-Buḥayṣ) is a geological feature, an extensive rocky outcrop, as well as an archaeological site located near Madam in the central region[1][2] of the Emirate of Sharjah, the UAE, about 48 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of the city of Sharjah.[3] The area contains an extensive necropolis, consisting of burial sites spanning the Stone, Bronze, Iron and Hellenistic ages of human settlement in the UAE. Burials at Jebel Buhais (Jebel is Arabic for mountain) date back to the 5th Millennium BCE.[4][5] The site is located to the side of a limestone outcrop rising to some 340 metres (1,120 feet) above sea level and which runs almost contiguously from the town of Madam north to the town of Mleiha, itself an important archaeological site.
Jebel Buhais is the oldest radiometrically dated inland burial site in the UAE.[6] The area is protected, having been defined as a nature reserve.[7]