Cross-roads

The Early and Late Iron Ages in both the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman form a cross-road in temporal and spatial terms. Paradoxically, in some ways the Iron Age is more difficult to understand than the Bronze Age in this part of Arabia, although many more such sites are known. In recent decades numerous field projects have dwelt on south-eastern Arabia’s Iron Age. Nonetheless, closer scrutiny reveals the path to a prehistory of this exotic part of the world to be indirect indeed. Surveys written ten or more years ago are obsolete in significant ways. The Early Iron Age (1300–300 BCE) is better known than the Late Early Iron Age (post 300 BCE–300 CE) in south-eastern Arabia. The quality of the mapping and of the published images has plagued scholarship, which the present new volume attempts to remedy. Despite the close proximity of the two adjacent Arabian lands – actually both encompassing traditional Oman – aside from random comments, comparison of their archaeological traditions is rare. The author updates and synthesizes ideas and field-work publications. This extended essay contains numerous changes in the interpretation of the sites and their finds. Otherwise, the archaeological literature is scattered over a large number of publications. This book targets both professionals and students.