, nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = United Arab Emirates , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 =

Emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

, subdivision_name1 =

Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

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village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

(UAE), long occupying a strategic location in the

Wadi Ham Wadi Ham is a wadi, a seasonal watercourse, in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The wadi runs from Masafi towards Fujairah City, until it reaches the Wadi Ham Dam and the Gulf of Oman. The wadi is crossed ...

, which is the only natural link to the interior of the UAE and the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

from the East Coast city, and Emirate of Fujairah. Located between

Fujairah City Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

and

Masafi Masafi ( ar, مسافي) is a village located on the edge of the Hajar Mountains in the United Arab Emirates. It sits at the inland entrance of the Wadi Ham, which runs down to Fujairah City. The border between the emirates of Fujairah and Ras Al ...

, the village is the site of a significant stone and mudbrick fort – Bithnah Fort – and a little-known megalithic tomb that links the village to a 3,000-year-old trade route along Wadi Ham through the Hajar Mountains from the East Coast emirate of Fujairah through Masafi (itself part of

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...

) and

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...

down to the desert town of

Dhaid Dhaid, or Al Dhaid ( ar, ٱلذَّيْد, Adh-Dhayd), is the capital of the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. An oasis town, it has extensive irrigated date palm plantations with water channelled from the near ...

and then to

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

and the

. It has traditionally been inhabited by members of the Sharqiyin (Al Sharqi) tribe.

History

View of Al Bithnah from Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Road

The Wadi Suq tomb at Bithnah was first excavated by the Swiss-Liechtenstein Foundation for Archaeological Research Abroad (SLFA) between 1987 and 1991. Presided over by

Prince Hans-Adam II Hans-Adam II (Johannes Adam Ferdinand Alois Josef Maria Marco d'Aviano Pius; born 14 February 1945) is the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, since 1989. He is the son of Prince Franz Joseph II and his wife, Countess Georgina von Wilczek. He a ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

, and directed in the field by Pierre Corboud, the SLFA team conducted several seasons of survey in the mountainous inland area of Fujairah, including the excavations at Bithnah, where a communal Wadi Suq era grave site was uncovered as well as a number of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

finds. There have also been excavations by teams from the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

and French National Research Centre. Significant Iron Age finds have been made throughout the area, including a number of

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s. Iron Age finds at Bithnah include buildings and structures that appear to have a religious function, together with finds of snake-decorated ceramics and incense burners, with columned halls and signs of a water distribution strategy tied to centralised authority. The link between snakes and water, evidence of funerary rites and snake worship, is strong. Bithnah was the site of a significant battle in 1745, according to the historian Ibn Ruzaiq, between members of the

Qawasim Al Qasimi ( ar, القواسم, spelled sometimes as Al Qassimi or Al Qassemi; plural: Al Qawasem ar, القواسم and, archaically, Joasmee) is an Arab dynasty in the Persian Gulf that rules Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, today forming two of ...

(

Al Qasimi Al Qasimi ( ar, القواسم, spelled sometimes as Al Qassimi or Al Qassemi; plural: Al Qawasem ar, القواسم and, archaically, Joasmee) is an Arab dynasty in the Persian Gulf that rules Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, today forming two of ...

) and

Na'im The Na'im () (singular Al Nuaimi ) is an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries. The Na'im is divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban, the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Sha ...

tribes and the Omani Imam and governor of

Sohar Sohar ( ar, صُحَار, also Romanized as Suḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited ...

, Ahmed bin Said. The battle took place when the Qawasim together with the Na’im of

Buraimi Al Buraimi Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ٱلْبُرَيْمِي, Muḥāfaẓat Al-Buraimī) is one of the 11 governorates of Oman which was split from the Ad Dhahirah Region. Until October 2006, the area was part of Ad Dhahirah Regi ...

attempted to fight their way through the Wadi Ham to take the east coast and its great prize, the port of Sohar. This was to mark a new era in the history of the area: the drawn-out battle between the Saidi Omanis against the Qawasim of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah, and other tribes of the West coast and interior. By the turn of the 20th century, Bithnah was a village consisting of some 50 houses of Sharqiyin origin, with some 600 sheep and goats and 4,000 date palms.

Bithnah Fort

Bithnah Fort is thought to date back to the late 18th century, having been built as a result of the

Wahhabi Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...

incursions of the early 1800s following the Battle of Bithnah. The fort is constructed from stone, mudbrick, and palm-wood planking. Prior to the construction of the road to Masafi in the 1970s, traffic through to the interior from the coast passed through the bed of the

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

, overlooked by the fort which would have occupied a strategic location – in fact, Bithnah through the ages has been a strategic holding and was a key mainstay in the fortunes of the Sharqiyin through the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1884, Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi took Bithnah Fort, control of which was to be essential for him when, in 1901, he once again refused the suzerainty of Sharjah and used the fort at Bithnah to refuse aid to the headman of

Kalba Kalba () is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek), an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south ...

, who was related to Sheikh Saqr bin Khalid of Sharjah. Together with help from the Shihuh under Ali Bin Ibrahim and Zaid Sinan Kumazari, the Sharqiyin drove the Qawasim out of Bithnah in 1902. This event sealed the de facto independence of Fujairah which was not, however, recognised by the British until 1952. Prior to 2009, the fort was inhabited by a local man from Bithnah, Saed Ali Saed Al Yamahi.

References

{{Fujairah Populated places in the Emirate of Fujairah Villages in the United Arab Emirates 1800 establishments in Asia Infrastructure completed in 1800 Buildings and structures completed in 1800 Buildings and structures in the Emirate of Fujairah History of the United Arab Emirates Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates