Marawah
Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey ( ar, مَرَوَح, Marawaḥ) is a low-lying

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

off the coast of the Western Region of the

Emirate of Abu Dhabi The Emirate of Abu Dhabi (, , or ; ar, إِمَارَةْ أَبُوظَبِي , ) is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is by far the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area o ...

, the

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 ...

. The island is north of the Khor al-Bazm (lagoon) along the Abu Dhabi coastline in the southern

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

Geology and geography

Current research indicates that the island was formed from relict

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

limestone platforms linked by

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

sand and beach deposits and intervening patches of ''

sabkha A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...

''. Marawah is located west of the city and capital,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

. The island is around from east to west and about from north to south. There are three islands in proximity to Marawah: the small island of Al Fiyah to the west, the island of Junaina to the southeast, and the island of Abu al Abyad in the east.

Environment and Protection

Marawah island is in the Marawah Biosphere Reserve, as recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and is one of the six marine protected areas in the Zayed Network of Protected Areas, a network managed by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi.

History

The west first became aware of the island around 1829 when the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

recorded its location in a nautical survey of the Persian Gulf.

Archaeology

Although privately owned, the island is a key center of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

. Recent excavations yielded a small natural pearl that was carbon dated to 5800/5600 BCE. In 1992, the

Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey The Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS) was established in 1992 on the instruction of the late President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to survey for, record and where appropriate, excavate archaeological sites on the coast and islan ...

(ADIAS) completed a preliminary survey of the island. Archeologists identified 13 sites dating from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

to the

Islamic Period Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...

(12-13 AD). In 2004, ADIAS discovered the oldest human skeleton ever found in the region amid the remains of Neolithic buildings and over 200 flint tools. DNA was extracted from teeth that were recovered from the site, and it was determined that the remains were about 7,500 years old.

References

External links

UAE History
20,000 - 2,000 years ago
UAE Interact
Map Room {{coord, 24, 17, N, 53, 15, E, region:AE_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Islands of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Archaeological sites in the United Arab Emirates Biosphere reserves of the United Arab Emirates Former populated places in the United Arab Emirates Western Region, Abu Dhabi Private islands of Asia