Given the mindless destruction of archaeological sites by ISIL, here is a reminder that the UAE has its own rich heritage of ancient sites far from harm’s way.
This is Umm An Nar, the earliest human settlement discovered near what is now the city of Abu Dhabi and photographed in 1972.
The structures are tombs from the Bronze Age as part of a culture that existed more than 4,000 years ago and was linked to Dilmun, the great trading city that dominated the Arabian Gulf in what is now Bahrain.
Umm An Nar had been known about for hundreds of years but was first examined in detail in the early 1960s by a team of Danish archeologists.
A gripping account of their work can be read in Looking for Dilmun by Geoffrey Bibby, the Englishman regarded as the founding father of Arabian archaeology, and still in print after 50 years.
The island of Umm An Nar is now also the site of an oil refinery and a military airbase, meaning the tombs are not accessible to the public, but otherwise they are unchanged from this photograph.
* James Langton
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
