Al Ashoosh

Al Ashoosh is an ancient settlement from around 2500–2000 BC, found about 70 kilometers south of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This site gives us important clues about how people lived in the desert long ago, after a time when the climate was wetter.

Experts think Al Ashoosh was used by people who hunted and raised animals. They likely built simple homes from materials that do not last long. The area may have had more water back then, helping people stay there even though it is very dry today.

Al Ashoosh also played a role in making stone tools. In addition, it helped define the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This border was set by British leaders and officially accepted in 1968.

The site

Dubai Municipality and the Sanisera Archaeology Institute dug at the site from November 2015 to May 2016. They found it during surveys in 2002–2003, after discovering a nearby Iron Age metalworking place called Saruq Al Hadid. The site is 8 km (5 miles) from there.

Surveys by Dubai Municipality and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan found 33 old places in the area, from very old times to the late Islamic period. In 2006–2007, they studied Al Ashoosh more closely, looking and digging in the area.

The Al Ashoosh site covers about 1.3 hectares (3.2 acres). It has low sand hills around a big mound called a tell, which is 1.5–2 meters high. The site has two parts: Area A and Area B. Area A is the main part, about 350 square meters. It has old trash and things like animal bones, stone tools, charcoal, and a little pottery. There is no sign of any buildings there. Tests on the items show the site is from the Umm Al Nar time.

Area B, about 50 meters away, has eight ovens made of clay rings. These might be a type of tannour. Digs at Al Ashoosh found almost 300 kg of animal bones.

The site has special seals connected to Dilmun, stone tools, and black-on-red Umm Al Nar pottery. One steatite seal shows two people drinking and dates to 2050–2000 BCE. It is unique, and the only similar seal found in the Persian Gulf region was at Tell Abraq on the border of Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain.