Seih Al Harf

Seih Al Harfis an archaeological site in NorthernRas Al Khaimah,in theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE),dating back to theWadi Suq period(2000–1300 BCE).

Discovery and excavation

The site was first discovered in the late 1980s by British archaeologists and was put under a preservation order by theruler of Ras Al Khaimahin 2004 (His father, the late ShaikhSaqr Bin Mohammad Al Qasimihad previously, in 1999, called for all archaeological sites in the emirate to be preserved). Although the site was seen to be threatened by the development of the northern extension of the arterialEmirates Road(E611), with proposals tabled to amend the road development to avoid damage to the site,the road project went ahead.

Seih Al Harf was excavated by a team from theUniversity of Durham,led by Derek Kennet, in the spring of 2013. The site comprises a series of 50 burial sites, of which two were directly threatened by the road development, an 18-metre horseshoe shaped and a W-shaped tomb. Both were collective graves. Ten other excavated features were also impacted by the road development.

The 2013 dig excavated three monumental graves, six smaller collective tombs and a number of smaller burials. The three monumental tombs were all stone-built,corbelled structuresand stand as some of the largest tombs from the Wadi Suq period found in Ras Al Khaimah. While most of the graves found were dated to late in this period, one of the tombs was identified as transitional from the earlierUmm Al Nar period(2600–2000 BCE).The area around Seih Al Harf is rich in finds of Wadi Suq era burials, in particular the nearbyShimalsite, which contains both Umm al-Nar and Wadi Suq graves.

Included in some 10,000 artifactsremoved from Seih Al Harf for research, the Durham team found a large variety of spearheads, arrowheads, razors, jewellery (includingcarnelianbeads), blades, soft-stone and pottery vessels. One find included the skeleton of a woman found still wearing her bangles on her forearm.