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 Archaeological work at Khor Al Manahil |
 Archaeological work at Khor Al Manahil |
 7000-year-old flint tools from Khor Al Manahil |
Dolphin
to support new archaeology excavations (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
16 March 2005
Dolphin
to support new archaeology excavations (Source: UAEinteract.com)
New
Archaeology Excavations - Unique finds in 2004 of Tools and Houses
from 7,000 years ago [ download english
or arabic
version ] (Source: Dolphin Insight
- Newsletter of Dolphin
Energy Ltd.)
21 March 2005
Edge
of Empty Quarter yields Neolithic finds [also download jpeg
version] (Source: Gulf News)
Neolithic
find shows Arab desert site was once green (Source: Hindustan Times)
Neolithic
find shows UAE desert site was once green (Source: Kerala Next)
Neolithic
find shows UAE desert site was once green (Source: New Kerala)
22 March 2005
Neolithic find shows
UAE desert site was once green (Source: Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency
CHN)
1
April 2005
The
hidden wonders of Jebel Hafeet revealed [also download jpeg version]
(Source: Gulf News)
6 April 2005
Archaeology
symposium begins today (Source: Khaleej Times)
8 April
Media
focus on digs sought [ also download jpeg
version ] (Source: Khaleej
Times)
17
April 2005
Archaeology in UAE Owes Zayed a Great Debt (Source: The Seoul Times)
"Archaeology in the
United Arab Emirates owes Sheikh Zayed a great debt," says ADIAS
(Source: South Korean website - cafe.daum.net/uaenews)
Archaeology
in UAE Owes Zayed a Great Debt, Says ADIAS (Source: http://www.arabafrica.net/)
2 May 2005
Marawah Island: The UAE's
First Civilisation (Source: Al Shindagah Issue 64, May-June
2005)
2 June 2005
Experts
to explore marine development (Source: Gulf News)
4 June 2005
‘Save the Dhubs’ project launched (Source: Khaleej Times)
7 June 2005
Experts
debate coastal management at forum (Source: Khaleej Times)
8 June 2005
Plans
to convert Al Hosn Palace into national museum (Source: Khaleej Times)
Plans
to convert Al Hosn Palace into national museum (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
27 June 2005
Abu
Dhabi plans national museum (Source: Gulf News)
14 October 2005
Khalifa
issues law establishing Culture & Heritage Authority in Abu Dhabi
(Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
Khalifa
issues law establishing Culture and Heritage Authority in Abu Dhabi--
1st add (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
ABU DHABI, 14th October 2005 (WAM)-- President HH Sheikh Khalifa
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, acting in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi,
has issued a law to establish the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority.
The new Authority will be financially and administratively autonomous
and will have its headquarters in the city of Abu Dhabi, although
its Board of Directors shall have the power to establish branches
and offices anywhere in the United Arab Emirates.
According to the terms of the
Law, the Authority: "will oversee intellectual and artistic activities
in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and will also be responsible for maintaining,
protecting, managing and promoting the cultural heritage of the Emirate
through the following means: - the evolving of cultural policies,
plans and programmes and ensuring that such policies are implemented.
- undertaking projects designed to develop, promote and protect
the cultural heritage of the Emirate and to make appropriate recommendations
to the relevant authorities
- organising and developing activities dealing with the heritage of
the country as well as organising conferences, cultural shows, plastic
arts exhibitions and other activities related to the activities of
the National Library
- organising study programmes and seminars and other intellectual,
scientific and professional meetings in addition to the publication
of research and studies in the field of culture and heritage
- conserving historical, archaeological and heritages sites and buildings
and preparing an inventory of cultural property and artefacts
- carrying out of archaeological excavations, conserving archaeological
artefacts and relics and issuing licences for excavations
- supervising the work and activities of archaeological excavation
teams and establishing a department to manage, develop and supervise
museums and other buildings where cultural artefacts are housed
- recommending laws and regulations to protect, promote and preserve
cultural heritage.
- providing
support for training and educational activities in the Authority's
field of specialisation
- developing human and cultural resources in the fields of documentation,
management, archiving and preservation of cultural heritage
- outlining general plans for the activities of museums, in addition
to planning for exhibitions on heritage, ensuring that such plans
are carried out in association with the authorities and institutions
concerned
- checking for violations of and damage to the cultural heritage and
antiquities of the emirate and taking the necessary legal action in
association with the relevant authorities
- providing support and assistance to bodies working in the field
of the preservation, management and promotion of cultural heritage
- exercising control over heritage and cultural property, whether
public or private
- managing the National Library in such a way as to enrich and promote
intellectual, artistic and scientific activities in Abu Dhabi through
the provision of references, journals and periodicals in Arabic and
other languages in various fields of knowledge
- recording national history through the collection of documents,
the registering of the heritage of the emirate and through the publication
of works in this field.
The law states that the Authority
will be governed by a Board of Directors, consisting of a Chairman,
a Deputy Chairman and seven or more other members, whose powers will
be specified in a decision to be taken by the Abu Dhabi Executive
Council. Members shall serve a five year term, which can be renewed.
The Board will be the body responsible for determining the general
policies and plans of the Authority.
The Authority shall obtain its
financial resources from annual alllocations made by Government in
addition to fees for any services provided by the Authority. The Authority's
funds shall be considered public monies.
The law also states that employees
of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, established under the terms
of Decree No.7 for 1981, and the employees of the Department of Antiquities
and Tourism in Al Ain, which is affiliated to the Diwan of the Ruler's
Representative in the Eastern Region, shall be transferred to the
new Authority.
15
October 2005
Abu
Dhabi archaeology group bid to stop bulldozing the past (Source:
ITPBusiness.net)
Construction
Week Awards 2005 (Source: ITPBusiness.net)
Khalifa sets up Abu Dhabi culture and heritage body (Source: Gulf News)
Khalifa
sets up Culture and Heritage Authority (Source: Khaleej Times)
Khalifa sets
up Abu Dhabi culture and heritage body (Source: UAEinteract.com)
16
October 2005
Abu Dhabi Gets Culture
and Heritage Authority (Source: Iran’s Cultural Heritage News Agency - CHN)
Abu
Dhabi bid to stop bulldozing the past (Source: The Kuwait Times)
17
October 2005
Archaeology
in UAE Owes Zayed a Great Debt (Source: The Seoul Times)
19 October 2005
Abu
Dhabi on its way to first State of the Environment Report (Source:
WAM Emirates News Agency)
22 October
2005
Abu Dhabi
on its way to first State of the Environment Report (Source: UAEinteract.com)
2
November 2005
Zayed
- the environmentalist (Source: WAM
Emirates News Agency)
12 November 2005
Award
winners to be revealed (Source: ITPBusiness.net)
17 November 2005
All the prize winners of the 2005 Construction Week
Awards
Peter Hellyer from ADIAS and Dr Jaber Al Jaberi from
the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi receive the Environmental Achievement
of the Year Award 2005.
A delegation from ADIAS and EAD attended the annual "Construction
Week" Awards. The event was held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dubai.
Peter Hellyer (Executive Director), Dr Mark Beech (Senior Resident
Archaeologist) and Simon Aspinall (Director, Environmental Studies
Unit) from the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADAS, attended,
together with Dr Jaber Al Jaberi (Director of Environmental Protection
Division, EPD) and Abdul Nasser Ali Al Shamsi (Director of Terrestrial
Environment Research Centre, TERC) from the Environment Agency - Abu
Dhabi.
ADIAS and EAD were selected as joint winners of the Environmental
Achievement of the Year Award. For more details, see above.
18 November 2005
ADIAS,
EAD win Gulf-wide Environmental award (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
PRESS RELEASE - for immediate release 18th November
2005
"Construction Week" Environmental
Achievement of the Year Award, November 2005
The Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS, has been selected as joint winner, with the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, EAD, of the Environmental Achievement of the Year Award presented by the Gulf's leading construction industry journal, "Construction Week." The Award was presented at a ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel, Dubai, on 17th November 2005, and covers the six member states of the Gulf Co-Operation Council, GCC, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The ADIAS Executive Director, Peter Hellyer, issued the following statement on receiving the Award.
"ADIAS is delighted to have been selected as joint winner of the Environmental Achievement of the Year Award for 2005, and to share this with the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, EAD, with whom we work very closely.
"Since it was established on the instructions of former UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1991, ADIAS has sought to work with industry and developers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, both government departments and the private sector, to ensure that the identification and preservation of archaeological and fossil sites is accepted as being part of the normal process of development. The Government sector, the oil industry and Abu Dhabi's new property developers have all responded extremely well to our approaches. As a result, ADIAS has been able to discover, and to examine and preserve, many sites of importance to the UAE's national heritage that would not otherwise have been recognised.
"In this process, we have worked very closely with EAD, and its predecessor, the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, ERWDA. The Agency has provided ADIAS with enormous support, ensuring that conservation of archaeology and fossils is given equal importance to the conservation of the environment and wildlife. Together, ADIAS and EAD will continue to ensure that these issues are given the full importance that they deserve as Abu Dhabi embarks on its major new programme of development.
"We are honoured to have been recognised by "Construction Week", the key Gulf journal for an industry with which we are keen to continue to collaborate closely in the future. The Government of Abu Dhabi is committed to achieving a sustainable balance between development and conservation, and we in ADIAS look forward to continuing to play our part in this process, as part of the new Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Agency."
19 November
2005
(Source: Al Ittihad)
Environmental
groups win awards (Source: Gulf
News)
ADIAS, EAD
win Gulf-wide Environmental award (Source: UAEinteract.com)
Environment
Agency Unveils Revamped Website (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
[ N.B. ADIAS is listed in the Partnerships section of the
website.]
20 November
2005
Environment Agency unveils revamped
website (Source: AME Info)
Environment
Agency unveils revamped website (Source: UAEinteract.com)
[ N.B. ADIAS is listed in the Partnerships section of the
website.]
21 November 2005
Abu Dhabi hosts
'Meeting of World Heritage in Arab States' (Source: Middle East Online)
23 November 2005
Fossil
exhibition to be inaugurated on Saturday 26th (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
24 November
2005
Fossil
exhibition to be inaugurated on Saturday 26th (Source: UAEinteract.com)
26 November
2005
Exhibition
of ancient fossils opens in Abu Dhabi (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
PRESS RELEASE
[ click
here to download arabic version - Microsoft Word format - 218
Kb]
Opening of Exhibition of Ancient Elephant Fossils
- Transports you back to Abu Dhabi 8 million years ago: A land of
fertile plains & rivers
Over the last
fifteen years, research in Abu Dhabi's Western Region on ancient fossils
from the Late Miocene period, around eight million years ago, has
shown that Abu Dhabi was once a land of fertile plains and large rivers,
a bit like today's East Africa, with numerous large animals, including
ancestors of today's elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, gazelles, horses,
ostriches, turtles and other species.
Work by London's Natural History Museum, Yale University in the United
States and the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS) has
recovered some remarkable fossil bones - including tusks and skulls
of elephants, skulls of crocodiles and gazelles, horse and hippopotamus
teeth, and much more.
Now, for the first time, some of the most important specimens are
on display in Abu Dhabi, at the headquarters of the Environment Agency
- Abu Dhabi, EAD. Among the items on display are a fossil elephant
tusk, nearly 2.5 metres long, discovered by ADIAS near Ruwais in 2002,
and the near-complete skull, jaws and leg bone of an elephant uncovered,
by a team from London's Natural History Museum, at Shuweihat in the
early 1990s. These bones all belong to the primitive elephant species,
Stegotetrabelodon syrticus. This extraordinary animal was larger than
modern day elephants and differed from its modern day relatives by
having four tusks, two upper long tusks and two shorter parallel lower
tusks. The display features a ca. 20% size scale model of Stegotetrabelodon
syrticus. Work on the design and production of this model took over
one year to complete. The master model was produced by staff of the
Taxidermy Unit of the Private Department of HH the President.
Other important fossils on display in the exhibition include examples
of antelope, crocodile, giraffe, hippopotamus, horse, hyaena, monkey,
ostrich, saber-toothed cat and wolverine. The fossil remains on display
also include the remains of freshwater catfish and turtles, as well
as freshwater clam shells. These indicate the presence of large rivers
at that time. Abu Dhabi 8 million years ago was not only a land of
fertile plains and rivers but also had significant numbers of trees,
as witnessed by fossil acacia wood.
The backdrop of the fossil exhibition is a large painting of the environment
of Abu Dhabi 8 million years ago. This was produced by a UK-based
artist, Gemma Goodall, together with the assistance of her partner,
Nigel Larkin. The painting shows how the landscape and animals living
within it were quite different to those present today. You are transported
back in time to 8 million years ago. It is hard to imagine that the
present day desert environment of Abu Dhabi was once such a lush landscape
teeming with animals and vegetation.
A book and DVD are also available accompanying the fossil exhibition.
The book entitled "Abu Dhabi 8 Million Years Ago - Late Miocene
Fossils from the Western Region" is edited by Dr Mark Beech and
Peter Hellyer of ADIAS. The DVD features three films: a presentation
about the recent fossil work carried out by ADIAS at Ruwais and Mleisa,
as well as a short film called "Hot Fossils from Abu Dhabi"
and a longer film called "Abu Dhabi - the Missing Link"
about the earlier work on fossils carried out by the Natural History
Museum, UK, and Yale University teams. Visitors to the fossil exhibition
can watch all these films on the integrated display unit.
Sites with Miocene fossil faunas are distributed from Jebel Barakah
in the far west of Abu Dhabi to Rumaitha in the east. The importance
of these sites to the cultural and scientific heritage of the UAE
lies in the fact that that they are the only locations in Arabia where
the remains of fossil animals and plants have been recovered that
are of international significance. The Baynunah Formation crops out
in an area of about 1800 sq km, the fossils identified so far only
come from a 560 sq km area, and that has not yet been surveyed in
detail. More work therefore still needs to be done.
Mr. Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of EAD, said "We are
proud to have these fossils displayed at the Agency. They convey a
very important story from the UAE's history and show that it possesses
the most diverse palaeontological heritage of any country in the Arabian
Peninsula. This exhibition deserves to be viewed by everyone and studied
by researchers and scientists."
Peter Hellyer, ADIAS Executive Director, said: "Many of the fossil
sites originally discovered in the 1990s have now disappeared and
others are under threat from coastal development. At the same time,
there are many areas which have not been surveyed and more important
sites wait to be discovered. Together with the Environment Agency
- Abu Dhabi, and in line with Abu Dhabi's existing environmental protection
legislation, ADIAS continues to work for proper designation of and
protection of the most important sites and the areas in which they
lie. They should be preserved for the long- term cultural, educational
and scientific benefit of the people of the UAE."
Dr. Mark Beech, ADIAS Senior Resident Archaeologist, acted as scientific
consultant for the fossil exhibition and supervised the design and
construction of the display. He was also involved in the discovery
of the 2.5 metre long elephant tusk at Ruwais in November 2002. Commenting
just prior to the opening of the exhibition, Dr. Beech said:
"It is fantastic that we now have the opportunity to display
and bring knowledge of these exciting fossil discoveries to a wider
audience. We hope that this exhibition, along with the book and DVD,
will introduce people of the UAE, in particular the younger generation,
to this fascinating aspect of the country's past."
Further information about the fossil display can be obtained on the
ADIAS website at:
www.adias-uae.com/fossils.html
The display has been organised by ADIAS and EAD, with support
from the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO), Takreer
and BP, and with technical help from the Taxidermy Unit of the Private
Department of HH the President.
The display will be officially opened on Saturday 26th November, at
10.45 am.
For further information contact:
Peter Hellyer, Executive Director, Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological
Survey (ADIAS)
Tel: (02) 4455807. Fax: (02) 4450458. Mobile: (050) 6424357.
Email: peter@extinfo.gov.ae - Website: www.adias-uae.com
Or
Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi
Environmental Education and Awareness Division
Sobhia El Masri or Laila Al-Hassan
Tel: +9712 693-4421/693-4442; Fax: +9712 681-7359
E-mail: selmasri@ead.ae or lalhasan@ead.ae
Website: www.ead.ae
PICTURES
Click on the images below for higher resolution
versions.
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Abu
Dhabi 8 Million Years Ago (© ADIAS)
|
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|
Elephant
skull from Shuwaihat
(© ADIAS) |
Excavation
of an elephant leg bone |
Elephant
tooth from Ras Dubayah (© ADIAS)
|
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 |
|
|
Discovery
of the 2.54 metre long elephant tusk at Ruwais
(©Mark Beech/ADIAS) |
Cleaning
and Conservation of the elephant tusk
from Ruwais (© Mark Beech/ADIAS) |
|
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|
Artist's
reconstruction of the head |
Abdul
Hafeez makes the model of a Stegotetrabelodon syrticus
(© Mark Beech/ADIAS) |
Scale
model of Stegotetrabelodon syrticus
(© Mark Beech/ADIAS) |
27 November 2005
8 million-year-old fossils discovered in Abu Dhabi - page 1 (Source:
Al Bayan)
8 million-year-old fossils discovered in Abu Dhabi - page 30 (Source:
Al Bayan)
8
million-year-old fossils discovered in Abu Dhabi (Source: Al
Bayan)
8 million-year-old fossils discovered in Abu Dhabi (Source: Al
Ittihad)
8 million-year-old fossils
discovered in Abu Dhabi (Source: Al Khaleej)
Fossils
on show for all to see (Source: Emirates Today)
8
million-year-old fossils discovered in Abu Dhabi [ also download
jpeg version
] (Source: Gulf News)
Exhibition
of ancient fossils opens in Abu Dhabi (Source: UAEinteract.com)
28 November
2005
A
Glimpse of Life 8 Million Years Ago (Source: Khaleej Times)
29 November 2005
EAD
launches book on Emirate's Natural History (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
EAD Launches Book on Emirate’s Natural History - A Guide for
Future Researchers (Source: Environment
Agency - Abu Dhabi)
PRESS RELEASE
...To purchase a copy of this book click
here
Launch of The Emirates – A Natural History
Remarks by Peter Hellyer, co-editor of the book
29th November 2005
I am delighted to be here today at the official launching of The
Emirates – A Natural History. It is, I think, a rather
remarkable achievement. No other country in Arabia has a book like
this, which documents its geology, palaeontology and natural history,
both in words and stunning pictures.
This book has been part of my life for nearly four years, but it represents
much more than that. It draws on the work on researchers who have
worked here over the last one hundred and fifty years – if you
look at the lengthy bibliography and read the first chapter, you will
see references to people who first made records of the UAE's wildlife
as far back as the 1850s. it is very much a joint effort.
In putting this book together, I and my co-editor, Simon Aspinall,
have not only researched the past history of the study of the UAE's
natural history, but we have also drawn upon the expertise of the
top experts in the field today. The chapter authors include the leading
specialists in the natural history of the Emirates, and we are grateful
to them not only for their contributions to the book, but also for
the days, months and years that they have put into studying this country.
The book could not have been produced without them.
Nor could it have been produced without the skills of our publishers,
Trident Press, and their
talented team of artists, designers and photographers. The result
is something of which we are all very proud.
It is our hope that The Emirates – A Natural History
will become the basis for future studies of the country's environment
and wildlife. We have written it in such a way that it is scientifically
accurate, but it is also understandable for the general reader. Our
objective is that anyone with an interest in the country's environment
will be able to read it and to learn from it, whether they are old
or young, scientist or layman.
In collaboration with the Environment
Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD),
we intend in the future not only to produce editions in Arabic and
other languages, but also to utilise the information in it to produce
simple books and DVDs that can be used in schools – to spread
the information as widely as possible.
On behalf of my co-editor and my co-authors, and on behalf of Trident
Press, would like to express my thanks to those who have made its
publication possible.
In particular, I would like to thank H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
and the Chairman of EAD, for writing the Foreword, and H.E. Mohammed
Al Bowardi, Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and
Managing Director of EAD, for writing the Introduction and for his
other contributions.
One of the objectives of EAD is to promote a wider understanding of
the significance of the country's environment and wildlife. That is
an objective that is shared by all of us who have contributed to the
book. As part of this, EAD has supported the work on this book from
the very beginning. I would like to thank Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary
General of EAD, for his support, and for his many contributions, including
the support provided by the Agency for the cost of publishing the
book. He has also been instrumental in raising support from other
sponsors, including the Mubadala
Development Company, First Gulf Bank,
Dolphin Energy, Aldar,
Total and Shell.
We are grateful to them all.
Finally, we, the editors and authors, the publishers and, of course,
EAD, hope that the book will not simply be used to decorate bookshelves
and coffeetables. This country has remarkable and fascinating scenery
and an impressively diverse array of wildlife, both onshore and in
its offshore waters. The book provides only an introduction –
and we hope that it will stimulate many more people to get out and
about throughout the country to look at the UAE's natural history.
There is enough here to fascinate anyone with a sense of curiosity
or a love of beauty for a whole lifetime.
30 November 2005
Abu
Dhabi hosts meeting on Arab World Heritage (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
3 December 2005
Abu
Dhabi Hosts Regional Forum on Cultural Heritage (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
4 December 2005
Heritage
Preservation Strategy for Abu Dhabi (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
Ancient
Hili to seek heritage status (Source: UAEinteract.com)
'World
Heritage' conference to prove insightful (Source: Khaleej Times)
5 December 2005
Abu
Dhabi plans heritage strategy (Source: Gulf
Today)
Education
helps to empower culture, delegates told (Source: Khaleej Times)
Heritage
Preservation Strategy for Abu Dhabi (Source: UAEinteract.com)
7 December 2005
Sultan
Bin Tahnoon: Our cultural heritage is precious thing that we must
protect (Source: Middle
East Online)
[ click
here for Arabic version ]
Move
to inscribe Jebel Hafeet on UNESCO's World Heritage (Source: WAM Emirates News Agency)
8 December 2005
Jebel
Hafeet to soon find its place on heritage list (Source: Gulf
Today)
10 December 2005
UAE
committed to preserving heritage (Source: Khaleej Times)
19 December 2005
A
prehistoric cradle of all (Source: UAEinteract.com)
 |
 |
A prehistoric cradle of all creatures big and small - download
pdf versions of page
16 [4.21MB] and page
17 [7.15MB] (Source: Emirates
Today)