Bodour Al Qasimi is an ambassador for the international nomination file "The prehistoric cultural landscape of Al Faya"
Sharjah, May 5 / WAM / The Sharjah Antiquities Authority announced the selection of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), as an ambassador for the international nomination file “The Prehistoric Cultural Landscape of Al Faya”, in support of the efforts of the Emirate of Sharjah and the United Arab Emirates. In registering the site located in the central region of the emirate on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, as the ambassador of the international nomination file, will represent the Emirate of Sharjah and the United Arab Emirates before UNESCO and the international organizations related to this file, and coordinate between local and federal government agencies, to complete the process of registering the file “The Prehistoric Cultural Landscape in Al-Faya”, which reflects the state’s efforts to highlight elements of tangible cultural heritage on the international scene and register them on UNESCO’s lists to contribute to their preservation and restoration in accordance with the organization’s international standards, as well as to promote them.
Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi said: I am proud to have been chosen as an ambassador for the international nomination file for the Al Faya site, which reflects the ancient history of the Emirate of Sharjah, and at the same time is considered one of the most important sites of the Stone Age in the Arabian Peninsula and the world, as many archaeological discoveries are evident in this region, which provide many indicators. About the history of the first human migration, which makes it a landmark worthy of inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
She added: I will make sure to make every effort to include the site on this prestigious international list with the aim of preserving our cultural heritage for future generations, sharing it with the world and promoting it, as the Al Faya site allows scholars and those interested to understand human evolution in early times, and the extent of its adaptation to this region. She said: I thank the Sharjah Antiquities Authority and the local community for their efforts that contributed to preserving our cultural heritage to share it with the world.
His Excellency Issa Yousef, Director General of the Sharjah Antiquities Authority, confirmed that the selection of Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi as ambassador for the “Prehistoric Cultural Landscape of Al Faya” nomination file constitutes strong support for the nomination file, due to her experience in working with international organizations, and her academic interest in the field of antiquities and cultural work. And its keenness to support the efforts made to enrich the archaeological studies of the Emirate of Sharjah, preserve them, spread awareness and promote the many archaeological monuments that the emirate is full of.
The Faya Mountains site is considered an exceptional example of a desert environment during the Stone Age, which dates early human settlement in the region to the beginnings of the Middle Stone Age and up to the Stone Age, during variable climatic conditions in the Arabian Peninsula.
Archaeological and environmental studies of the historical layers at the site documented the continuity of human settlement for 210,000 years. The archaeological discoveries at the site chronicle the development of settlement and settlers from groups of hunters to groups of nomadic shepherds, who had special funeral rituals, which helped scientists develop a new perception of the nature of human adaptation to the natural landscape. The region experiences harsh climatic conditions.
According to scientists and researchers, cycles of climate change every 20,000 years have caused this region to oscillate between an arid desert and an abundant water environment, where water collects in lakes and flows along the valley channels extending from the Hajar Mountains to Al Faya.
Geomorphological features along the Al-Faya range document these events and changes, which helped understand this important period in the region’s history. How the exceptional combination of the availability of water sources, raw materials, and the caves that were settled contributed to making Al-Faya the oldest inhabited desert landscape in the world, which provides an important cognitive aspect. About the manifestations and implications of the early adaptation of the region’s inhabitants to the desert.
In February of last year, the Sharjah Archeology Authority included four important archaeological sites belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah on the tentative list of World Heritage in UNESCO, after a series of studies conducted by the Authority in cooperation with academic experts and specialists, to evaluate the cultural value and their archaeological importance at the level. Global archaeological dimensions, historical value and state of preservation and conservation reports.
These sites included: Mleiha: the pre-Islamic period in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, the sites of stone inscriptions in Khatm al-Malha and Khor Fakkan, the site of Wadi al-Hilu: witness to copper mining in the Bronze Age in the Arabian Peninsula, and the site of the prehistoric cultural landscape of Al-Faya.
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