Hili (Al Ain)

Oman / azh-Zhahirah / al-Buraymi / Al Ain
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Hili is a modern suburb of Al Ain ( about 10km from the city) is famous among local residents for its beautiful garden. In fact, the garden and its immediate hinterland are the location of a large number of Bronze Age and Iron Age sites, dating to c.2500–400 BC. Of these, Hili 8 is perhaps the best investigated, thanks to a French expedition which began work there in the late 1970s. Hili 8 consists of a square mudbrick tower with rounded corners and associated outbuildings. Such towers are typical of the late third millennium BC in both Oman and the UAE Other examples have been excavated at Tell Abraq, Bidya and Kalba. The Hili 8 tower is likely either to have been the centre of governance of the settlement, or perhaps a defensive structure to be used as a place of refuge. The site has evidence of slight occupation at the very beginning of the second millennium BC as well. Thereafter human settlement in the region shifted to other sites, such as Qattarah and Rumeilah.

The centerpiece of the Hili Gardens is a tomb dating to the end of the third millennium BC which was excavated by Danish archaeologists in the early 1960s, and subsequently reconstructed by an Iraqi team for the Al Ain Department of Antiquities and Tourism. Comprised of massive blocks it is a circular structure with four symmetrical chambers. Finds in the tomb included pottery with parallels to the Kulli culture of southern Baluchistan. Of particular interest were relief carvings adjacent to the door of the tomb which depicted humans and animals.

The tomb also features two famous 5000-year-old petroglyphs – one of two people and an oryx, another of two cheetahs catching a gazelle. The park contains a children’s playground. Opening hours are 4 p.m. to10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to10 p.m. on Fridays, with certain times reserved for UAE nationals. The entrance fee is Dh1 per person.
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Coordinates:   24°18'8"N   55°46'50"E

Comments

  • فـــديت آهل هيلي و الله , و سسلامي للنعييييم ربيه يحفظهم و يطوول بعمررهمم و قسسم بالله انهم غيير ينحطون ع الجرح يبرى , ما شالله عليهم =) و النعم بأهل هييلي كلهم من كبيرهم لصغيرهم و تحيياتي لآهل العيييين ;)
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