DHANK: Archaeological excavations carried out by a joint mission from the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MoHT) and the University of Warsaw, have resulted in the discovery of remnants of an ancient city that dates back to the first millennia BC during the Iron Age at Ayn Bani Saida archaeological site.
The archaeological discoveries included pottery, staircases, stoves.
Dr Peter Belinski from the University of Warsaw said: “We are uncovering a small ancient city which was a replica of a larger one. The city was the result of a social state at that epoch. Among the discoveries was a hand-made, decorated crockery representing the first mixture of ceramic and pottery. It was found whole.”
He added: “When the inhabitants abandoned their city, they took small pottery with them leaving the larger ones which were used for keeping water and cereals and dozens of them were unearthed. We could not find out about the way they made food, however we could ascertain the methods they used to store food.”
The astonishing thing about the discovered site is that it rises 8 metres above the surface of the plain. The peasants used to fetch from water sources every morning using large potteries. The head of the mission said that it is probably that the biggest house belonged to the chieftain.
Ali bin Khamis al Sidairi, director of the directorate of heritage and tourism in Al Dhahirah Governorate, said that this site was historically linked to the archaeological sites of Bat, Salut and Dahwa.
Those archaeological sites established a strong connection throughout the successive ages. — ONA
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