2,000 year old Amphora Found in Al Ain

A construction crew digging for a municipal project in Al Ain has unearthed a glazed pottery vessel that dates back 2,000 years. Their find sheds more light on an ancient civilisation that once inhabited the country.

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) announced yesterday that a team of archaeologists has begun inspecting the site around the Sheikha Salama Mosque, which is being rebuilt.

The ceramic vase was crafted in the amphora style, with two handles on each side of a narrow body, used for transporting wine and other liquids.

It is believed that it was used during the Hellenistic civilisation – a period in which Greek culture heavily influenced the ancient world and also fused with elements of Eastern culture.

The discovery of the pottery in Al Ain strengthens evidence of trading relations between the UAE and Greece during that period.

In the UAE during the third century BC, ancient settlers inhabited the Mileiha site in present-day Sharjah and Al Dour in Umm al Quwain…SOURCE

Bronze Age Seal Found in Abu Dhabi

Ancient seal dating back to Bronze Age discovered in Abu Dhabi

03/01/2009 11:58 AM | Staff Report

Abu Dhabi: An ancient stone cylinder seal dating back to the beginning of the local Bronze Age, around 5,000 years ago, has been found in the deserts of Abu Dhabi’s Al Gharbia area (Western Region), by a team working for the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD).

Its the first of its type in Arabia.

The seal is in the Jemdat Nasr style, from Mesopotamia (Iraq), and was unquestionably imported from Mesopotamia, according to a leading expert in Arabian archaeology, Professor Dan Potts of Australia’s University of Sydney.

Decorated with tiny carvings of women with their hair tied back in a plait, a stylised couch and a spider, the seal can be dated to between 3,100 BC to 2,900 BC, according to Professor Potts.

Similar seals have also been found at Susa, in Iran, and at Khafajah and Uruk in Mesopotamia.

While other cylinder seals from the Early Bronze Age have also been found in the UAE, at Hili, near Al Ain, and at Al Sufouh, in Dubai, for example, these are from the slightly later Umm Al Nar period, which lasted from around 2,500 BC to 2,000 BC, making the Madinat Zayed find of special importance. Moreover, according to Professor Potts, the seal is the first of its type found anywhere in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula…

EMPOST Will Soon Begin Issuing Emirates ID Cards

The Emirates Identity Authority is providing the necessary equipment to Emirates Post so that the latter’s staff could carry out the entire process of issuance of ID cards, said EID Director-General Darwish Ahmed Al Zarooni.

Members of the public can register, fill in application forms, submit the required documents and receive the ID cards from the Emirates Post branches countrywide, he said and added that EIDA is providing PCs to allow the Emirates Post staff to get training in using the system.

According to Al Zarooni, until Tuesday some 820,000 expats and locals had registered for the ID cards. About 80 per cent of expatriate professionals and about 22 per cent of Emiratis have yet to register. Very soon two new EIDA customer service centres will open in Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah, he said. Each of the centres will be able to handle 600 applicants a day…SOURCE

Thunderstorms Expected Tuesday in the UAE

Thundershowers to hit many parts of the UAE on Tuesday

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/01/19/10276598.html

01/20/2009 12:45 AM | By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief

Al Ain: Weathermen have warned of thunder in northern and some coastal areas along with intermittent rain all over the country.

The sea, which will be moderate in general, may also become rough during the thunder with six-foot waves offshore, according to the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology.

The forecast said high energy cumulus clouds will gradually increase.

Thick black clouds produced drizzle in Al Ain yesterday starting at around 3pm. The drizzle forced motorists to slow down and drive carefully on the slippery roads. Light drizzle was also reported in other parts of the country.

The Met department said conditions will continue to remain partly cloudy to cloudy in general today with a chance of rain in different parts of the country. Winds will be moderate with gusts at times.

New Rules in Abu Dhabi Lead To Swamped Health Check Centers

Medical centres performing mandatory health tests on expatriates are being swamped with patients after new rules came into effect this year.

Many expatriates are having to queue for hours for the health tests, which are required for residence visas.

There are now only four Disease Prevention and Screening Centres in the emirate permitted to issue the health certificates required to obtain residency visas.Two are in the capital, one behind Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) and the other in Musaffah. The other two are in Al Ain and in Al Gharbia.

The Government decreed last summer that only selected public health centres could issue the certificates…SOURCE

Dubai Police Give Us Radar Every Two Kilometers

Now if they just give idiot drivers some taser and jail time!

Police to install radars every two kilometres

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/12/18/10268146.html

12/17/2008 11:27 PM | Staff Report

Dubai: Police will soon install radars every two kilometres on the roads to deter speeding and reckless motorists, a senior police official said.

Lieutenant Colonel Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Acting Director of Dubai Police’s Traffic Department, said the traffic will work to install radars every two kilometres in addition to mobile radars to deter speeding and reckless motorists and protect road users.

He said the department has installed 90 new digital radars on several internal roads and highways in Dubai to reduce the number of fatal accidents resulting from speeding and reckless driving.

He said the traffic department had installed the new radars’ beams on different roads such as, 30 radars on Shaikh Zayed Road, 22 radars on Dubai-Al Ain Road, 17 radars on Dubai-Hatta Road, 10 radars on Emirates Road, six radars on Al Khail Road and five radars on Business Bay Bridge.

Archaeologists unearth ancient irrigation system

Al Ain: Archaeologists have found an ancient falaj an underground water channel, underneath the courtyard of a house in Al Ain, and say it might have been built some 3,000 years ago.
Experts at the Department of Antiquities and Tourism have already explored a small portion of the falaj during the recent excavation season.

A source at the department told Gulf News yesterday a team of archaeologists had carried out a rescue project and examined the falaj.

The falaj was located in the north of the Hili Archaeological Park…{{link http://gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=173581 MORE}}