Al Dur

Al Dur is located along the coast near Umm Al Quwain. This famous archeological site contains the remains of a once important town in the region dating back 2,000 years ago.

Some of the items uncovered at Al Dur include tombs, stone houses, large storage jars, and glassware from Egypt and Syria. Some of the earthenware is orange with black painted decorations and is commonly found at Al Dur. Many of the artifacts that were excavated are in display in the Umm al-Quwain Museum.

This sprawling site is scattered over a large area with many single-room dwellings as well as large, multi-room structures. Both types of house were built of beach rock blocks found locally in the shallow lagoons. Thousands of graves are found among the houses of Al Dur. In some cases the larger tombs contained the remains of more than one individual, perhaps a family. Items found in the tombs include drinking sets, Roman glass, weaponry, pottery, jewelry and ivory.

There are two public monuments at Al Dur, the small square fort with round corner towers and a small square temple, dedicated to the Semitic solar deity Shams.

An abundance of coins have been uncovered at Al Dur, including foreign coins as well as hundreds of locally minted coins bearing the name of Abi'el.