Thursday,
04 October 2001
The
unearthing of an ancient Sasanian castle wall in
the fourth phase of the archaeological excavation
in what is today known as the Emirate's Al Koush
area (most probably the Old City of Julphar and
its ancient Iranian name is unknown) sheds
remarkable new light on the history of of the
invasion of Iran by Arabs and Islamic rule.
Other
important finds include an ancient a gold Dinar
dating back to the era of Omar bin Yousif, the
governor of Oman in 951 CE, as well as the oldest
coffee set dating back to the 12th century.
Shouhainah Farid, head of the excavating team,
said that Al Koush was chosen for the excavation
since it is the highest hill full of ancient ruins
which would tell us more about the history of the
area. She added that the project has been
supported and sponsored by the government of Ras
Al Khaimah, the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah,
Ras Al Khaimah Museum, the British Museum, and
Durham University.
She added that the excavation was started in 1993
by an English team which chose the highest hill of
Al Koush to start with, and experience later
proved it was the best site in the Gulf area.
She explained that the way of life in those early
days was established after the analysis of pottery
items and fish and animal bones.
The discovered wall was part of the ancient
Sasanian castle, which was destroyed by the Arab
forces during the 7th century CE when they sacked
Southern territories of the Iranian Empire and
asked the Sasanians to either convert to Islam or
leave the place (or pay Poll Tax or face death).
"The castle was completely destroyed by the
Arabs which indicated the end of the Sasanian
era".
She
said that the discoveries were of vital importance
to complete the history of the area.
The
excavation will shed remarkable new light on the
Lower Persian Gulf history as there is no accurate
written documents of the entry of Islam into this
area and Arab invasion of former Iranian
territories in the south part of the Empire.
Archaeological excavation will narrate the exact
history of Islam in the in that region,
underlining the cultural, political and social
changes which happened to the ancient Iranians
when Arabs first entered the area.
The excavations in the area will tell us
specifically about the messages sent by Prophet
Muhammed to the Iranian Emperor of Sasanian
dynast, Shahanshah Khosrow Anushak-ruwan which
possibly tell those Emperors were overthrown by
the inhabitants of the area when they converted to
the the New Religion or were massacred by the Arab
invaders.
The Ras Al Khaimah Government had assigned two
other teams - a British and a Japanese -to join
the German team of archaeologists due to the
importance of this excavation.
Ahmed Hilal, an archaeologist at the Ras Al
Khaimah National Museum, said there has been a
debate over the castle. A recent theory is that it
was a tower, the first of its kind survived in the
region. Some archaeologists argue that it was a
tower because of its structure – it was not
round, but a rectangular shaped wall.
He pointed out that it could have been a tower
facing the sea on the main road going to Shaam (a
remote area in modern Ras Al Khaimah) and served
sea trading activities.
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