precious-postcards

Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas)

The Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas) constitute a serial property that testifies to sedentary human occupation of a desert region since the Neolithic period with vestiges of many prehistoric cultures. Remarkable vestiges in the property include circular stone tombs (ca 2500 B.C.), wells and a wide range of adobe constructions: residential buildings, towers, palaces and administrative buildings. Hili moreover features one of the oldest examples of the sophisticated aflaj irrigation system which dates back to the Iron Age. The property provides important testimony to the transition of cultures in the region from hunting and gathering to sedentarization.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1343

Cultural Sites of Al Ain: Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas represent examples of construction, agricultural use and water management in the desert since protohistory.

The designated site is a serial nomination of 17 locations. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/alain.html