Al‐Aqir near Bahlā’– an Early Bronze Age dam site with planoconvex ‘copper’ ingots

Abstract

Some 20 years ago the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture received an important collection of planoconvex copper ingots, tools and anthropomorphic figures which came from a site at al-Aqir near Bahlā' in the al-Zāhirah Wilāya. Several years elapsed before their provenance could be reconstructed and the site could be investigated. The finds had been deposited as building offerings in a prehistoric, 300 m-long dam built to trap soil and moisture for agricultural purposes. Although the area has been intensively used since at least 3000 BC, the evidence for irrigation installations does not pre-date 2000 BC. The finds are dedicatory rather than functional in nature.

Hydrology, Ideology, and the Origins of Irrigation in Ancient Southwest Arabia

“…In part because of the complexities of such landscapes, interpretations of connections between tombs, towns, and irrigation have generated considerable controversy (Orchard 1994(Orchard , 1995(Orchard , 1999Potts 1997). Hafit tombs have frequently proved difficult to connect with residential occupations (e.g., Brass and Britton 2004;Häser 2003;Schreiber 2005), and without comparably early chronometric dates for irrigation (see Frifelt 2002, 101-4;Weisgerber and Yule 2003), they are sometimes attributed to migratory pastoralists without irrigation (Siebert et al 2005).…”

Archaeological surveys of a canyon and floodplain in the Tanūf District, North‐Central Oman: Optimised methodology and applications

“…For example, the high mountain range is capable of capturing the Indian monsoon and bringing rich water resources, despite the arid climate (Gaube et al, 2012). This enabled ancient peoples to conduct agriculture on elevated ground (Gaube et al, 2012; Häser, 2000, 2003; Schreiber, 2007) as well as oasis agriculture using irrigation at the foot of the piedmont, as shown through the discovery of prehistoric dams (Hastings et al, 1975; Weisgerber, 1980; Weisgerber & Yule, 2003) and local water transport systems ( aflāj ) from the Early Iron Age (ca. 1300–650 BCE) (Charbonnier, 2015; Costa, 1983; Costa & Wilkinson, 1987).…”

Lead isotope and chemical signature of copper from Oman and its occurrence in Mesopotamia and sites on the Arabian Gulf coast

“…Another collection of copper finds comes from al Aqir near Bahla where, in a 300 m‐long dam, numerous building offerings (‘Bauopfer’) were found (Weisgerber & Yule 2003). These depositions comprise copper ingots and ingot fragments, anthropomorphic figures, a heavy hoe, a large knife and a flat axe.…”

“…The copper ingots analysed in the course of the present study all date to the Early Bronze Age Umm an Nar period in the late third millennium BC. They derive from the hoard finds at al Maysar (Weisgerber 1981b) and al Aqir/Bahla (Weisgerber & Yule 2003). The other copper‐base artefacts cover the time from Umm an Nar to Early Iron Age Lizq; they comprise tools, weapons and bangles (Table 3).…”