On the outskirts of Sharjah, the third largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the Mleiha Archaeological Centre. Boasting of remains from pre-historic times in its compound, it also has state-of-the art facilities for creatively engaging visitors.
It is set aside from the towering buildings of the city, in a space believed to be the origin of life in this part of the world. All around there are the browns of a desert with some sand dunes standing as tall as mountains.”The dunes often change directions, thus the deserts have no geography,” tour guide Shada Mekazi explains as a matter of fact.
The deserts of Sharjah too are at the mercy of winds, but even after millions of years, they safeguard the remnants of its first inhabitants.
Sharjah was developed as an emirate about four decades ago, but just like any other place on the planet, this destination too has an ancient history- from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron ages. In case of this city in the UAE, there is also the pre-Islamic time which one can study about.
Sharing the rare findings from these eras and explaining in detail the evolution of life in this part of the world is the Mleiha Archaeological Centre.
With a state-of-the art museum built in the deserts of Sharjah, around the remains from the olden eras, a visit to the Mleiha Archaeological Centre is like a walk back in time.
While the museum exhibits artefacts, audio-visual movies, life-size animal figures and 3-D visuals, Sharjah takes pride in the surrounding deserts, which are now archaeological sites offering unique discoveries.
“Over here, we have found signs of human life in pre-historic times. Evidence of flowing water was also found and a lot of gravel was discovered,” says Anurag Amin, education co-ordinator at Mleiha Archaeological Centre. “The first humans who made their way across the Red Sea, settled here in Mleiha,” he adds.
The desert landscape around boasts of a brown palette with sun-kissed sand dunes and can be explored in a safari. Visitors can pick between a high paced and an easy ride experiences, to make their trip playfully educative.
