United Arab Emirates

Archaeological evidence indicates that in the 3rd millennium BC a culture known as Umm al-Nar developed in modern-day Abu Dhabi, its influence spreading inland and along the coast of Oman to the south. There was trade with both the Mesopotamian civilization and the Indus culture, particularly the export of copper (then the most valuable natural resource) from the Hajar mountains. Later settlements, with Hellenistic features and dating from between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD, have been discovered at Meleiha, near the Sharjah coast, and at Al-Dur in the emirate of Umm al Qaiwain. There are indications that the coastal areas of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman came under Sassanian (Persian) influence from the 4th century AD until the early 7th century when the Islamic era began. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, tribes in the Dibba region along the eastern coast rebelled before Islamic forces won a decisive battle in AD 632.