Ancient site · Tomb
Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn
A group of Bronze Age sites in inland Oman. Hundreds of stone 'beehive' tombs line the ridges, and round stone towers stood near a palm grove.
They belong to the Hafit and Umm an-Nar periods, when this region exported copper and stone to Mesopotamia; the area is usually identified with the land of Magan in Sumerian texts. Together they form one of the most complete Bronze Age landscapes in Arabia, a UNESCO site since 1988.
- Dates
- c. 3000–2000 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 23.27° N, 56.74° E
How we know
No local writing survives; the tombs and towers are dated by excavation, while Sumerian texts mention a copper land called Magan.
Nearby sites
- Dilmun Burial Mounds c. 2200–1750 BCE (main period)
- Persepolis c. 518–330 BCE
- Mohenjo-daro c. 2500–1700 BCE
- Submerged structures off Dwarka disputed: c. 1500 BCE (S. R. Rao) or historical to medieval times
- Chogha Zanbil c. 1250–645 BCE
- Mehrgarh c. 7000 BCE (excavators) or c. 5200 BCE (2025 re-dating) to c. 2600 BCE
Related
- Umm an-Nar culture (Magan) archaeological culture
- The world in 3000 BCE: The First Kings chapter