Dibba al-Hisn is the name of a semi-subterranean grave-chamber, located on the east side of the Musandam peninsula in the emirate of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates). The site was identified during construction work on a private courtyard, and sixteen graves were excavated by a team led by Dr. Sabah A. Jasim of the Directorate of Antiquities, Department of Culture and Information of Sharja.
Besides the burials, grave goods from Dibba al-Hisn included ivory and bone artifacts, pottery, weapons, silver and gold, intaglios and personal adornments. The tomb is a rectangular, semi-subterranean chamber built of shaped stones, measuring some 4.5x2.5 meters. The structure had a barrel-vault ceiling. Fifteen of the recovered burials were within the tomb; a siteenth was identified lying in an open space.
The Dibba al-Hisn burials are dated to the first century AD, and excavators assigned them to the poorly known pre-Islamic period.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the guide to the Islamic Civilization and Dictionary of Archaeology.
Kutterer A, and Uerpmann M. 2010. Human remains from a post-Hellenistic grave-chamber in Dibba al-Hisn (Sharjah, UAE). Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 21(2):170-198.
