At the Confines of the Near East: The Modern Discovery of the Land of Magan

Organised by: Emirato de Sharjah, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid y Museo Arqueológico Nacional

Curator: Joaquín Córdoba Zoilo

Assistant curators: Carmen del Cerro Linares, M. Carmen Pérez Die y Esther Pons Mellado.

Opening hours:Salto de línea Tuesday-Saturday: 9:30 – 20:00Salto de línea Sundays and public holidays: 9:30 – 15:00Salto de línea +Info

Free admissionSalto de línea

Salto de línea

The National Archaeological Museum presents to Spanish audiences the results of two decades of archaeological research in the Near East, which have brought the history of the ancient land of Magan to light for the first time.Salto de línea Excavations in this area of the Oman Peninsula, mentioned in ancient Mesopotamian texts, have supplied a team of archaeologists from the Autonomous University of Madrid with invaluable information on how people lived in what is now the Emirate of Sharjah between the third and first millennium BC, a hitherto unknown period.

The exhibition is divided into two large sections. The first part features 180 pieces (stone tools and weapons, pottery vessels, ornaments and precious metalwork, coins, etc.) that reconstruct the history of Magan from its origins in the Lower Palaeolithic to the pre-Islamic period in the seventh century.

These remarkable exhibits include the first handcrafted personal ornaments from the Neolithic, samples of the important Bronze Age pottery production, the first written records, and finds that reveal the early existence of trade in the region, with notable specimens of Greek amphorae and Yemeni alabaster. Visitors can also admire eight scale models of funerary structures and graves.

The second part of the itinerary features a large scenographic presentation and 60 selected artefacts from the Spanish dig site in the village of Al Madam that recreate life in this settlement during the Iron Age.

The falaj, a typical hydraulic system in the region, is the focal point of this area. A large scale model shows the wells and underground tunnel that made farming possible near the oases, the oldest water-conduit system ever discovered in this part of the world.

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Ciclo de conferencias:

Historia y arqueología del país de Magán

Miércoles 4, 11 y 18 de mayoSalto de línea Sala de conferencias, 19:00Salto de línea Asistencia libre y gratuita