In the Emirate zone "Robinsonov"
Oasis or islands? Where for the first time, people who lived on the territory of the UAE millennia were settled back? And whether they lived in this area at all in the dark for local archaeologists?
Scientists argue that life in local hot sands, albeit "Not wondered" In history, but the fires danced. It is difficult to imagine that civilization could grow in this poor soil, similar to Sumerian, Ancient Egyptian or at least Nubian. Civilization – could not. Too little good offered land, scorched, anhydrous and fruitless. The warm sea was generous for gifts.
The very first in the history of the settlement in the emirate territory are open on the island of Murauah. In the area of this island sushi, surrounded by the archipelago of the land of the land, still live the most ancient inhabitants of these places, sensitive Dugoni, the structure of their bodies very similar to elephants. Paleontologian scientists have already proven that millions of years ago, nature was on the current sands of the Arabian Peninsula "Paradise", and rose to the sky of the forest in which elephants lived.
Researchers know that the population of the Persian Gulf District 4,000 years ago hunted at the vague, languidly moaning over the water when inhaling sea sirens. When excavations on one of the islands, more than the remains of the digraigh are found than bones of camels, antelope and other animals. On the island of Murauah, there is also evidence that Duges, called sirens or "Marine brides", were objects of interest of local hunters. There is an opinion that the descendants of those who lived here once elephants left to feed on the underwater meadows, when the local land flora began to bother. They adapted to new habitat conditions, live here to this day, and if they have lost themselves compared to their remote ancestors, it is not very much, although they have changed dramatically, losing a trunk, turned into a lipal mouth, and limbs that have become lass and tail.
We left Murauah Island from Abu Dhabi about seven in the morning. Turned away from the rays of the rising sun and moved in the western direction. The initial part of the path was held in the wilderness of the fog. The driver slipped the turn, stopped, turned on emergency lights and did not dare to move in foggy milk in the opposite direction to return to the fork. Gradually, the fog has lowered, scattered and climbed, shook, first in the ball crowns of palm trees, and then cutting up the tops of the high-voltage gear. Gradually the sun dragged him. With the right, seaside side of the road, densely planted by shrubs and palm trees, steaming tractors began to be poured, rare trucks and tents of builders. Drainage is created along the road. Apparently, it fills it into rare rainy periods.
With participants of the international symposium "The position and preservation of a dugony in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean" We are going to the island, considered by the UAE Executive Marine Reserve. Meeting participants noted the lack of scientific information about the life of these grateful and defenseless animals and wished to familiarize themselves with their habitats. I had my own interest: see the most ancient parking of people who lived in these places a few millennia ago.
120 km from the capital of the village of Al Marfaa, from which he had to go on the water, met a serene rock of the sea. "Marta" Arabic means a marina. Once this place was a business and lively. Now – silence. Neither nomads or fishermen nor camel pounds. Even fishing barcasov no. Fascinated people of the city. Near the old, tightly shot down and no longer repaired pier. Near the sea scattered several houses. There is a hotel. Works designer, high pipes of which are in the sky. Not far from the shore, they pumped to the ground round carcases. A small bay, well-protected from sea caps, shelted several engine boats. On the shore is illegible, calm and very hot.
The village, in the area of which several decades ago, settled mainly tribe "Rumey", played an important role in the life of this edge. The tribe controlled the group of coastal islands. Much islands. The organizers of the trip called about a dozen. Most of them are grouped in one place in the area of chalks, which can be called underwater, gentle mountains with flat tops climbing above sea surface. Sea bottom covered with green meadows. There are many living creatures in herbs, and dugony.
Dujoni is marine cows. They are fully adapted to life in water, but breathe air. Giving life to legends about mermaids timid mammals of gray-brown color reach 2-4 meters long and weigh up to 400 kg. These exclusively herbivores, distinguished by a large appetite and eating about 30 kg of grass, are found in small waters and are in the UAE protected by two federal laws.
The most numerous population of Digo is in Australia and consists of almost 80 thousand goals. The greatest accumulation of Australia is located in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The flock, grazing near the Eastern and Western coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, which can be called conditionally "Arabian", Talking about 7300 goals. 40 percent of this herd focused in the waters of the UAE.
Hold a course on the island "Al-Basm", Milling "Murauah", – the main goal of the trip. The distance to the island of about 40 kilometers. Quickly disappear from the bottom of the beach, and then high pipes of the desalizer. Green spots appear among the sea blue. This is a shallow. Here are the pastures of the dugony. Stop in a large red buoy at a distance of three miles from the island. He mounted with the sun he is well visible, but his deserted look absolutely does not attract. Desire to go ashore, search for local "Robinzona", living here alone as the keeper of the reserve is not awakened. The organizers of the trip to land on land, on which there are no traces of civilization, nor life, do not offer.
Boy starts the protected area. "Please do not smoke", – joking, and maybe seriously speak our "captain" Yusef. Australians and French telegraction are smoldering, looking at Dali. Leave the green ripple of the water for the uncomfortable roast coast none of the participants in the trip does not want. Inspect around, listen. In the rustling of water, I will have a languid romany. Dugony can be under water without air to 6 minutes. At the end of the oxygen stock, they have to climb the surface for a couple of seconds to quickly and inhaling the new air portion. It passes a quarter of an hour. Above the sea silence. Only splashes water about boat boats.
"We can see Siren?" – I ask the vest standing near the steering wheel. – "You saw them myself?"
Yusef lives on Murauuah. He came to the boat from the island specifically for us, perfectly knows these places and answers the affirmative. "Of course I saw. I am delivered here to protect them, but it is unlikely that, arriving in the area of their pasture a large group on noisy boats, we will be able to catch them surprise. These are very sensitive animals. They need to be selected carefully, on oars", – He says. "Look at the meadow. You can see traces of feeding sea cows. Open in the end. Let’s hope that you are lucky near Murauaha", – not instilling any optimism continues to Yusef. The subsidiary of the burnt in the sun he puts on a mask, flippers and falls overboard. We follow him. Water on shames reaches the neck. I don’t know whether Dougony is swimming here. Water fatty for their dimensions is too small. You can boughly with a sea hero. Shaul or back in the sun burn.
Marine grass, really, a lot. She is not thick. Each bush grows separately. For giant dones to feed their fats, apparently, you need to turn around the bottom, without stopping collecting 7-10 centimeter pigs. Although what else to do. I personally imagined the marine meadows with more abundant and populated.
Meadow disappointed not only me. But maybe in other places nearby underwater pastures better. We are not invited there. Reserve.
After half an hour they moved towards Murauaha. V "Robinson zone" there is a small berth and one paving broken down either street, or a walkway with electric lamps. It works its desalinel. Knocking an electricity generator. Local boys descend to water, take the grass from the boat brought from the mainland for sheep. In the air-conditioned guest house drink coffee and strong, thick tea, almost "Chifer", vest. The whole company relaxed in coolness. The hosts are offered a trip to open all-terrain vessels on the island, stretching at 13 km long and 5.5 km in width. Log in to reach 43-degree midday heat. We are wearing the French. They specially arrived with Mauritius on the pictures of local wildlife. I need ancient person of man and fresh impressions. Drive the sign "It is strictly prohibited ..", On which only these words have been preserved. What exactly is forbidden to do, ate rust. Bans apparently lost relevance, and maybe just no one or nothing to ban.
Rushing along well-rolled, smooth, clay road along the absolutely not attractive, clogged with natural garbage of the sea coast. Between the road and the sea thickets of mangrove trees. Yusef slows down sharply, shows in the styling between the trees: "Gazelle!" In the shade under the tree there are two hiding from the heat of light brown goats and do not reduce our eyes. Frighteners, alerted, but to run out of under the bed branches, do not want shades from relative coolness. The instinct of self-preservation still took the top, and they rushed deep into the island. Yusef decided to break through the gazelles and began to cut them off their coastal thickets on the trails broken in the sands.
Here we stumbled upon the one who instinct not only did not save, but led. Right in the middle of the trails of black boulder lay a huge turtle. Apparently, I was looking for a more loose sand near the coast, to postpone the eggs in the place, from which once herself began to be on the seas. But over the decades, the expired since she got out here out of the egg, the land wounded and compacted, and much changed in her native and hot maternity hospital. Turtle did not have time to see the first wheel in his life. It flew out at the back. Rubber with the yoke of iron cargo turned out to be the most powerful of its horny armor of almost meter diameter. "Tortilla", Probably long lies on the road. The shell also casts glitter, and the white skull, similar to the human, has already exposured, fixing in the sky empty orders. The picture is perceived as an addition to the signboard "It is strictly prohibited"..
Despite the gazelles, the turtle, small groups of white flamingo near the shore, on which the strips comes as the white, green and blue water excreted from it, organized, normal life on this unsembered island is difficult to imagine. Traces of modern civilization a lot. She visited here, but did not delay, leaving his rusty traces in the form of skeletons of cars, collapsed sheds and especially unpleasant on the free nature of urban garbage.
Ancient traces of a person’s stay on the island look more attractive, although the uninitiated look simply will not pay attention to them, will not understand that in front of the eyes – monuments of thousand years ago. Surprises the safety of the historical relics remaining here. A few thousand years have blown winds, Meli Sands, had rains, replaced each other seasons, boosted and came the sun, the climatic conditions were changed, they were born, people lived and died. Time reduced the fruits of their works. Parking are not preserved. Ancient life, as most often happens in archeology, represent mostly burial grounds. They are in hundreds of meters from the coast. Maybe the sea for a long millennium changed the shore. Or people endured burial away from water. Only their foundations and parts of walls consisting of flat stones are preserved from ancient buildings.
English Archaeologist Dr. Mark Beach, working here for several years, says that the remains found on the island are the burial of the Kurgan type. They are small in size and built from slates with a conical style, in which the stones are stacked one on another with a small overlap so that their layers come together in the upper part, bringing the walls in the dome. These buildings created absolutely without the use of wood, by means of a sandwich technology, when alternate layers of stone and clay, about seven and a half thousand years. Local and English scientists work on the island since 1992. They opened here a tent of the man’s standings and study them. According to 43-year-old Dr. Mark, most of the burial refers to the late stone century.
At the site of the excavation found clay dishes, flint tips spears and arrows. Even fragments of black stone bracelet are found, which indicate that the aborigines of these seats had an interest in beauty and the opportunity to devote her time. Not parting with a straw hat during his hot work in the field, a researcher trying to speak Russian a little, kindly provided to our magazine made on the island of pictures. Photos are powered by imagination, giving the opportunity to present life of distant ancestors of local residents. But it is impossible to imagine how the desert, anhydrous and burned Murauah in those gray times was now. What he attracted people? Maybe there were their safe parking. Maybe they were random "Robinsons", lost in the sea and trying to establish their lives in tens of kilometers from the mainland, to get to which in those days it was not so easy.
Now new attempts to arrange the island are being taken. In the zone of sea tide, the brushes of buckets are lowered. Yusef says that the channel is digging. Comes, apparently, and here a new life.
Abu Dhabi Island, which houses the Emirate capital, 50 years ago, was unlikely to be more attractive than Murauah. And how became! The experience of the capital allows you to hope that the currently abandoned areas of the country has the future that the distant ancestors of the emirates settled here.
