The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the only annual international forum for the presentation of the latest research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula. The three-day conference is held each July at the British Museum and the proceedings are published in time for the conference the following year.

The 49th Seminar will be held on Friday 24th, Saturday 25th, and Sunday 26th July 2015. For further information about the Seminar programme please visit: Seminar for Arabian Studies

I am involved with two papers at this years seminar:

(1) I will be presenting a paper on behalf of our team:

Mark Beech, Kristian Strutt, Lucy Blue, Abdulla Khalfan Al Kaabi, Waleed Awad Omar, Ahmed Abdulla Al Haj El Faki, Anjana Reddy Lingareddy and John Martin:
Ubaid-related sites of the southern Gulf revisited: the Abu Dhabi coastal heritage initiative
Saturday 25th July – Session 3: Neolithic Archaeology (Chair: Robert Carter), 10:10 – 10:35 am.

(2) I am a co-author on the following paper:

Marjan Mashkour, Mark Beech, Karyne Debue, Lisa Yeomans, Stéphanie Bréhard and Sophie Méry:
The Faunal Remains from UAQ2 – an Ubaid-related coastal site at Umm Al-Qaiwain Emirate, 5500-4000 cal BCE, United Arab Emirates
Saturday 25th July – Session 3: Neolithic Archaeology (Chair: Robert Carter), 10:35 – 11:00 am.

A 7,000-year-old site on Dalma Island, which was first excavated in 1993, holds clues about the people who lived there and their relations with settlements along the Gulf coast. Watch this video of an interview held with Dr Mark Beech during the April 2015 excavation season.

Read the story, Delma Island has been centre of pearl diving for 7,000 years, say scientists, featured in The National newspaper.

BOATS AND ANCIENT HARBOURS SEMINAR

Monday 8 June 2015 – from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Auditorium – 4th Floor – Tower B, Nation Towers Corniche.
Lunch provided (12:00 – 13:00 pm).

A series of talks presented by international experts to raise awareness of Abu Dhabi’s rich maritime heritage and to outline the project objectives of the Boats and Ancient Harbours initiative. This is your chance to learn about the different types of boats found in the region, the recording of traditional boats, interviews with former boat builders and users, as well as giving you an insight into the photographic and film archives relating to traditional boats and harbours of Abu Dhabi Emirate.

Programme

9:00 – 9:15 am – Dr Mark Jonathan Beech (Head of Coastal Heritage and Palaeontology section, Historic Environment Department, TCA Abu Dhabi) – Welcome and Introduction.

9:15 – 9:30 am – Dr Mark Jonathan Beech (Head of Coastal Heritage and Palaeontology section, Historic Environment Department, TCA Abu Dhabi) – The TCA Abu Dhabi Boats and Ancient Harbours Project.

9.30 – 10:00 am – Professor Dionisius Agius (Professor of Arabic and Islamic Material Culture at University of Exeter, U.K.) – The Emirati dhow: reality or romantic replica?

10:00 – 10:30 am – Dr Eric Staples (Director of Maritime Heritage Projects, Sultanate of Oman) – Reconstructing Remnants of the Sea: An interdisciplinary approach to maritime heritage.

10:30 – 11:00 am – Alessandro Ghidoni (Technical Director at Oman Maritime, Sultanate of Oman) – Dhows, Data and Documentation.

11:00 – 11:15 am – Ahmed Al Mheri (Traditional Boat Racing Coordinator, Emirates Heritage Club, Abu Dhabi) – Traditional Boat Racing and the activities of the Emirates Heritage Club.

11:15 – 11:30 am – Ahmed Ismael Al Marzouqi (Youth Sailing Coach) – Modern boat racing and the work of the Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club.

11:30 – 12:00 am – Discussion, Questions and Answers.

12:00 – 13:00 pm – Lunch.

Attendance is free, but please confirm your participation by sending an email to: Dr Anjana Reddy – anjana.lingareddy@tcaabudhabi.ae