Archaeologists may have located the long-lost ancient city known for its pearl industry on Siniyah Island, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Umm al-Quwain Department of Tourism and Archaeology reports that a group of old houses that are thought to be a part of the old city of Tu’am have been found by researchers.
Tu’am is mentioned in historical texts, although its exact location has never been established. Recent discoveries on Siniyah Island contradict earlier theories that located Tu’am in different regions of the United Arab Emirates.
Tu’am is thought to have originated in the fourth century and peaked in the sixth. Ancient literature often mentions the city because of its pearls. According to academics, Tu’am was the capital of a seaside region well-known for its pearl fishing business.
Regional battles and the bubonic plague outbreak that ravaged the Near East, the Mediterranean, and parts of Europe in the sixth century are blamed for the city’s demise. Tu’am eventually vanished from view. On Siniyah Island, however, the finding of closely spaced historic housing units may provide proof of this long-lost community.
In the same region of the island, archaeologists have also recently discovered a pearling town and a Christian monastery. This most recent finding implies that a considerably larger and more important town formerly stood there.
“Our archaeological work has discovered the largest settlement by far ever found on the Gulf coast of the Emirates,” Tim Power of United Arab Emirates University said to The National. It comes from the precise time frame that early Islamic geographical records indicate. It is obvious that this important location was overlooked before.