MLEIHA: AN ARAB KINGDOM ON THE CARAVAN TRAILS

كتاب MLEIHA: AN ARAB KINGDOM ON THE CARAVAN TRAILS

Mleiha is an oasis located in the Oman Peninsula, at the centre of Sharjah Emirate. It boomed in the early 3rd century BCE when it became a trading hub for caravans on route from North and South Arabia. Most of the Near East was divided between the Seleucid kingdoms after Alexander the Great's death at Babylon in 323 BCE. SE-Arabia remained independent but the Au region did partake in the soaring international trade. A late 3rd century BCE inscription discovered at Mleiha in 2015 confirmed the existence of an Oman Kingdom (Fig. 9) of which Mleiha was most probably the capital. It included the present day territories of the U.A.E. and parts of the Sultanate of Oman. The kingdom introduced its own coins, inspired by those of Alexander and his Seleucid successors. Whereas the earliest issues closely copied their iconography, the head of Hercules and the seated Greek deity Zeus, they rapidly adapted them. Monograms and symbols were added; "Abiel", probably a hereditary throne name that is to be translated as "my father is God", replaced the name of Alexander.