Oman: Ancient stone tomb at Al Ayn, near Bat, c. 3500 - 2,500 BCE

The earliest stone-built tombs which can be called 'beehive', are in Oman, built of stacked flat stones which occur in nearby geological formations. They date to between 3,500 and 2,500 years BC, to a period when the Arabian peninsula was subject to much more rainfall than now, and supported a flourishing civilisation in what is now desert, to the west of the mountain range along the Gulf of Oman.

No burial remains have ever been retrieved from these 'tombs', though there seems no other purpose for their building. They are built entirely above ground level and the entrances are usually an undifferentiated part of the circular walling of the tomb.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

FIGY (PD)

Credit:

Pictures From History

Theme:

INCENSE ROAD