third millennium, but considers that the relationship with Mesopotamia began in the
Jamdat Nasr period (D. Potts 1986 b: 132 ).
Recent evidence suggests the export of Omani copper began at an earlier date, with
around a quarter or more of the copper reaching Mesopotamia in the Uruk period
originating from the Oman Peninsula. Using both compositional and lead isotope
analyses of ores and artefacts, researchers have identified a signature for Omani copper,
and analysed 179 objects from Mesopotamia from the Uruk to the Akkadian period.
Of the twenty-three Uruk period objects, six were made of Omani copper ( 27 %)
(Begemann et al. 2010 : 159 , tab. 5 ). Three of the six objects of Omani origin were from
the site of Uruk (cat. nos. 2174 , 2190 , 2193 in Begemann and Schmitt-Strecker 2009 :
35 – 36 , tab. A 1 ); no chronological designation is given for these other than Uruk period.
The others were from northern Iraq, including two from Gawra (cat. nos. 225 , 227 ) and
one from Shaikh Hassan (cat. 2615 ). The latter is dated to the Middle Uruk, while
Gawra was deserted by the Late Uruk, so these must be Middle or Early Uruk.
Two recent discoveries support the hypothesis that there was contact between the
Oman Peninsula and Mesopotamia during the Middle to Late Uruk period, potentially
based upon the copper trade. The first is a cylinder seal from Abu Dhabi emirate, said
to be Late Uruk in date, though this style may continue into the Jamdat Nasr period
(Figure 30. 2 ), and the second is a report of copper at a mid-fourth millennium site in
Oman. The former was found near Madinat Zayed, between Abu Dhabi and the Liwa
oasis approximately 35 km south of the coast (see Figure 30. 3 for location). This was a
surface find, and depicts two pigtailed ladies and two spiders, considered to be a
reference to weaving (Potts and Pittman 2009 ; Potts 2010 : 23 , Cat. 1 , 36 ). It is thought
that such seals, which were found in the Uruk colonies of northern Syria as well as in
southern Mesopotamia, were emblematic of high office within the textile industry.
A highly tentative speculation would be that such an individual was present in the
region in the Late Uruk period to trade
Mesopotamian textiles for copper.
The second discovery concerns the site of
Wadi Shab-GAS 1 , a Late Neolithic shell
midden on the east coast of Oman between
Muscat and Ras al-Hadd (see Figure 30. 3 for
location), where copper artefacts are found,
suggesting knowledge of metal in the Oman
Peninsula as early as the Middle Uruk (Tosi
and Usai 2003 : 20 ; Usai 2006 : 275 , 286 ). The
site is radiocarbon dated to c. 3800 – 3500 BC
(cal. at 2 σ). Caution should be exercised as
Islamic period remains are reported on the
surface of the site and the authors of one of
the preliminary reports believed that the
metal indicated a post-fourth millennium
horizon (Gaultier et al. 2005 : 19 ), but the
excavators also noted that the narrow drill
holes in the (Neolithic) softstone beads were
likely to have been made by metal rather
than stone drills (Tosi and Usai 2003 : 20 – 21 ).
–– The Sumerians and the Gulf ––Figure 30.2Late Uruk or Jamdat Nasr
cylinder seal found near Abu Dhabi, UAE
(courtesy of Daniel T. Potts)