Mleiha

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Mleiha

| native_name = {{lang|ar|ملَيْحَة}}

| other_name = Meleihah
Malaihah

| settlement_type = Town

| translit_lang1_type = Arabic

| translit_lang1_info =

| image_skyline = Map of the municipalities in the Emirate of Sharjah (UAE).svg

| image_caption = Mleiha Municipality is in the eastern part of Sharjah's Central Region

| image_map1 =

| pushpin_map = UAE#Persian Gulf

| pushpin_relief = 1

| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Mleiha in the UAE

| coordinates = {{coord|25|7|23|N|55|52|43|E|source:kolossus-dewiki|display=title}}

| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_type2 = Emirate

| subdivision_name1 = {{UAE}}

| subdivision_name2 = Sharjah

| government_type = Absolute monarchy

| leader_title = Sheikh

| leader_name = Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi

| area_magnitude =

| area_metro_km2 =

| population_total = 4,768

| population_as_of = 2015

| image_coat =

| area_metro_mi2 =

}}

Mleiha, also Mileiha or Malaihah ({{langx|ar|ملَيْحَة}}), is a town in the Emirate of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a population of 4,768 (2015),{{cite news |work=WAM |publisher=GDN Online |title=Sharjah population tops 1.405 million |location=Sharjah |url=http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/155636/Sharjah-population-tops-1405-million |date=2017-01-22 |access-date=2019-03-02}}{{cite news |author= |work=WAM |title=More than 1.4 million people live in Sharjah |url=http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/20170121/more-than-14-million-people-live-in-sharjah |date=January 21, 2017 |via=The National |accessdate=28 June 2017 }} located some {{convert|25|km|mile|abbr=on}} south of the inland Sharjah town of Dhaid.{{Cite web|url=http://www.uaeinteract.com/history/e_walk/con_3/con3_1.asp|title=UAE Interact, United Arab Emirates information, news, photographs, maps and webcams|last=UAEINTERACT|website=www.uaeinteract.com|access-date=2016-04-03}} It is the location of archaeological remnants dating from the Neolithic to pre-Islamic Arabia and home to the Mleiha Archaeological Centre. Mleiha is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Encounter the relics of pre-Islamic history in the desert|url=https://www.visitsharjah.com/regions/central-region/mleiha/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}}

History

A Belgian archeological mission discovered that between the 3rd Century BC and the 3rd Century AD, the area had a significant community, and that the trade routes that sprung within the area reached as far as the Roman Empire and the Acheamenid Empire.{{Cite web |title=مليحة.. مملكة عربية على طريق القوافل – هيئة الشارقة للآثار |url=https://saa.shj.ae/ar/prod_books/mleiha-an-arab-kingdom-on-the-caravan-way/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=saa.shj.ae}} During the late part of this period, sometime between the mid-2nd and late 3rd centuries AD, the Mleiha Fort was built, probably in order to host an unidentified important person within the area.{{Cite news |title=مليحة.. تاريخ يعانق جمال الصحراء |url=http://wam.ae/ar/details/1395302686775 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20180517084728/http://wam.ae/ar/details/1395302686775 |archive-date=2018-05-17 |access-date=2025-06-05 |work=wam |language=ar-AR}}

In 2016, various bilingual scriptures, containing Aramaic and Hasaitic text, confirmed the presence of the Kingdom of Oman within the area following the 3rd Century BCE, suggesting their dominion over the area.{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6643/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=whc.unesco.org}}

Following the 3rd Century AD, this golden age ended after a violent attack by an unknown enemy destroyed the site.

Mleiha

History

References

See also