Bidaa Bint Saud

UNESCO World Heritage Site
A panoramic view of the Eastern slopes of Bidaa Bint Saud, showing Hafit period beehive tombs. The Iron Age building is at the top of the tell.
Location	The Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E.
Part of	Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas)
Criteria	Cultural: (iii), (iv), (v)
Reference	1343
Inscription	2011 (35th Session)
Coordinates	24°23′7″N 55°43′6″E / 24.38528°N 55.71833°E / 24.38528; 55.71833
Location of Bidaa Bint Saud in United Arab Emirates

This article is part of a series on the
History of the United Arab Emirates
Bronze Age Magan civilization Umm Al Nar culture Archaeological sites Mleiha Al Ashoosh Al Sufouh Ed-Dur Hili Saruq Al Hadid Shimal Tell Abraq
Iron Age Wadi Suq culture Archaeological sites Al Thuqeibah Bidaa Bint Saud Ed-Dur Muweilah Seih Al Harf Qattara Oasis Rumailah Saruq Al Hadid Shimal Tell Abraq
Pre-Islamic Era Sasanian rule Archaeological sites Ed-Dur
Islamic Era Battle of Dibba
Colonial Era Portuguese Dibba Portuguese Khor Fakkan Julfar Persian Gulf campaign of 1809 Persian Gulf campaign of 1819 General Maritime Treaty of 1820 Perpetual Maritime Truce Trucial Kalba Trucial States
Modern history Buraimi Dispute Pearling industry Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border dispute Seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs First parliamentary election Yemeni Civil War Qatar blockade Socotra dispute COVID-19 pandemic
Topics Archaeology Ancient settlements
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Bidaa Bint Saud (Arabic: بِدَع بِنْت سُعُوْد, romanized: Bidaʿ Bint Suʿūd) is an archaeological site in Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E., notable for its Hafit Period tombs, Iron Age irrigation systems and rare remains of an Iron Age building thought to have been a distribution centre for water from two aflaj (systems of underground and surface waterways). It is a listed UN World Heritage Site.^[1][2] Finds from the site are displayed at Al Ain National Museum.^[3]

The dating of pottery from the aflaj (singular falaj) waterways found at the site demonstrates a south-eastern Arabian origin for this distinctive system of irrigation,^[4] previously thought by many scholars to have been Persian in origin.^[1][5] The dating of aflaj in Bidaa bint Saud, Al Ain and Buraimi, both of which are in the historical region of Tawam,^[6] has been placed several centuries prior to the Achaemenid Empire, which had previously been credited with the innovation.^[7]

The site, located some 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) north of Al Ain, is thought to have been a stopping place on a long-established caravan route from settlements at Al Ain to the Northern Emirates. The rocky outcrop of Garn bin Saud looms some 40 m (130 ft) above the site and is dotted with burial remains.