Visit – June 25

This summer our first goal was Kenya.  With Etihad we landed in Abu Dhabi a few minutes late to reach our morning connection to Nairobi. The next available flight wasn’t until after midnight. We had originally planned a mini-meetup with Els in the afternoon to visit to Nairobi National Park, so it was a bit of a blow.

Etihad provided a hotel for the day – but we thought: why not rent a car and make the most of it?

Mleiha Archaeological Site, part of the Faya Paleolithic Complex, is up for possible World Heritage inscription at this year’s session. Although the ICOMOS evaluation recommended not to inscribe, we still thought it was worth a visit.

It’s about a two-hour drive from Abu Dhabi, and we arrived at Mleiha Archaeological Centre early afternoon – in a scorching 47°C heat. The visitor center is modern and well-organized. We signed up for a guided tour. The tour started with an indoor visit to the museum, which included a short film and a great introduction to the site.

The exhibition highlights that this area holds evidence of human activity dating back over 130,000 years, with near-continuous settlement from the Stone Age through the Bronze and Iron Ages, up to the pre-Islamic period. One of the themes emphasized by the guide was early human migration from Africa. During periods of lower sea levels, it was possible to cross the Red Sea – and the Mleiha area may have been one of the first stops. 

One of the most fascinating discoveries at Mleiha is the burial of domesticated camels and horses, suggesting wealth, status, and early ritual practices linked to animal husbandry.

After the museum visit, we drove out into the landscape – walking wasn’t really an option in that heat. We stopped at a pre-Islamic palace, a few settlements, and an old fortress (only viewed from the road). Recently, archaeologists uncovered a sealed jar full of coins along with a coin press inside the fort – dating to around 200 BCE. One side of the coins depicted Alexander the Great. We also saw a late pre-Islamic farmhouse with an underground kitchen, now restored «Arabic style».

The whole area had been completely flooded in 2024, and they’re still repairing damage. There are also still ongoing excavations in this area. 

Later we drove up into the hill to visit a Paleolithic site with stone tools dated to 130,000 years ago – the earliest known evidence of modern humans outside Africa. According to our guide, the artifacts were likely found in a rock shelter that has since collapsed.

On the way back, we stopped at three Bronze Age tombs, each from a different phase of the Bronze Age, and visibly distinct in structure. There’s also a reconstructed tomb beside the museum, built in the same style but more elaborate in design and well restored. 

We left positively surprised. Mleiha is well-developed for visitors, with long opening hours, an on-site café, and, most importantly, a lot more to see than expected. 

As for its Outstanding Universal Value: the site holds rich, multilayered evidence of human settlement and migration. While ICOMOS suggested more time is needed to back certain theories, ongoing excavations may well fill in those gaps.