Museum, archaeological park planned in Al Ain

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) has unveiled its plans for two key projects in Al Ain, the Al Ain National Museum (AANM) and Hili Archaeological Park (HAP), which were both publicly announced by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council last week. 

The Al Hilli Archaeological Park [Credit: mydestination]

The AANM forms part of the Al Ain Oasis Cultural Quarter Master Plan and is located within the centre of downtown Al Ain within an Eastern Cultural Campus that is a flagship cultural quarter for Al Ain. It will celebrate the heritage and culture of the city — at the point where the city and nature meet at the edge of the Al Ain Oasis. 

Hili Archaeological Park is an internationally significant archaeological site, comprising unique Bronze Age, Iron Age and Islamic remains. The project will protect and preserve the site and its archaeology, and create a centre of learning and discovery where visitors will engage with the history of the site, the early roots of the UAE, the lives of the people who inhabited this landscape. 

The Chairman of ADACH, Shaikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, stated: “These are two very significant projects, that are drawing on the resources of this country’s heritage and protecting them. 

“The Al Ain National Museum will provide the intellectual foundation of a Cultural Quarter. Hili Archaeological Park will enclose some of the most important Bronze and Iron Age tombs, settlements and falaj systems found in the UAE.”  

Source: Khaleej Times [February 01, 2012]