Snake, copper and water in south-eastern Arabian religion during the Iron Age: the Bithnah and Masāfi evidence. In British Foundation for the Study of Arabia
Abstract
Excavations of two Iron Age cultic sites at Bithnah and
Masāfī (Fujairah, United Arab Emirates) have provided
data documenting cultic rituals dedicated to a divinity
represented as a snake practised by south-eastern Arabian
populations during the Iron Age (1200-300 BC). On the
basis of archaeological data as well as of fi rst results
obtained by chemical studies, a possible connection
between the attributions of the deity represented by the
snake and the regional economic background, in which
copper and water might have played a major rule is
discussed by the authors.