Explore Mleiha in Sharjah: The UAE’s cradle of civilisation and early human migration

Sharjah: In the heart of Sharjah’s desert, under rust-red dunes and fossil-strewn cliffs, lies a place that may hold the key to humanity’s first great journey.

Sharjah's Mleiha is not just a site of ancient ruins, it is a cradle of civilisation, quietly transforming how we understand the origins of our species.

Long before the rise of Mesopotamian empires or the construction of Egypt’s pyramids, early humans journeyed out of Africa and paused in what is now the United Arab Emirates. In Mleiha, they settled, shaped flint tools, buried their dead in tombs, and gazed at the stars with the same timeless wonder we feel today. Their legacy — preserved in ancient artefacts, forts, skeletal remains, and coin molds — offers compelling evidence that the Arabian Peninsula was not merely a crossroads of civilisations, but a birthplace of them.

Major rethinking

This is no longer theory. Stone tools uncovered in Mleiha’s Jebel Faya cave date back over 125,000 years, while nearby evidence of human presence stretches back even further — to nearly 200,000 years. These discoveries are prompting a major rethinking of early human migration, with Mleiha emerging as a possible key waypoint in the first human dispersal out of Africa. The site’s historical significance has earned it a place on UNESCO’s tentative list for World Heritage status.

But Mleiha is not just a treasure for archaeologists, it’s also a destination for the modern explorer.

Led by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), the creation of Mleiha National Park reflects a unique vision: to merge conservation with sustainable tourism. In collaboration with the Sharjah Archaeology Authority, the park protects and promotes this extraordinary site, opening it to scientists, students, and travellers from around the world.

Visit to Mleiha

A visit to Mleiha isn’t a walk among ruins, it’s a journey through time. At the Mleiha Archaeological Centre, visitors can trace over 130,000 years of human activity. Exhibits feature Paleolithic and Neolithic tools, Bronze and Iron Age relics, jewellery, and even a mold for minting coins from the era of Alexander the Great. Step outside, and the desert becomes an open-air museum: paragliding over Fossil Rock, part of the park’s ‘Sky Adventure’, reveals limestone formations embedded with 70-million-year-old marine fossils — a reminder that this desert was once submerged beneath a prehistoric sea.

Sharjah has taken great care to ensure that development does not outpace preservation. In partnership with the Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA), access to ecologically sensitive areas is limited. As a result, native vegetation and wildlife are returning, proving that thoughtful tourism can go hand-in-hand with environmental stewardship.

This balance is no accident, it reflects Sharjah’s broader philosophy. Here, culture, education, heritage, and sustainability are seen as inseparable. Mleiha National Park is a living museum, a sanctuary for stargazers, a paradise for geologists, and a haven for hikers.

It is an invitation

In an era when many destinations are polished for the lens of social media, Mleiha offers something more enduring: perspective. It reminds us that history isn’t only found in grand palaces or epic battles. Sometimes, it lives in a single stone tool, a burial site, or a fossil beneath your feet.

Mleiha doesn’t just connect us to our past, it grounds us in it.