Emirati produce
Al Dhaid
An oasis at the heart of Sharjah, watered by its aflaj and shaded by palms for centuries.
The oasis of the Central Region
Al Dhaid lies in the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah, some fifty kilometres inland from the city. Its groundwater and fertile soil made it a land of palm groves and farms long ago, and families from the coast came here for the summer months to escape the heat and humidity. It remains one of the country’s most important farming areas today, and it is where the cooperative’s produce comes from.
Al Dhaid Fort
A mud-brick and stone fort with square towers that long guarded the town and its water, cared for today as part of Sharjah’s heritage.
Al Dhaid at a glance
- 50 km
- inland from the city of Sharjah
- 4,500 years
- the age of the Umm an-Nar tomb at Mleiha
- UNESCO
- Faya Palaeolandscape, on the World Heritage List
- Every summer
- the Al Dhaid dates festival
Landmarks and history
Places that tell the story of the land
Placeholder photo The aflaj
Channels carrying groundwater to the gardens, which watered Al Dhaid’s farms for generations. Sharing their water turn by turn was the oasis’s first cooperative.
Placeholder photo The Umm an-Nar tomb, Mleiha
A circular Bronze Age tomb some 4,500 years old, around which the Mleiha Archaeological Centre, south of Al Dhaid, now stands.
Placeholder photo Mleiha and Faya
Around Jebel Faya, stone tools more than 100,000 years old have been found — among the earliest traces of people in Arabia. The Faya Palaeolandscape is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Placeholder photo Fossil Rock
A ridge in the red sands near Mleiha whose rock holds shells and corals from a sea that covered the area millions of years ago.
Placeholder photo Jebel Buhais
Burial grounds used from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, now with a museum and geology park that tell the story of the land and its people.
Placeholder photo Palms and dates
The date palm has kept the people of Al Dhaid company for as long as anyone remembers, and the summer harvest of fresh rutab is celebrated every year at the Al Dhaid dates festival.
Our national heritage
Our land, our flag, our harvest
Farming in Al Dhaid is part of what the Emirates are: from the aflaj to the palms to the market. We carry that heritage with pride, and want every home in the country to find something from its own land on its table.
Browse the produce of Al Dhaid