Welcome, and thanks for doing this AMA!

I have never heard of Mleiha -- could you give us a little overview of where it's located, when it was active, and what types of cultures interacted there?

What's the coolest thing you found during the course of your excavations?

The bilingual funerary inscription looks very cool - is this something exceptional, or is it exemplary of the kind of cross-cultural contact at the site?

Thank you for doing this AMA!

What has been the reaction of the local populace in the UAE to the excavations and discoveries at Mleiha?

Can you characterize the state of archaeology in the United Arab Emirates? That is, are there very many Emirati archaeologists and students working on your site and other sites?

how direct was hellenistic trade in this area? could we have expected to see a greek trader making his way out this far or would it have been a more indirect trade network? also how would hellenism be seen in the climate of pre-islamic arabia?

Hi Bruno! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us here, it's lovely to have you.

Was the expansion and increased complexity of trade under the Roman Empire visible in the archaeological record at Mleiha? What sort of changes did we see in the goods passing through the site as a result of Roman influence?

Thanks for doing a great looking AMA!

What's it like doing excavating and no doubt pretty physical work out in that kind of environment? Does it have particular challengers, or is it fairly 'standard' work?

Hello, thank you for answering our questions on Ask Historians!

I actually had two questions for you regarding your work at Mleiha.

Firstly, what types of coinage have you found at the site, and how does that shed light on this area's role as a trade center?

Secondly, have you found evidence of an active pearl trade during the era that you study?

Thank you very much.

What are some of the unique challenges to excavating in the United Arab Emirates? How do the laws on antiquities differ from other countries?

Hi Bruno, thanks for doing this!

From the archaeology of the site, can we tell how the place was run as a trade hub? Do we know about customs offices or taxation? Is anything known about whether the merchants intermingled or lived in separate ethnic sub-communities?

How did the Parthians interact with Mleiha? Was it left alone as an entrepôt that could generate profits, or did they regard it as a possible target of conquest? What about Trajan’s Middle Eastern campaigns? Is there any evidence he sought out tradinh centers like Mleiha as ripe for conquest?

Did the role of the UAE area in world trade wax and wane over time? If so, what events caused it to wax and wane? What made this area such a trade hub in the first place?

Thank you so much for doing this AMA!

Was there a significant agricultural economy in the eastern Arabian peninsula during the period of Classical Antiquity? How did it work?

Welcome dr. Overlaet,

do we have estimates on the population size of such an island oasis in the desert? What would the inhabitants do there outside of the trading season(s)? Do we know anything of their beliefs and social systems?

Is there any evidence of trade with Han China in Mleiha? What about Axum?

Thanks everyone for the interesting questions, I hope you enjoyed the comments... don't forget to check out the museum's website, you can download a small catalogue of the expo that will give you a good idea about the site and the trade.

Unfortunately, other duties are now calling...

Bruno

Hello!

I am not a historian nor do I have knowledge about that area, so I'll ask a very naive question. As a trading hub in the Arabian peninsula, which lies at the corner between 3 continents, I suppose you have found artifacts from very distant locations. What are the most distantly made/exotic items that were found in Mleiha?

Also, a question about the trading hubs in general in that era: were the traders who passed by mostly Arabs, providing a link between the other parts of the world, or did the foreign traders go through such places themselves (or both)? In other words, were long international trade routes a succession of smaller ones used by different traders, or were there some traders who went through the whole route by themselves?

Thank you!