thumb|View of Rul Dibba cape from 6 km east of Dibba city, Emirate of Fujairah, northeastern UAE. In the background, dimly visible, are the mountains of [[Musandam Governorate|Musandam, Oman.|260x260px]]

Dibbā () is a coastal area at the northern tip of the eastern Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Oman.

Political administration

Dibba is politically divided into three segments:

  • Dibba Al-Fujairah, ruled by the Emirate of Fujairah, UAE
  • Dibba Al-Hisn, ruled by the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE
  • Dibba Al-Baya, ruled by the Governorate of Musandam, Oman

History

This large natural harbor on the east coast of the northern Emirates has been an important site of maritime trade and settlement for millennia, with relatively recent excavations underpinning the importance of the town as a site of entrepot trade throughout the Iron Age and into the late pre-Islamic era. A collective tomb, discovered by accident in 2004, led to a number of excavations in the area of the present town which have yielded evidence of a large settlement with layers of occupation and significant finds of trade goods, bitumen, ceramics and glass as well as coins. Three copper alloy tetradrachms were found at the site which, as well as pottery finds, link it to the Hellenistic period at the major pre-Islamic cities of Mleiha and Ed-Dur, while Roman amphorae, ceramics and glass attest to a continuity of not only occupation but a lively regional trade. According to Ibn Habib, "merchants from Sindh, India, China, people of the East and West came to it."

Battle of Dibba

Soon after the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad a rebellion broke out at Dibba and a faction of the Azd, led by Laqit bin Malik Dhu at-Taj, rejected Islam. According to one tradition Laqit was killed by an envoy of the caliph Abu Bakr in what may have been a relatively small struggle, while other sources including al-Tabari say that at least 10,000 rebels were killed in one of the biggest battles of the Ridda wars, the Battle of Dibba. The plain behind Dibba still contains a large cemetery which according to local tradition represents the fallen apostates of Dibba. Thereafter, the region of southeast Arabia became nearly entirely Muslim.

During the time of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tadid (CE 870–892), a great battle was fought at Dibba during the conquest of Oman by the Abbasid governor of Iraq and Bahrain, Muhammad ibn Nur.

The 1900s witnessed land disputes over Dibba.

Geology

The Dibba Fault is an active fault, which means that it had a displacement or seismic activity during the geologically recent period, and is one of the two faults that run through the UAE. The fault crosses into Oman from the north and runs southward to the center of the Arabian Peninsula. Gulf News reported that people in Dibba have felt at least 150 tremors during 2003 and 2004 which indicates that there is a major earthquake waiting to happen in the area. Dibba also felt the 2005 Qeshm earthquake.

The Mesozoic and the Cenozoic accretionary wedge is truncated on the western side by the right lateral fault, the Zendan Fault – Oman Line. West of the transform are the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran, the Musandam peninsula and the Oman Mountains, and the Arabian platform and the Dibba Fault. The Dibba Fault separates the ophiolites in the Oman Mountains from the Mesozoic carbonates in the Musandam Peninsula.

On 31 March 2009, Gulfnews reported that the UAE's National Centre of Metrology and Seismology (NCMS) recorded two earth tremors, measuring magnitudes of 2.9 and 3.5 on the Richter scale, which shook the Gulf of Aden and the north of Dibba at 6.21 am and 9.35 am. The tremors were lightly felt in some areas of the northern emirates.

Marine life

In 2008 an algal bloom affected the sea around Dibba and reached the tourist hot-spots of 'Aqqah and Al-Faqeet, which contain several high-end resorts. 95% of corals in the Dibba Marine Protected Zone were destroyed and the fish population dwindled to a minimum. Rita Bento, a marine biologist working with the Emirates Diving Association (EDA), said she saw only three fish during an hour-long dive in an area where previously hundreds were seen.

Climate

Dibba is located in the Tropical and Subtropical Desert Climate according to the Köppen climate classification. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 33.8 °C (92.8 °F). The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of 19.2 °C (66.6 °F).

Natural disasters

In June 2007, Dibba was affected by Cyclone Gonu, which caused damage to buildings and homes.

Archaeology

There is evidence of extensive ancient settlement and Dibba was an international market on the coast of Oman frequented by merchants from India and China sailing through the Arabian Sea. Indian and Chinese merchant activity has also been discovered in Dibba, and in Chinese sources as well.

Towns

  • Dibba Al-Fujairah on the east coast is one of the largest towns in Fujairah. It contains several small villages located between the mountains and the seacoast. In winter people from all over the Emirates travel to Dibba to camp in the mountains and in summer they enjoy water sports and the sandy beaches. Beaches in Dibba are considered among the best of the UAE and have many luxury hotels.
  • Dibba Al-Hisn is bordered by the Gulf of Oman to the east, Dibba Al-Baya to the north, and Dibba Al-Fujairah to the south. It is the smallest in size among the other "Dibbas" and is notable mostly for its fish market and a fortress, after which the town is named. Its population density is greater than the other towns. There have been land disputes between Dibba Al-Hisn and Dibba Al-Baya, which were resolved in the 1990s. Dibba Al-Hisn is believed to be the site where the Portuguese built a fort and a wall around the city during the Iberian Union.
  • Dibba Al-Baya is the most northerly of the three "Dibbas" and acts as a gateway to the Musandam Peninsula.

Notable people

  • Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah, an Azdi Arab and an eminent military commander born in Dibba, whose name appeared on the first-edition of the United Arab Emirates dirham coins shortly after the people of the country accepted Islam.
  • Laqit bin Malik: also known as the "Crowned One (Dhul'-Taj)", the leader of the Al Riddah, or apostasizing movement, who rose against the local Muslim Julanda rulers. An army led by Hudayfa and supported by Ikrimah ibn Abi-Jahl and 'Arfaja arrived at the area of Tuwwam (which includes the modern areas of Al Ain and Al-Buraimi), where they wrote to local tribes to convince them to abandon the revolt. They then marched against and defeated Laqit in battle at Dibba, where reports of combined casualties of 10,000 are mentioned. Hudayfah then remained in Oman as governor restoring peace with the local tribes and bringing them back to the fold of Islam, while the remaining troops continued to chase the apostates into Mahra and then to Ash-Shihr in Yemen, both being in South Arabia.