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Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Reveals Shortlists for Sard Al Thahab Award

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
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Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Reveals Shortlists for Sard Al Thahab Award

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has unveiled the shortlists for the second edition of the Sard Al Thahab Award, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Wednesday.

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories: ‘Short Story for Published Stories’, ‘Popular Narratives’, ‘Short Story for Unpublished Stories’, and ‘Illustrated Story,’ WAM said.

In addition to these, the center will announce the winners in the ‘Narrators’ and ‘Emirati Narration’ categories, along with the winners in the four categories, over the coming months.

The shortlist features works from the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The increase in the number of participating countries highlights the award's rapid expansion and its capacity to attract creative talents across its six categories.

The shortlist for the ‘Short Story for Published Stories’ category is: ‘The Two Sisters’ by Ali AlAbdan from the UAE, published in 2023 by the Emirates Writers Union; ‘The Last Storyteller in This Time’ by Abdulrahman Abbas from Sudan, published in 2023 by Rwafead Publishing & Distribution; and ‘The Green Dragon’s Wife and Other Colourful Tales’ by Rawaa Sunbol from Syria, published in 2019 by Alaan Publishers & Distributors.

The shortlist for the ‘Popular Narratives’ category features: ‘Bahraini Folktales: One Thousand and One Tales’ by Dr. Dheya Abdulla Khamis AlKaabi from Bahrain, published in 2018 by the Arab Institute for Research & Publishing; ‘Encyclopedia of Folktales: One Thousand and Eighty Tales from Northern Upper Egypt’ by Dr. Sayed Fares from Egypt, published in 2023 by the Sharjah Institute for Heritage; and ‘The Hidden Heritage: The Sumerian Legend and the Gulf Novel of the Al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah’ by Fathy Abdelsamie from Egypt, published in 2024 by Dar Waad for Publishing and Distribution.

The shortlist for the ‘Short Story for Unpublished Stories’ category has five entries: ‘Rooms with People Running Underneath Them’ by the Iraqi writer Yas AlFahdawi; ‘Biography of a Creature’ by the Moroccan writer Said Alfellak; ‘Suspended Souls’ by the Egyptian writer AbdelHady Ibrahim; ‘Judeilah Weather’ by the Egyptian writer Aida Deraman; and ‘Al Hashashat’ by the Tunisian writer Nasr Sami.

The shortlist for the ‘Illustrated Story’ category has four works: a documentary film titled ‘Tifan’ by Aaesha Alteneiji from the UAE; a photograph titled ‘Grandma’s Stories’ by Nuwair Alhajeri from the UAE; a photograph titled ‘Wife’s Loyalty’ by Issa Mohamed from Bahrain; and a drawing titled ‘Antara and Abla’ by Mahmood Shubbar from Iraq.

The jury selected the nominated works based on their alignment with the award's standards and objectives, reinforcing the award's commitment to excellence and fostering creativity in the literary field.

The Sard Al Thahab Award is an annual initiative launched by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center. Its objectives are inspired by the poetry of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Father of the Nation. The award aims to serve as a platform that merges creativity with intellectual thought, fostering an artistic movement that draws upon Sheikh Zayed’s creative legacy as a foundation for new forms of creativity.

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50 Well-preserved Viking Age Skeletons Unearthed in Denmark

Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
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50 Well-preserved Viking Age Skeletons Unearthed in Denmark

Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

In a village in central Denmark, archeologists made a landmark discovery that could hold important clues to the Viking era: a burial ground, containing some 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons.
“This is such an exciting find because we found these skeletons that are so very, very well preserved,” said archeologist Michael Borre Lundø, who led the six-month dig. “Normally, we would be lucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here we have entire skeletons.”
The skeletons were preserved thanks to favorable soil chemistry, particularly chalk and high water levels, experts from Museum Odense said. The site was discovered last year during a routine survey, ahead of power line renovation work on the outskirts of the village of Aasum, 5 kilometers, northeast of Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city.
Experts hope to conduct DNA analyses and possibly reconstruct detailed life histories, as well as looking into social patterns in Viking Age, such as kinship, migration patterns and more.
“This opens a whole new toolbox for scientific discovery,” said Borre Lundø as he stood on the muddy, wind-swept excavation site. “Hopefully we can make a DNA analysis on all the skeletons and see if they are related to each other and even where they come from.”
During the Viking Age, considered to run from 793 to 1066 A.D., Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raids, colonizing, conquering and trading throughout Europe, even reaching North America.
The Vikings unearthed at Aasum likely weren’t warriors. Borre Lundø believes the site was probably a “standard settlement,” perhaps a farming community, located 5 kilometers from a ring fortress in what’s now central Odense.
The 2,000-square meter burial ground holds the remains of men, women and children. Besides the skeletons, there are a few cremated bodies.
In one grave, a woman is buried in a wagon -- the higher part of a Viking cart was used as a coffin — suggesting she was from the “upper part of society,” Borre Lundø told The Associated Press.
Archeologists also unearthed brooches, necklace beads, knives, and even a small shard of glass that may have served as an amulet.
Borre Lundø said the brooch designs suggest the dead were buried between 850 and 900 A.D.
“There’s different levels of burials,” he explained. “Some have nothing with them, others have brooches and pearl necklaces.”
Archeologists say many of the artefacts came from far beyond Denmark’s borders, shedding light on extensive Viking trade routes during the 10th century.
“There’s a lot of trade and commerce going on,” said Borre Lundø. “We also found a brooch that comes from the island of Gotland, on the eastern side of Sweden, but also whetstones for honing your knife ... all sorts of things point to Norway and Sweden.”
The burial site was discovered last year, and the dig, which started in April, ended Friday. Boxes of artefacts have shipped to Museum Odense’s preservation labs for cleaning and analysis.
Conservator Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen hopes the soil may also hold other preserved organic material on the backs of brooches or knife handles.
“We’re really hoping to gain the larger picture. Who were the people that were living out there? Who did they interact with?” she said. “It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle: all the various puzzle parts will be placed together.”