At Zayed National Museum, the story of the UAE unfolds through a series of interconnected lives shaped by land, sea and community. Across its permanent galleries, the museum traces how Emirati culture developed through movement, exchange and adaptation, while also showing how these traditions continue to be practised.
Two of its central galleries, By Our Coasts and To Our Roots, offer a wide-ranging portrait of life across the Emirates. One follows the maritime world and its global connections. The other explores the desert, oasis and mountains, where communities built enduring relationships with their surroundings.
Together, they form a narrative grounded in both outward exchange and deep continuity.
In By Our Coasts, maritime history is presented as a network of connections. From the 14th century onwards, the region was part of trade routes linking the Arabian Gulf to East Africa, South Asia and beyond. These links are reflected in the objects on display, many of which have been donated by local families, adding a strong sense of lived experience to the gallery.
Among the figures introduced is the 15th-century navigator Ahmad Ibn Majid, whose writings combined poetry with detailed navigational knowledge. His manuscripts include routes across the Indian Ocean, illustrating a tradition of scientific understanding that was preserved both in writing and through oral transmission.
Navigation relied on close observation of the natural world. Sailors used tools such as the kamal, a small wooden device that measured the angle between the horizon and the North Star to determine latitude. Knowledge of winds, stars and ports was carried collectively, forming a shared understanding of the sea.
The gallery also traces encounters with foreign powers. Portuguese fortifications on the east coast in the 16th century represent some of the earliest European interventions, followed by British involvement documented through detailed watercolours of Ras Al Khaimah. These moments sit alongside earlier examples of exchange and diplomacy.
Fragments of Ming dynasty imperial ceramics found in Julfar, present-day Ras Al Khaimah, point to high-level connections with China. Produced for imperial use or as diplomatic gifts, they indicate recognition of the region’s role as a major trading hub. A Hebrew-inscribed headstone discovered in the same area adds another layer, suggesting a diverse population drawn by commerce.
Trade shaped the built environment as well. A teakwood door from a late 19th-century house in Ajman, made from imported Indian timber and paired with coral stone construction, reflects how materials and techniques moved across regions and were adapted locally.
Music carries similar traces of exchange. Performances such as Al Noban, alongside traditions such as liwa and Al Razfa, reflect a cultural landscape shaped by movement across the Indian Ocean. Several of these practices, including Al Razfa and Al Ayyala, are today listed as part of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage by Unesco, reflecting how they remain embedded in public life.
Daily life on the coast centred on work tied to the sea. Fishing and pearling supported communities for generations, and the gallery brings together tools and objects that reflect both continuity and endurance. Neolithic net sinkers sit alongside more recent fishing equipment, pointing to practices that stretch back thousands of years.
Pearl diving required skill and physical resilience. Divers could remain underwater for several minutes and complete dozens of dives in a day. They relied on specialised tools, including nose clips, finger guards and weighted stones to aid descent. On board, routines were shaped by necessity, with simple meals of dates and coffee and the steady rhythm of nahma, traditional sea songs sung to co-ordinate rowing and hauling, helping maintain morale.
These journeys depended on the wider community. Women were responsible for sourcing and transporting water to fill large wooden tanks known as fantas, which were carried on to boats at the start of the season. The work was demanding and sometimes dangerous, forming a vital part of the pearling economy.
Once pearls were brought ashore, they were assessed through established methods. Merchants evaluated them by size, weight and lustre, using scales, sieves and calculation tables. From there, pearls moved into global markets, transformed into jewellery and luxury objects in places such as India and Europe.
In To Our Roots, the focus turns to inland life and the ways communities adapted to their environments. The Bani Yas tribal alliance is presented as a key internal force that helped organise and protect communities across the region.
Desert life centred on a close relationship with camels, which supported transport, food and daily routines. That connection extends into cultural practices such as falconry, described in the gallery as a living human heritage and formally inscribed on Unesco’s representative list.
In one section, a display case pairs a worn leather water container and archival photographs with a plaque marking Alheda’a, the traditional calling of camel flocks. The practice, still heard among herders today, has also been added to Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list, reflecting its roots in everyday life rather than formal performance.
Oral traditions remain central to this landscape. Practices such as Al Taghrooda, a form of chanted Bedouin poetry recited during camel journeys, continue to carry rhythm and memory across generations and are similarly documented as part of this shared cultural record.
Periods of settlement brought other aspects of life into focus. Women played a central role within households and communities, particularly through crafts such as sadu, a traditional form of handwoven textile used to make tents and furnishings, which has been safeguarded internationally as part of the region’s living traditions.
The oasis section highlights water as a defining feature. Oases served as agricultural centres and points of exchange along historic routes. Here, the date palm is presented as a central resource, not only as a source of food and materials, but also as a body of knowledge. A nearby plaque recognises the cultivation of the date palm, and the skills and practices surrounding it, as part of humanity’s intangible heritage.
Traditional systems of water management are also explored through the falaj network of irrigation channels, the knowledge and maintenance of which continue to be passed down and are acknowledged as part of this wider cultural record.
In the mountains, life was shaped by terrain and available resources. Pottery made from local clay, stone-built homes and tools such as the yirz, a traditional walking stick that also served as a weapon, illustrate how communities adapted their practices. Cultural expressions such as local dialects and the nadba, a vocal chant historically used to rally and energise groups, continue to be performed, maintaining a link between past and present.
Across both galleries, a shared thread emerges. Emirati culture is rooted in systems of knowledge developed collectively and sustained over time, many of which remain active, visible and, in some cases, formally recognised today.
This idea is echoed in the words of UAE founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whose presence runs quietly through the galleries. “Our marine heritage is a treasured part of our history, present and future. We hold it with great affection in our hearts,” reads one inscription, anchoring the maritime narrative in a sense of continuity.
Elsewhere, his message is more direct. “We must preserve our heritage, as it is our origin and foundation, and we must hold tight to our firmly fixed foundations and roots.”
The museum’s approach reflects that principle. Through sound, touch and storytelling, it presents heritage as something lived and ongoing, shaped not only by the past, but also by those who continue to carry it forward.
