Inside Zayed National Museum and its gallery of the region's origins

To Our Ancestors traces the Middle East's history from 300,000 years up to the Bronze Age

Zayed National Museum is scheduled to open in December. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

Jagged on one end and coarse to the touch, the bit of stone excavated near Jebel Hafeet seems indistinguishable from the rugged, rust-coloured crags that define the area. It is almost unassuming, not much different than the pebbles and rocks that, when stirred by footsteps, trickle down the mountains of Al Ain with musical clicks.

This fragment, however, is a stone tool. It carries a 300,000 year-old story of human migration, alluding to how tribes in the Middle East started by moving out of Africa, searching for water and following the changing climate. They would have crossed the Bab Al Mandeb strait into southern Arabia, gradually moving northward through present-day Yemen and Oman, eventually reaching the foothills of Jebel Hafeet. Stone tools such as these, honed using a knapping technique, were essential for the survival of our species.

Today, it is one of the earliest evidences of human presence in the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed tours Zayed National Museum ahead of December opening

Read More

This Palaeolithic stone tool dates back to more than 300,000 years. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

The Paleolithic stone tool will be displayed at the Zayed National Museum when it opens in December. It will be a highlight of the gallery named To Our Ancestors, which explores the region’s prehistoric history up to the Bronze Age.

“The cutting tool is one of the gallery’s star objects,” says Ammar Al Banna, an associate curator at the museum. “It gives us a general understanding of human migrations out of Africa.”

The stone also suggests a very different environmental landscape than the one that exists today. “Through these artefacts, we pick up on human presence in the region. And this takes us to understanding why they would migrated to begin with. We look into the environment through the general climate, understanding how the region might have been more adaptable.”

For its time, the stone was also a feat of craft and perseverance. Shaped by stones and flint, Al Banna says it was “actually a very difficult task to make these stone tools".

“It pushed us to understand the necessity of it, understand why they would have used them,” he says. “It's about trying to extract as much information from this small, handheld cutting tool.”

To Our Ancestors will cover a period of time between 300,000 years ago and the Bronze Age. Photo: Zayed National Museum / Foster+Partners

Every object within the gallery echoes similarly, pointing out to layers of history that stretch back thousands of years. A large portion of the museum’s archaeological objects are displayed here. The gallery’s curation pivots around the archaeological initiatives in the country, linking them with the efforts of the UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to preserve and champion local heritage.

“The emphasis on archaeology started in the UAE around the end of the 1950s, with Sheikh Shakhbut and Sheikh Zayed,” Al Banna says. “They knew there were a lot of sites, actual remnants of ancient societies, but they needed the help of experts to start uncovering these things and document them.”

This vase with geometric patterns, found in Marawah Island, Abu Dhabi, dates back to 5,500BCE. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

In 1959, a Danish team, led by archaeologists Peter Glob and Geoffrey Bibby, began excavations at Umm an Nar – an ancient settlement on Abu Dhabi’s Sas Al Nakhl Island. The site was replete with tombs and artefacts, including pottery and copperware, all of which gave insights about the Bronze Age culture that flourished in the country between 2600 and 2000 BCE.

“The remains that were found were similar, but older than those found on other sites in the Gulf,” Al Banna says. “It was this introduction of a new civilisation that dated to that time period, which was ultimately called Umm an Nar because that’s where the first excavation started.”

The gallery delves into this history from the outset, pitting the objects on display within an archaeological context. It shows how, following the successful dig at Umm an Nar, Sheikh Zayed pointed out similar sites in Al Ain.

“That’s where the second phase of excavations began, in Hili and in other parts of Al Ain,” Al Banna says. “They found similar remains of the same civilisation, the Umm an Nar civilisation. Of course, then you had excavations in the 1970s around Mleiha and those still going on in Al Ain. Over the years, we’ve begun to see more excavations happening all around the UAE.”

The gallery delves into these excavations and their significance with “interactive screens and digital aids” peppered throughout, alternating between the stories of artefacts and the larger context of the digs.

The Abu Dhabi pearl, discovered in 2017, is about 8,000 years old and provides insight into the far-reaching history of the region's pearling traditions. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

“We want to help people to interact and understand the process of excavations,” Al Banna says. “We have instruments and objects from the actual team, and then some of the finds from these excavations and sites.”

Among the highlights in this gallery is a vase with geometric patterns, uncovered in a grave in Marawah Island and dating back to 5500 BCE. For its age, the vessel is surprisingly intact, with its undulating geometric patterns coming at a unique point during the Neolithic period.

“By this time, we're seeing small communities developing on the islands,” Al Banna explains. “It's still not fully settled. They are seasonal migrations that are happening. But people are hunting. They're diving for pearls and we have another object as well – the Abu Dhabi pearl – that precedes it slightly, so through them we understand that there is communal life around, but we know that even before this, they were manufacturing plaster vessels. They were using resources from the islands to make them.”

But the vessel was not produced locally. Its design motifs are parallel to those from the Ubaid period of Mesopotamia, a time that stretched between 5500 to 3700 BCE, and reflect upon the region’s ancient trade networks.

“It doesn't originate from the coasts of the UAE,” Al Banna says. “It comes from a civilisation in Iraq. We understand that even back then, thousands of years ago, people here wanted to expand their circles. They did this through deep water travelling. They were testing out different boats, different ways of covering these distances. Whether they were going deep sea fishing or trading, it resulted in this cultural exchange of getting items and objects from Mesopotamia all the way to the other side of the Gulf.”

Pendant with animals, dated between 1500 and 1800 BCE. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

Another highlight in To Our Ancestors is a relatively recent artefact. A gold pendant with animal designs, the piece was found in a communal tomb in Al Ain and dates back more than 3,000 years. The artefact offers sharp insight into the role ornamentation and jewelry played in the Bronze Age.

“There's a lot of interpretations on its design,” Al Banna says. “Why was it represented being mirrored, with two heads, but the intricate details, the material, being gold, it being found in a burial site, all of it shows how much importance they put both in the object and the fact they buried their loved ones with them. These practices were a big part of that community.

“You'd often find jars, a lot of storage pots, but these small objects kind of give you a better understanding on maybe this person came from a specific status, or this person was very important to that community.”

Ammar Al Banna is an associate curator at Zayed National Museum. Photo: Zayed National Museum

Through all these objects, To Our Ancestors sets the stage for the museum’s mission of exploring regional history with a breadth and detail that really hasn’t been done before. It is a gallery that both lays the foundation of the region’s history and the ethos that drives contemporary Emirati culture, Al Banna says, especially as defined by Sheikh Zayed.

“Sheikh Zayed’s vision was to preserve history and putting it as a priority,” Al Banna says. “Whether it's something from 500 years, something from 1,000 years or 10,000 years, the importance of preserving that, of documenting it, of knowing it, knowing the sites that that belong in each emirate, what yields from those sites. Through understanding all of these sites, we understand that communal values are present in the region, whether the UAE or before the UAE, people were in the region. And these values are are very present.”

Zayed National Museum will open on Saadiyat Island in December