Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, chose this piece to be the symbol for Dubai Expo 2020. Rym Ghazal / The National and Wam
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, chose this piece to be the symbol for Dubai Expo 2020. Rym Ghazal / The National and Wam
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, chose this piece to be the symbol for Dubai Expo 2020. Rym Ghazal / The National and Wam
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, chose this piece to be the symbol for Dubai Expo 2020. Rym Ghazal / The National and Wam

Old is gold: remnants from the old Dubai excavation site on display


  • English
  • Arabic

Tucked behind the renovated traditional Emirati homes of The Shindagha Historic District, overlooking Dubai Creek, is the new Saruq Al Hadid Museum.

Saruq Al Hadid, which translates to “the way or the valley of Iron”, is located on the northern edge of Dubai’s great Rub al-Khali desert. It is believed to have been once an important Iron Age factory.

An excavation of just about 10 per cent of the location, which covers an area of 6.2 square meters and was discovered in 2002, has yielded over 12,000 artifacts.

Hundreds of these items are now on display at the museum, which features nine galleries as well as a section dedicated to the latest discoveries. One of the first questions Al Hanoof Al Husani, a tour guide at the museum, gets from visitors is whether the “ring” that inspired the Dubai Expo 2020 logo is inside.

“We tell them yes, go in and see it, and most get surprised when they actually see it,” says Ms Al Husani. “First of all it is not a ring, it is a tiny gold decorative object, about one centimeter in diameter. It has 20 circular bulbs extending out of it, as well as internal 20 circular tiny bulbs.”

Between 1,300 and 800 BC, large quantities of metal objects, including tools and weapon-like swords, daggers and arrow heads, were produced at Saruq Al Hadid. One dagger features a pouncing lion decoration on the handle. A common motif in Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean, it suggests links between Saruq Al Hadid and these distant regions.

Among the items are jewelry, everyday tools and pots and elaborate seals with carved into tigers and beetles. Visitors can even touch some of the slag crust, which is a waste product of the smelting process, found at the site.

“What is interesting is that still no tombs and no human skeletons have been found,” says Ms Al Husani. “But the digging continues, and we are sure to discover fascinating new stories.”

The museum also features a special children’s trail and two immersive audiovisual experiences.

One documentary tells the story of the site’s discovery in 2002, when Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid was in a helicopter flying over the area, noticed unusual dune formations and brought a team of experts to investigate. The second film introduces visitors to some of the site’s most compelling finds, and speaks to some of the as-yet unresolved questions they pose for archaeologists.

rghazal@thenational.ae

• For more information, go to www.saruqalhadid.ae/ or call 04 353 9090. For July and August Saruq Al Hadid Museum opening hours are: 8am-2pm, Saturday to Thursday, although they are soon to be expanded to 8pm and weekends. Adults are Dh20, children 7-10 Dh10; children under seven and adults over 60, as well as those with disabilities, enter for free.

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Match info

Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335

Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs

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SPECS
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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

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NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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Playing records of the top 10 in 2017

How many games the top 10 have undertaken in the 2017 ATP season

1. Rafael Nadal 58 (49-9)

2. Andy Murray 35 (25-10)

3. Roger Federer 38 (35-3)

4. Stan Wawrinka 37 (26-11)

5. Novak Djokovic 40 (32-8)

6. Alexander Zverev 60 (46-14)

7. Marin Cilic 43 (29-14)

8. Dominic Thiem 60 (41-19)

9. Grigor Dimitrov 48 (34-14)

10. Kei Nishikori 43 (30-13)

Brief scores:

Everton 2

Walcott 21', Sigurdsson 51'

Tottenham 6

Son 27', 61', Alli 35', Kane 42', 74', Eriksen 48'​​​​​​​

Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

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Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

Fixtures

50-over match

UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am

Champion County match

MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am

Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.

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'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press

If you go

The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at. 
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.   

Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Tenet

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh 

Rating: 5/5

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.