Their world is an oyster: UAE discovers oldest Pearl City

SINIA, United Arab Emirates — Archaeologists said Monday they have discovered the oldest pearl town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern emirates of the United Arab Emirates.

Artifacts found in this small town on the island of Siniyah in Umm al-Quwain, likely once home to thousands of people and hundreds of houses, date back to the region’s pre-Islamic history at the end of the 6th century. While ancient pearl towns have been mentioned in historical documents, this is the first time archaeologists have indicated that they have found pearl towns from this ancient era in countries across the Persian Gulf.

“This is the oldest example of a very special kind of pearl town called Khaleeji,” said Timothy Power, an associate professor of archeology at the United Arab Emirates University, using the Arabic word for “bay.” “It’s the spiritual ancestor of a town like Dubai.”

Pearl Town is situated on Siniyah Island, which protects the Khor al-Beida marshes in Umm al-Quwain, an emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, about 50 kilometers northeast of Dubai (30 miles). The island’s name means “twinkling lights,” possibly due to the effect of the white-hot sun overhead, and archaeologists have discovered an ancient Christian monastery dating back 1,400 years.

The town lies just south of the Abbey, one of the crooked fingers of the island, and covers about 12 hectares (143,500 sq. yds). There, archaeologists have found a variety of homes made of beach rock and lime mortar, ranging from narrow dwellings to more spacious homes with courtyards, suggesting social stratification, Bauer said. Unlike other pearling operations at seasonal sites in the area, the site also shows signs of year-round habitation.

“The houses are crammed in there, right next to each other,” he added. “The key there is permanence. People live there all year round.”

At the home, archaeologists found scattered pearls and diving weights, where freedivers used to quickly descend to the seabed relying only on holding their breath.

The town predated the rise of Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula, so its inhabitants were likely Christian.Islam’s prophet Muhammad was born around 570 and died in 632 after the modern conquest of Mecca Saudi Arabia.

Umm al-Quwain’s Department of Tourism and Archeology, the University of the United Arab Emirates, the Italian Archaeological Mission in the UAE and New York University’s Institute of the Ancient World were involved in the excavation. Umm al-Quwain, the least populous emirate in the UAE, plans to build a visitor center on the site.

Today, the area around the Everglades is known for the cheap liquor stores at the Emirates Barracuda Beach Resort. In recent months, authorities have dismantled a hulking Soviet-era cargo plane linked to Russian arms smuggling known as the “merchant of death” as it was building a bridge to the island of Signia for 675 million Real estate development in dollars. Authorities hope the development, along with other construction, will boost the emirate’s economy.

Yet even this ancient site has lessons for the UAE.

The pearling industry collapsed quickly after World War I with the introduction of man-made pearls and the Great Depression, but it holds particular significance in the UAE’s history – especially as it faces the looming reckoning of yet another extractive industry hour. While crude oil sales built the country after its founding in 1971, with the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks due later this year, the UAE will have to confront its fossil fuel legacy and may plan for a carbon-neutral future.

People searching the site found a nearby dump filled with scraps of discarded oyster shells. People walking on the island can also feel the creaking of the remains under their feet in certain places.

“Only one pearl can be found in every 10,000 oyster shells. You have to find and discard thousands of oyster shells to find one,” Ball said. “The waste, the industrial waste of the pearling industry, is huge. You’re dealing with millions of discarded oyster shells.

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