Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Region: Halwan Suburb – Cultural Square
Theme: Prehistoric Archeology
Visit: May, 2021
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The Sharjah Archaeology Museum is the first museum in Sharjah, the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It was established on October 5, 1997, by His Highness, the ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates. It is considered the first museum in the UAE that specializes in archaeology on a national level. The museum showcases artifacts that were found in Sharjah and that belong to pre-Islamic eras.
These discoveries were the results of the archaeologists’ relentless efforts whose missions to Sharjah started from 1973 until contemporary times. They also resulted from the efforts of the local expedition which started in 1993, under the supervision of Professor Sabah Jassim. The expedition accomplished a number of important excavations in Sharjah on its own and in partnership with other foreign expeditions.
Founded and established in 1997, the museum’s architectural style aligns with the most modern museum display methods. The museum is home to over one-thousand archaeological pieces, dating from pre-Islamic times, particularly from the Paleolithic Age over 120 thousand years ago until the seventh-century CE.
These pieces include utensils, pottery, tools, stone and metallic artifacts, as well as ornaments, jewelry, coins, small animal and human statues, in addition to models of skeletons, burials, and houses that were discovered in various places in Sharjah.
The Sharjah Archaeology Museum is very creative and the idea of going through arches takes us to a “time tunnel” is brilliant, each room is dedicated to the eras or periods of Sharjah’s prehistory. It is a Museum very rich in items from the past and an excellent opportunity to learn about human abilities throughout their evolution.
This museum offers a unique opportunity to explore the rich and deep-rooted history of Sharjah. Reports of many excavations and expeditions have shown that humans have been settled in Sharjah for more than 125.000 years. The museum sheds light on the lifestyle of the region’s inhabitants from the Stone age up to the rise of Islam.
The museum contains all the archaeological artifacts that were discovered in Sharjah. The mission of the museum is to preserve, interpret, and exhibit all the artifacts that have been found in Sharjah since the beginning of the excavations in 1973 up until now.
The life in Sharjah during the Stone Age. The hall’s display cabinets showcase a rare collection of archaeological findings from Sharjah, and it includes flint tools and personal exquisite ornaments, made out of ones, stones, and even pearls. Moreover, the hall displays the most ancient pearl necklace found in the UAE, and it was discovered in Jebel Buhais, and it is over seven-thousand years old.
The hall also exhibits colored pottery shards belonging to the Ubaid Civilization, which flourished in Southern Iraq during that period, proving ancient links between Sharjah and other civilizations since thousands of years ago.
All excavations assert that Sharjah boasts a proud rich deep-rooted history; it hosted settlements and villages thousands of years ago. Visitors get the chance to learn about the civilizations that developed in the region from the Stone Age up until today, through the artifacts, coins, jewellry, pottery and ancient weapons showcased in the museum.
The archaeological findings reveal the connections and relations between Sharjah inhabitants and their neighbours in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as with other civilizations. They also show the expansion of commercial relationships from the Indus Valley in the East to the Mediterranean islands in the West.
Copper was abundant in the mountains of the region, enabling residents to mine and manufacture it. Tin was added to copper, creating the new mix known as Bronze. During this age, creating pottery was popularized and the links between Sharjah and other civilizations were deepened, including the Tell Abraq settlement on the Arabian Gulf coast.
Also, findings proved that the residents were communicating with The Sindh, Mesopotamia, and Delmon civilizations as many pottery utensils, seals, and unique ivory combs buried in those sites and imported from different parts from the world. Similar to their ancestors in the Stone Age, the residents of Sharjah during the Bronze Age continued to shepherd and hunt.
In May 2022, Sharjah Museums Authority opened the Little Archaeologist Hall at Sharjah Archaeology Museum. The hall’s activities shed light on the relationship of ancient Sharjah people with animals, both domesticated and wild, and their use of natural resources in the manufacture of tools such as weapons, hunting tools, and even money.
It also highlights the use of mud bricks in building homes and its relation to sustainability. The activities also touch on the beginnings of art in ancient Sharjah, embodied through the drawing on rocks, considered one of the first precursors to human writing.
Many surface and buried findings were collected from Maleha and other areas in Sharjah throughout the years. Sometimes, these were found during construction work or plowing the fields. Some of these findings fell into the hands of archaeology lovers, and some were – unfortunately – taken out of the country, some made it back into Sharjah, whilst others didn’t.
Part of the pieces that made it back included art and ornaments from Maleha, and they were purchased by Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Sharjah, after he found out that they were being auctioned in Europe. He purchased them in order to preserve a valuable part of Sharjah’s history, which would have been lost otherwise. His Highness then proceeded to give them to the Sharjah Archaeology Museum, and they are now being displayed in The Arabian Peninsula Grand Hall, for residents and visitors of Sharjah to enjoy and appreciate the efforts taken to preserve Sharjah’s history.
Photo-α: Sharjah Archaeology Museum Gate Entrance
Further information at: saa.shj.ae/SharjahArchaeologyAuthorith | visitsharjah.com/ArchaeologyMuseum/ | wiki.org/ArchaeologyMuseum
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic, also called the Old Stone Age,
is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools,
and which represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology.
It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins, c. 3.3 million years ago,
to the end of the Pleistocene, c. 11,650 cal BP (Before Present).
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