Tour De Dubai( Al Fahidi fort i.e. Dubai Museum)

                           Our plan for 30^th of October, in the evening was to visit the Al Fahidi fort in Bur-Dubai better known as the Dubai Museum. My sis Pari accompanied me to the museum. She has a liking for History and the museum was a “must watch” for her in spite of having visited it many a times.

                   We started from our house at around 17:00hrs. We walked our way to the museum. It was walk of around 15mins from our house. The first we noticed there was a gigantic ‘Dhow’. Dhow is a traditional ship used by the Arabs. The Dhow was magnificent. Lights of various colors were projected on the dhow lending it a historic look. There was a small description of the history of the Al Fahidi fort and the Dubai wall. The gate was a door of around 10ft in height. It embedded numerous small sharp nails. There were a few cannons on the entrance.

                   Once inside the fort there were old dhows, hutments, a well and some other historic artifacts which symbolize the ancient lifestyle of the Arabs.

These artifacts were under the open sky in midst of walls on all four sides. There were two entrances marked on both the walls opposite each other. The enclosed small display rooms. In the first room old maps of Dubai, model of the old forts and such other things were displayed. In the other room, there were old weapons like daggers, swords, guns, armour etc were displayed.

                   Then we moved on to the next floor below us. The main part of the museum is situated in the basement. There are two floors below the ground. In this part there were models of artisans in the ancient time like the potters, goldsmiths, traders, cobblers etc. There figures made were lifelike and made us feel as if they all have life inducted in them. There were models of ancient houses and the arrangement of the rooms, the basic necessities in the house and the clothes used by the ancient Arabs. There were displays of the various games played by the children in those days. The sound accompanied the models displayed and thus gave a new life to them. The tourists were taken to the pre-historic times by these models. Then there was displayed the jewellery used by the women in those days. The sport of bird hunting in which falcons are taught to catch small preys like the bustards and small rabbits also had a place in the museum. There videos of the sport being played. There was separate area were it displayed the old profession of pearl diving. This was a beautiful display of the ancient dhows, the clothes wore by the pearl divers, there instruments etc. The displayed artifacts told the story of the peal divers in those days and the risks involved in this profession.

                   Then we moved on to the next area which was about the excavations carried out by the historians in various parts of the country and the findings in those excavation sites. There was hologram of a tomb of some emperor in the ancient days. It gave us a sneak peek in the style of architecture in those days. There were many earthen pots vases and the jewelry excavated from the sites.

                   With this part ended our visit to the Dubai museum. We were left astonished at the knowledge it had given us about the past of the Dubai.