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Jumeirah Archaeological Site
Early Islamic archaeology — Abbasid period settlement, 10th century CE
About
Thousand-year-old walls in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa — the oldest Islamic settlement excavated in the UAE.
An 80,000 square metre open-air archaeological site in Jumeirah, managed by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. Discovered in 1969, the site dates to the Abbasid period (approximately 900–1200 CE) and represents the oldest early Islamic settlement excavated in the UAE. Excavations revealed 12 archaeological buildings — nine residential houses, a caravanserai, a mosque and a market — characterised by Islamic architecture and geometric gypsum decorations. The site lay along a major caravan route connecting Oman, Mesopotamia, India and China. A visitor centre at the entrance houses artefacts including glazed pottery, bronze coins, glass and stone objects. Buggy tours available. Arabian Tea House restaurant is located on site.
Why this museum matters
Exhibo editorial
Jumeirah today is villas, beach clubs and some of the most expensive real estate in Dubai. It is easy to forget, standing on Jumeirah Beach Road, that a thousand years ago this stretch of coastline was a working Abbasid settlement — a caravanserai where traders rested on the route between Mesopotamia and Oman, a mosque, a market, nine houses built from beach rock and covered in white plaster. The archaeologists who excavated it in 1969 called it the White City. The site is 80,000 square metres of flat open land with fragments of walls barely knee-high, information boards at each building explaining what it was, and one of the most startling views in Dubai: ancient foundations in the foreground, the Burj Khalifa in the distance, nothing between them but sky. The visitor centre houses the artefacts — glazed pottery from China, bronze coins, glass and stone objects — and staff who run buggy tours across the site. Entry is free. The Arabian Tea House next door is a genuinely good place to end the visit.
Visit
Hours, tickets, and directions for Jumeirah Archaeological Site.
Address
Jumeirah Beach Road, Jumeirah 1, Dubai
Admission
Free