The real beauty of Dubai lies in its culture and heritage that showcases the authentic picture of its tradition, so discover everything about it inside and embrace its vibes from the beginning of its 18th century to now with a sea change: -
For any place, the “Culture” is the symbol showing the social values of the people and its society, and this is further bifurcated into art, knowledge, belief, attitude, habits and more that form a particular culture, and for Dubai, its culture is Islamic which is a Muslim community stating “The worship of one God that is Allah and belief in the Quran as the final revelation of humanity” and mosque is their prime place for prayers also for social gatherings.
Back in the 1800's, Dubai was entirely different. It was primarily based on fishing where the entire village with a population of 700-800 Bani Yas Tribe members was settled in Dubai and there weren't many other livelihood options, so all of them were trained in traditional fishing methods to ensure their survival, in fact, in the middle of that year, the entire city was wrapped with smallpox where they had to relocate to the eastern part, which is now known as Deira, Dubai.
In 1892, Sheikh Maktoum signed a business deal with the British where tax was exempted for all foreign traders. This transformed Dubai into a port of call, attracting many residents from across the Persian Gulf, who built homes for their living, and this kind of gave an edge to Dubai to grow financially where gleaning the attention of people to come and settle for work and living.
The first pearl was found in Umm Al Quwain, located 30 miles northeast of Dubai. It kept on growing which also provided heaps of jobs to the people. This industry had a complex network of pearl extractors, middlemen, ship captains, divers, local merchants, and many others to find and drop the pearl at their destination. However, it was not a piece of cake because of the risk of predators, trips at seas, waves, eye damage, drowning, and much more that could lead to death, and this had to end after the discovery of oil whose potential was way more than pearl which just had only 1% sales, so in this case a major finding was required.
There was a culture of doing business in the old times where selling gold was one of the prominent discoveries. To facilitate this trade, 300 gold dealers came together to form a souk, forming the foundation of Dubai’s commercial sector which not only gave them an individual identity but also a means of livelihood. and then further the Dubai spice souk was created where the spices were preserved for both locals and travellers. This was also a way to exchange the culture of Dubai to let everyone know about the basic ingredients that were used in Dubai’s cuisine, and even it became a trading point to buy and sell the spices.
Some of them are listed down: -
Dhows that were prominently used for fishing & pearl diving also turned out as “Trading Vessels” to carry fresh water, fruits & vegetables, bulky items, and more, sailing along the coasts of Iran, East Africa, Yemen, Eastern Arabia, and South Asia. These wooden sailing vessels had great potential in 2500 BC when dhows were used massively for trading and personal use, and not just this, it created a ray for diversification where the cultural exchanges took place around East Africa, South Asia, and Arabia for strengthening the economy as well adding more ideas about trading where even woods, metals, silk, spices, textiles and more were exchanged, so this had an impeccable impact on Dubai’s culture to expand the horizon of trading and employment.
1966: First discovery of oil
1968: Created underwater oil storage
1969: Time for exporting oil
1972: Drilling started in the Falah field
1973: Found one more oil spot in Rashid
1982: 3rd discovery of oil in Margham
1999: Opening of oil refinery by The Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC)
On August 6, 1966, oil was first discovered by Continental Oil Company’s Fateh-1 Wildcat. To store this oil, planning was done to form an underwater oil storage, which was formed within a year and named “Khazzan” by the same company Continental Oil.
After almost 3 years the drilling process was started in the Falah field, and in the meanwhile, there was one more discovery of oil in Rashid in the year 1973, and its production began in 1979, and Falah field in 1978.
As the finding of oil was the major discovery, so more fields needed to be found, and almost after 9 years that is in the year 1982 they found one more field in Margham for oil where its production started after 2 years, and then the Emirates National Oil Company introduced its first oil refinery, and its location was Jebel Ali Free Zone with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day producing the following: -
In 1960s along with the finding of oil fields, it always became a prime spot for gold trade and after 6 years it started shipping gold Dubai worked on boosting the economy, and at that time the price of gold was $35.27 per ounce which was majorly supplied to India and about 56 million pounds was imported.
So somehow, the economy of Dubai was going on the right path to improve the overall picture of Dubai, and for this, more lucrative steps were taken by Dubai that turned out the overall picture of this place, in 1971 The British Trucial Sheikdoms Treaty was ending on 1st December and became independent completely and after this, 6 of the emirates that were Sharjah, Ajman, Dubai, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Abu Dhabi united to form UAE (United Arab Emirates), and then Dubai’s national currency was dirham that was better than their earlier currency Gulf Rupee.
And after 5 years, the opening of Jebel Ali Port boosted the number of trading and investment in Dubai and at that time it was the 9th busiest port in the world and also the biggest port in the Middle East.
After this, the diversification was important and they hosted its first World Cup & shopping festival in 1996. This event attracted approximately half a million visitors who spent around US$ 500 million within a month which was one of the crucial additions to economic growth. Since then, the festival industry has been a big contributor, with over 3000 stores participating, this has created jobs for the people and provided an opportunity for around 700 brands to come up in this Dubai Shopping Festival.
This also added some new culture in Dubai to wear branded clothes, and not just this, in fact, the biggest gold chain, exclusive furniture, and mattress were introduced to change the way of living and add some unique items in the home to level up its beauty, and in this festival, the authentic biryani also called as Machboos was served as it is one of the famous dishes of Dubai.
Jumeirah Burj Al Arab the tallest hotel which was ever built with 7 star facilities has added a different culture in Dubai for people to come out from their homes and experience this premium property that has every amenity to ameliorate the standard of experience, and its beauty was in its structure where giant sail shaped façade, installation of crystal and more showing its bold look where it has taken the travel industry of Dubai to another level as people wanted to come here to embrace this beauty on the desert.
For advertising, Tom Wright engraved a sketch of this hotel on the restaurant’s napkin so that everyone would know about this sought-after destination for luxury experiences around the world.
So, every prime development in Dubai was part of its culture to add newness to the lifestyle where people could witness growth and change in life. Not only this, but the picture was way larger as it employed 1,600 people from different countries, and this way, it had culture exchange.
Dubai holds its Islamic culture in every place and its significance is also reflected in Burj Khalifa where many historical and cultural elements are infused. the façade of the building reflects the desert flower “Hymenocallis” and even the building is a replica of the onion dome of Islamic architecture, so every detail of this building shows the picture of Dubai.
To embrace its culture & vibes many tourists come here every year to have a panoramic view of Dubai that is beyond words and even its novel structure stands on a larger platform to allure in every sense, in fact, Burj Khalifa showcases Dubai’s art where different sculptures are shown and iconic play with lights showing country’s flag.
In fact, it welcomes artists to create their designs so that the best one is projected on its 109,252 Sqm screen, so this way the place supports Dubai art and encourages people to create an exclusive piece in order to show their skills on a larger scale.
Apart from this, its major impact on the economy where because of Burj Khalifa Dubai was gleaning the attention of people around the world, and also turning into a business, entertainment and leisure spot for a whole new experience.
Data revealed that it generates $621in tickets and attracts 17 million tourists every year.
Culture is a gigantic term that is based on the norms, social behaviour, values, responsibilities, beliefs and more that are commonly shared in a community to showcase their particular religion and this is positively accepted by the people to respect their cultural values and pass it to the next generations, so here we have served Dubai’s culture with its reflection through clothing, art, food, music and architecture: -
Islamic values are shown through the clothing of Dubai, where women wear abayas with a scarf (hijab) to cover their heads. They all come in different patterns and designs to add newness to this traditional attire, and females can get a variety of options.
For men, Kandura is a long white dress generally paired with a ghutrah (headscarf). In fact, the length of the Kandura is said to indicate a person's status, so the length of this traditional dress holds its importance.
If we consider today’s scenario, not many people are wearing this traditional dress of Dubai as there are a plethora of options in the clothing sector. What people want to wear varies depending on the occasion, however, on Fridays, most people adhere to the dress code, as it is a special day for them.
Art is also an important platform that showcases the culture of Dubai and preserves that there are ways to represent it in the form of street art, film festivals, traditional calligraphy & motifs, talli embroidery, Al Khous pottery, and many other forms are there to address environment issues, social changes, cultural ideas, to secure heritage and to connect everyone through its language and art so that its essence is well preserved in a traditional and modern way.
Reflection of culture through food in Dubai: As there were not too many vegetables in UAE because of its desert surface, so mostly they used to eat camel & goat meat and in fact, fish who were living close to the sea, so mainly fish, rice, meat are some of the staple foods that is still enjoyed by the Emiratis, but now the food has got variation in terms of flavour, spices and presentation, so this has given great choice to the people, and now they enjoy food a lot to embrace its flavours and end up with tea or coffee.
For any country its music is the window of their culture and so as in Dubai where its traditional music Bedouin folk and Khalil music, and this is further is based on different instruments where drum, tambura, nay, tambourine and more to showcase its traditional music, and now for the modern touch in its music industry local artists & international superstars are collaborating to take this cultural ahead, but in a modern way, and now the famous singer in Dubai is Ahlam Bint Ali Bin Hazeem Al Shamsi known as Ahlam representing the culture in a trendy way.
Earlier the homes were based on stone guss where roofs were covered with palm tree leaves and more ingredients such as lime found from the seashell, chalk, water paste and more to form a permanent home structure, and even at that point of time, the ventilation & privacy were 2 important components for every house maker, and even the courtyard had a vernacular architecture also known as folk architecture that is created with the help of local resources and had an ecological impact.
So the culture of Dubai is the real window of its reality where everything is well diversified through its achievements, food, lifestyle, music and more so that the culture can go ahead and stay in the heart of new age people.
This is further preserved in the form of Dubai's heritage, which has become its identity all over the world and compels people to come and experience these beautiful milestones.
So before we breakdown some of the top heritage of Dubai, we need to talk about its importance: -
Keeping the importance of heritage in mind, let's explore some of Dubai's top heritage sites and their significance: -
FORMED IN: 1890
RATINGS: 4.6
FACTS ABOUT AL FAHIDI HISTORICAL NEIGHBOURHOOD
This site represents the old way of living a life in Dubai, and it was a home to merchants & traders of the city, so it played an important role from the ages and a strong platform for museums, art galleries, events, cultural activities and more where the richness of its history & culture is well shown.
FORMED IN: 1822
RATINGS: 4.0
FACTS ABOUT KHOR DUBAI
Widely known as "Dubai Creek", has been described as early as 1822 in a report by a British Royal Navy Officer, it's a natural seawater and it's 14 km long. It has an old presence where this natural port was used for trade & transportation which was a traditional way to commute, and this was a stretch of south-east and finishes Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary.
So mainly it was a small wooden boat that used to carry 20 passengers, and it used to be the main port for the pearl industry in 1587, and Khor Dubai holds another importance where it divides Dubai into Bur Dubai & Deira, and after the invention of Jebel Ali Port, Dubai Creek was used for small facilities and slowly the trading from this route was declining.
FORMED IN: 1950
RATINGS: 4.5
FACTS ABOUT JEBEL HAFEET
Jebel Hafeet was discovered by Danish archaeologists and the main culture of this property indicates that humans used to consume the resources and inhabited to live about for quality living. And later on, this place was turned into an attraction for the tourists to experience hiking, cooler climate and camping.
In today’s scenario, this place is secured by Jebel Hafeet National Park protecting the entire vicinity to preserve the culture.
And as the area is a tourist spot, so this desert landscape adds more contribution to the economy, and in fact, oil was discovered here in 20th century, and this area regained its name as one of the important areas in UAE.
FORMED IN: 1870
FACTS ABOUT THE BURJ NAHAR BUILDING
Burj Nahar one of the oldest buildings in Dubai formed with mud & coral stone and the site holds its heritage importance because it is an old discovery, and it was significant as it used to safeguard the old city from invaders where 3 watchtowers where created to keep an eye on the people, and this place is well wrapped with greenery and lightening to turn this into an attraction for the tourist. So this piece of history is the sign of resilience and development that Dubai has seen so far.
FORMED IN: 1971
RATINGS: 4.5
FACTS ABOUT DUBAI MUSEUM
Dubai Museum displays mainly maps, old photos, equipment used at the time of pearl diving, the overall development of the city through models and more to discover in this museum which is situated in Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood that itself is one of the prominent discoveries in Dubai, and in fact, not just this, the museum gives indepth details of clothing, rules, fishing history, daily activities are more insight to have a perfect picture on the traditional life of Dubai.
FORMED IN: 1819
RATINGS: 4.5
FACTS ABOUT DHAYAH FORT
Dhayah Fort the tallest hilltop in UAE that was used during the Persian Gulf campaign to battle with the British who planned to capture the fort, and the main elements of this fort are mud bricks, watchtowers and more where its 360 degree view helped to battle and protect the surroundings of Dhayah Fort.
FORMED IN: 1940
RATINGS: 4.4
FACTS ABOUT DUBAI GOLD SOUK
One of the prime and oldest spot showing a diversified range of jewellery and there are 40 years old shops too which have turned into the heritage of Dubai, and here one can have the perfect picture of old style designs with the best use of craftmanship whose perfection can be seen in every piece of gold that is designed in both traditional & modern ways.
The variety here you can find- Dimond, precious stones, pearls, gold, platinum and more options that are best for jewelry lovers, and here you can bargain to find the repent free deal.
As far as its history is concerned, it was a small area for trading in the 1940s, and since then, it has turned into a global market that caters to the attention of people around the world. Also, comparatively, the price of gold here is less than anywhere else in the world.
So there are more vital attractions in the form of heritage in Dubai that play an important role in the financial aspect and also to preserve the value of old times to understand the whole scenario of the people living in that era, and as mentioned above there are ample advantages of holding the heritage and this is what Dubai has been doing where “TECHNOLOGY” is truly impactful and helpful to safeguard everything, but how?
VIRTUAL PLATFORM: To experience virtual reality online so that the charm of historical sites stays in people.
PRESERVATION: With technology the heritage is preserved digitally in the form of recordings, photographs, and more.
MODELS: Forming 3D models that help in restoration and preservation.
SOCIAL SHARING: On social media exchanging the culture of Dubai through information and pictures to interlink with reality.
PROMOTION: Promoting tourism to attract people from all over the world and bring global importance in order to exchange the values of Dubai, where its food, clothing, heritage, and lots more features are promoted. This way, the heritage is preserved well.
CONNECTING THROUGH APP: There are apps that give direct connectivity through pictures and information so technology ensures to safeguard it in some way.
And other than this, Dubai creates heritage villages, focusing on festivals, forming clubs to educate about the culture, events to bring people together in order to bring culture in an entertaining way that could connect people more with its importance.
So these are some of the vital steps that are taken in the education sector in order to preserve the heritage because students must know their culture as they are going to take it further and inherent the values.
There are more than 70 films that feature Dubai’s culture which helps other to know about Dubai’s heritage & structure that even garners the attention of people on the larger platform, and some of the well known movies are: -
So cinema plays a major role to picturize the old times of Dubai and even creating an importance of its heritage that needs value, attention and position.
There is a massive organization that is an amalgamation of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Crown Prince of Dubai, the Antiquities Department (AHAD) and the Architectural Heritage that takes care of the heritage well and everyone has a different department altogether in order to shape up the overall cultural scene and every required step have been taken to refurbish and maintain every heritage that is an identity to the overall UAE.
The culture and heritage of both Dubai are strongly linked with Islamic tradition where everything keeps the people intact and sensitive around their culture and keeping it in the lifestyle till now is the biggest addition for any community, and not just this, but preserving it is the meticulous task where authorities have put in strenuous efforts to safeguard it in every situation so that the moral values of its culture is regulated all over in people, and as education, everyone should know the past as it gives the picture of achievements and changes till now that the Dubai has encountered.
So both the tradition and modern values are protected in every way to keep the shadow of the past in the present time as well, and for this, Dubai has turned into a mega tourist spot as well where it promotes different heritage of Dubai to let the world knows the power of estate that can grow even after years to shape up the economy and this is what Dubai is doing by creating new attractions where the replica of old times forms a connection in today’s time.
Islamic tradition is the main region that is followed by emirates.
Places that showcase Dubai's rich heritage represent the old times, so they are the Dubai Museum, Dubai Gold Souk, Dhayat Fort, Jebel Hafeet, and more, which hold importance in every sense to preserve the beauty of the past.
Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Crown Prince of Dubai, the Antiquities Department (AHAD) and the Architectural Heritage are taking prime actions to preserve every heritage where restructuring, painting, refurbishing and educating about each of them are vital steps that are taken seriously for its proper maintenance.
Al Fahidi Fort is the oldest one formed in 1787
The preferred months are September & March otherwise too much heat can ruin your staycation.
It depends on which heritage place you are visiting, but in general, it is suggested that you wear decent clothing without body shaming.
It is better not to carry any food while visiting these places as it is important to keep the area clean and maintained.
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