
Once serving as a royal palace, prison and garrison the Al Fahidi Fort where the museum is housed is an architectural landmark and a historic site in its own right. One of the three inner halls of the fort contains the museum’s ticketing office while old weaponry from various periods and conventional musical instruments are found in the remaining two halls. Exhibition halls encircle a picturesque courtyard where cannon balls, ancient seafaring boats and a traditional summer house or Arish are on display. Made of weaved palm leaves the Arish houses ancient kitchenware and other household items as well as furniture used in centuries past.
Other galleries at the museum contain ancient maps of the country while a video room is also on-site to offer visitors an audio-visual presentation on life in Dubai during the pre-oil era stretching forward to the present context. A model of a creek-side souk and a makeshift thoroughfare filled with craftsmen, shops and artisans is also found within the venue where a true-to life market place dating back to ancient times has been recreated with startling accuracy. Model mosques, homes and households are also displayed alongside remnants of Bedouin life from age old tents, cooking utensils and other aspects of life in the desert. Sea-faring vessels and equipment used long ago are also highlighted as are the marine species and the types of dhows common during the period.
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