As-salamu alaykum - Zayed National Museum set to open on December 3, insha'Allah
As-salamu alaykum - Good news for anyone who loves our history: the Zayed National Museum will welcome visitors on December 3, insha'Allah, the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi has said.
Named for the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the museum was created to protect and share the culture and heritage of the UAE. It will take visitors on a journey through about 300,000 years of the land’s story, showing how our communities and traditions grew over time.
The collection holds more than 3,000 items, and around 1,500 of those will be on display when the museum opens. Among the highlights are one of the world’s oldest natural pearls, known as the Abu Dhabi Pearl, five folios from the Blue Quran, and an 18-metre reproduction of an ancient Magan boat that will be shown in the building’s atrium.
The Magan boat was made through a collaboration between the museum, Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi, and it even completed sea trials, sailing about 50 nautical miles in the Arabian Gulf to help us understand the UAE’s maritime past.
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, described the museum as a national place for our people to connect with the land and our past - a space for learning, conversation and inspiration that reflects Sheikh Zayed’s belief in culture, education and knowledge.
The building itself was designed by Foster+Partners. Its five tall steel structures, inspired by the UAE’s falconry tradition, are shaped like feathers - you can already see them rising in Saadiyat Cultural District and they’re set to become a clear landmark for Abu Dhabi.
This is a big step for culture in the emirate. It feels like a good place for families to visit, for students to learn, and for all of us to remember where we came from while thinking about the future. May it be a blessing and source of knowledge for generations to come.
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