Delma Museum

For centuries, Delma island was an important pearl-trading centre and its shoreline was lined with markets. The island lies approximately 30 kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi. It measures some 9 kilometres from north to south (not including the modern, artificial peninsula to the south), 5 kilometres east to west and has a population of around 10,000. Many of the inhabitants are fishermen or work on the island’s numerous farms. Delma is surprisingly green, with extensive vegetable fields and fruit orchards.

Plentiful supplies of fresh water have encouraged human occupation of the island since the Stone Age, approximately 7000 years ago, and a profile of the lifestyle of its early inhabitants has been pieced together from the results of archaeological excavations. Significant finds include pieces of Ubaid pottery, imported from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), painted and plain plaster vessels, a limestone mortar, finely flaked stone tools and a variety of shell and stone beads. Charred date stones dating from the late 6th to early 5th millennium BC, fish and animal bones tell archaeologists much about the people’s diet and their ability to harvest the resources of both land and sea. The date stones discovered represent some of the earliest evidence of the consumption of dates in Arabia. However, it is not known whether they were from a wild or domesticated date palm.

Delma island became an important centre at the height of the pearl trade. It was also reputed to have over 200 wells and actually supplied water to Abu Dhabi island until the 1950s. An architectural survey of the buildings on Delma was carried out in 1992, while a restoration programme on the Al-Muraykhi House and three mosques was conducted between 1993 and 1994.

THE AL-MURAYKHI HOUSE (DELMA MUSEUM)

The museum was formerly the house of a pearl merchant, Muhammad Bin Jasim al-Muraykhi. It dates from 1931 and is made of beach stone and coral covered in gypsum plaster. The building was designed as a secure commercial property, with strong windowless rooms on the ground floor and an upper storey, reached only by a wooden ladder, in which the merchant entertained guests and conducted business. Recent excavations near the house revealed a date press (madbasah), which has now been completely restored.

The museum contains an exhibition of local finds, including an interesting collection of British and Indian currency in use during the 19th and early 20th centuries when the pearl industry was at its height.

Opening times:

Delma Museum is open from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm every day except Friday.

Entrance is free of charge.