Oldest Pearl City in the Persian Gulf Found by Archaeologists

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of what is thought to be the earliest city inhabited by pearl divers on the island of Siniyah, located in the United Arab Emirates. The city is estimated to date back to the 6th century AD.

12 hectares of assorted buildings found at Siniyah Island form the earliest known pearl fishing settlement in the Persian Gulf — [Photo: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons]

Pearls have been a symbol of wealth and luxury for thousands of years. As far back as ancient times, they were used to create jewelry and were also used as currency in barter. They were extremely valuable not only because of their beauty, but also because mining them was not the easiest thing to do.

In the Persian Gulf about 7,000–8,000 years ago, people appeared and began to toil in pearl fishing. It was from here that these creations of clams and snails were exported. With the development of foreign trade, so-called pearl settlements began to emerge in the Arabian Peninsula region.

Archaeologists have found the oldest pearl settlement

Until now, it was thought that one of the oldest cities that engaged in pearl mining was Manama. However, recent excavations by archaeologists suggest that it was not Bahrain’s capital, but the small island of Siniyah, that was the oldest city of pearl fishers. The small patch of land falls under the emirate of Umm al-Qaywain in the United Arab Emirates.