Saruq Al-Hadid Archaeological Museum

Archaeological Sites in the U.A.E. Near Dubai and Abu Dhabi

"A Bronze Age desert settlement uncovered in 2002 that upended assumptions about ancient life in southern Arabia: rather than a coastal fishing-and-trading community, it was once a tree-filled oasis where people hunted and settled from the third millennium B.C. until the Iron Age. Excavations revealed an early center of metallurgy with more than 12,000 finds — daggers, seals, gold jewelry and hundreds of enigmatic metal snakes among them — many of which are now displayed in a nearby archaeology museum." - Nicola Chilton Nicola Chilton Nicola Chilton is a Dubai-based writer who has spent the past two decades living and working in Asia and the Middle East. With a love of telling untold stories, she seeks out the unexpected in every destination she visits. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines