Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE

Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE
Archaeologists said they have found the oldest pearling town in the Arabian Gulf on an island off one of its northern sheikhdoms of the UAE, further expanding this young nation's understanding of its pre-Islamic history. (AP)
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Updated 20 March 2023

Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE

Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE
  • The town was likely once home to thousands of people and hundreds of homes

SINIYAH ISLAND, United Arab Emirates: Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Arabian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates.
Artifacts found in this town on Siniyah Island in Umm Al-Quwain, likely once home to thousands of people and hundreds of homes, date as far back as the region’s pre-Islamic history in the late 6th century. While older pearling towns have been mentioned in historical texts, this represents the first time archaeologists say they have physically found one from this ancient era across the nations of the Arabian Gulf.
“This is the oldest example of that kind of very specifically Khaleeji pearling town,” said Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the UAE University, using a word that means “Gulf” in Arabic. “It’s the spiritual ancestor of towns like Dubai.”
The pearling town sits on Siniyah Island, which shields the Khor Al-Beida marshlands in Umm Al-Quwain, an emirate some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Dubai along the coast of the Arabian Gulf. The island, whose name means “flashing lights” likely due to the effect of the white-hot sun overhead, already has seen archaeologists discover an ancient Christian monastery dating back as many as 1,400 years.
The town sits directly south of that monastery on one of the curling fingers of the island and stretches across some 12 hectares (143,500 square yards). There, archaeologists found a variety of homes made of beach rock and lime mortar, ranging from cramped quarters to more sprawling homes with courtyards, suggesting a social stratification, Power said. The site also bears signs of year-round habitation, unlike other pearling operations run in seasonal spots in the region.
“The houses are crammed in there, cheek by jowl,” he added. “The key thing there is permanence. People are living there all year around.”
In the homes, archaeologists have discovered loose pearls and diving weights, which the free divers used to quickly drop down to the seabed while relying only on their held breath.
The town predates the rise of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula, making its residents likely Christians.
Umm Al-Quwain’s Department of Tourism and Archaeology, UAE University, the Italian Archaeological Mission in the emirate and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University all took part in the excavation. Umm Al-Quwain, the least-populated emirate in the UAE, plans to build a visitor’s center at the site.
Today, the area near the marshland is more known for the low-cost liquor store at the emirate’s Barracuda Beach Resort. In recent months, authorities have demolished a hulking, Soviet-era cargo plane linked to a Russian gunrunner known as the “Merchant of Death” as it builds a bridge to Siniyah Island for a $675 million real estate development. Authorities hope that development, as well as other building, will grow the emirate’s economy.
However, even this ancient site bears lessons for the Emirates.
The story of pearling, which rapidly collapsed after World War I with the introduction of artificial pearls and the Great Depression, holds particular importance in the history of the UAE — particularly as it faces a looming reckoning with another extractive industry. While crude oil sales built the country after its formation in 1971, the Emirates will have to confront its fossil fuel legacy and potentially plan for a carbon-neutral future as it hosts the United Nations COP28 climate talks later this year.
Those searching the site found a dumpsite nearby filled with the detritus of discarded oyster shells. People walking across the island can feel those remains crunching under their feet in areas as well.
“You only find one pearl in every 10,000 oyster shells. You have to find and discard thousands and thousands of oyster shells to find one,” Power said. ”The waste, the industrial waste of the pearling industry, was colossal. You’re dealing with millions, millions of oyster shells discarded.”


Dubai to take part in June’s London Design Biennale

Dubai to take part in June’s London Design Biennale
Updated 56 min 58 sec ago

Dubai to take part in June’s London Design Biennale

Dubai to take part in June’s London Design Biennale
  • Bake bread, see an AI robot designing, weave a tapestry, get inside a space pod, visit a virtual garden

LONDON: Dubai is set to take part in this year’s London Design Biennale, which is an interactive, musical and kinetic exhibition of creative innovation from across the globe, organizers have announced.

Dubai will feature a pavilion entitled “And Beyond,” in line with the theme for the fourth edition — “The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations” — from June 1 to 25.

Over 40 international exhibitors will showcase world-leading design, confronting global challenges and inspiring audiences with thought-provoking installations, organizers said.

 

 

“Bake bread, witness an AI Robot designing, weave a tapestry, get inside a space pod, find inner peace and visit a virtual garden,” according to a statement from the organizers.

Overseeing this year’s event is Nieuwe Instituut, the Dutch national museum and institute for architecture, design and digital culture, led by General and Artistic Director Aric Chen.

The theme of this year’s biennale aims to go “beyond borders and territories to enact new forms of international cooperation and participation through design.”

Launching this year, the Eureka exhibition will share design-led innovation from leading research centers featuring cross-disciplinary invention and creativity, involving academics, leaders and problem solvers.


Venice’s Grand Canal turns bright green due to fluorescein

Venice’s Grand Canal turns bright green due to fluorescein
Updated 30 May 2023

Venice’s Grand Canal turns bright green due to fluorescein

Venice’s Grand Canal turns bright green due to fluorescein
  • The results “have not shown the presence of toxic elements in the samples analyzed,” the statement said, without specifying the origin of the substance

ROME: The spectacular transformation of a stretch of Venice’s Grand Canal to fluorescent green was due to fluorescein, a non-toxic substance used for testing wastewater networks, local authorities said on Monday.
Residents noticed a stretch of Venice’s Grand Canal turned bright green Sunday, prompting police to investigate amid speculation it could be a stunt by environmentalists.

In this image released by the Italian firefighters, a firefighter on a boat looks at the arched Rialto Bridge along Venice's historical Grand Canal as a patch of phosphorescent green liquid spreads in it, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP)

But analysis showed “the presence of fluorescein in samples taken,” said the the Regional Agency for Environmental Prevention and Protection of Veneto (Arpav).
The results “have not shown the presence of toxic elements in the samples analyzed,” the statement said, without specifying the origin of the substance.
The change in color noticed by residents raised eyebrows, with police looking into whether Sunday’s development could be a protest by climate change activists, according to local daily La Nuova Venezia.
It is not the first time the Grand Canal has turned green.
In 1968, Argentine artist Nicolas Garcia Uriburu dyed the waters of Venice’s Grand Canal green with a fluorescent dye during the 34th Venice Biennale in a stunt to promote ecological awareness.
 

 


Saudi astronaut Ali Al-Qarni shares image of Riyadh

Saudi astronaut Ali Al-Qarni shares image of Riyadh
Updated 29 May 2023

Saudi astronaut Ali Al-Qarni shares image of Riyadh

Saudi astronaut Ali Al-Qarni shares image of Riyadh
  • Al-Qarni and his fellow astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi are the first Saudi nationals to be sent to the International Space Station (ISS)

LONDON: Saudi astronaut Ali Al-Qarni shared a photo of the Saudi capital Riyadh from space on his Twitter account on Sunday.

Al-Qarni and his fellow astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi are the first Saudi nationals to be sent to the International Space Station (ISS), with the latter the first Saudi and Arab woman to be given the honor.

Both have shared images of their homeland and the Middle East from their vantage point more than 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.

“Riyadh is shining even in space,” Al-Qarni tweeted alongside a photo of Riyadh and a photo of the Saudi flag inside the space station.

Al-Qarni and Barnawi are conducting experiments and research including cancer prevention and prediction, microgravity, cloud seeding and cell reprograming, according to reports.


Light pollution threatens to darken the night sky in 20 years, scientists warn

Light pollution threatens to darken the night sky in 20 years, scientists warn
Updated 29 May 2023

Light pollution threatens to darken the night sky in 20 years, scientists warn

Light pollution threatens to darken the night sky in 20 years, scientists warn
  • Disappearance of stars is having consequences on humans, animals
  • Singapore, Qatar and Kuwait top list of most light-polluted countries in the world

LONDON: Light pollution could darken the night sky in just two decades, making stars invisible to the human eye, scientists warned.

Martin Rees, the British astronomer royal, said in an interview with The Guardian that light pollution has worsened rapidly in recent years and could soon wipe out our ability to see the night sky.

“The night sky is part of our environment, and it would be a major deprivation if the next generation never got to see it, just as it would be if they never saw a bird’s nest,” Rees said.

“You don’t need to be an astronomer to care about this. I am not an ornithologist but if there were no songbirds in my garden, I’d feel impoverished.”

Rees noted that in 2016, astronomers reported that the Milky Way was no longer visible to a third of humanity. He attributed this to the increasing use of light-emitting diodes and other forms of lighting, which are now brightening the night sky at a dramatic rate.

The World Atlas of Night Sky Brightness, a computer-generated map that provides data on how and where our globe is lit up at night, shows that vast areas of North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia are glowing with light, while only the most remote regions on Earth (Siberia, the Sahara, and the Amazon) remain in total darkness.

The map, based on thousands of satellite photos, reveals that Singapore, Qatar, and Kuwait are among the most light-polluted countries in the world, highlighting how densely populated areas are most affected by the issue.

According to research by physicist Christopher Kyba, of the German Centre for Geosciences, light pollution is now obscuring the stars at a rate of about 10 percent per year.

Kyba explained that a child born where 250 stars are visible at night today would only be able to see about 100 by the time they reach 18.

“A couple of generations ago, people would have been confronted regularly with this glittering vision of the cosmos, but what was formerly universal is now extremely rare. Only the world’s richest people, and some of the poorest, experience that anymore. For everybody else, it’s more or less gone,” Kyba said.

Aside from astronomical and cultural repercussions, the excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light is affecting human health and wildlife behavior.

Scientists warned that the increased use of lights wreaks havoc on natural body rhythms in humans and animals, destabilizing many wild species that rely on the night sky for their migration movements.

In 2019, scientists found that the issue is contributing to an “insect apocalypse,” after discovering that light has a significant impact on how bug species move, search for food, reproduce, grow and hide from predators.

Nevertheless, introducing only a modest number of changes to lighting could considerably improve the situation and have “an enormous impact,” Kyba argued.

These moves would include ensuring outdoor lights are carefully shielded, point downwards, have limits placed on their brightness, and are not predominantly blue-white but have red and orange components.


Nepal celebrates 70 years since first Everest summit

Nepal celebrates 70 years since first Everest summit
Updated 29 May 2023

Nepal celebrates 70 years since first Everest summit

Nepal celebrates 70 years since first Everest summit
  • Top Nepali climbers, including the record holder for most Everest ascents Kami Rita Sherpa, were honoured in a ceremony

KHUMJUNG: The sons of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa led celebrations in Nepal on Monday to mark the 70th anniversary of the historic first ascent of Everest.
The scaling of the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on May 29, 1953, changed mountaineering forever and made the New Zealander and his Nepalese guide household names.
"In a whole lot of ways, it was not just Ed Hilary and Tenzing Norgay that reached the summit of Mount Everest, it was all of humanity," Peter Hillary said at a school founded by his father in the remote village of Khumjung at 3,790 metres.
"Suddenly, all of us could go," he said.
And gone they have. In the past seven decades, more than 6,000 climbers have climbed the world's highest mountain, according to the Himalayan Database.
It remains dangerous, with more than 300 losing their lives in the same period, including 12 this year. Five others are missing, putting 2023 on course to be a record deadly year.
As well as supporting tourism, the rapid growth in the climbing industry has raised revenue for Nepal, which today charges foreigners an Everest permit fee of $11,000.
Family members of both the climbers joined locals and officials at the school on Monday morning to inaugurate the Sir Edmund Hillary Visitors Centre, housed in the original building that opened in 1961.
Butter lamps were lit in front of a photograph of Hillary and Tenzing, and their sons, Peter Hillary and Jamling Norgay, cut a red ribbon to open the doors to the centre.
A renovated museum is also being opened in Tenzing Norgay's name in Namche Bazaar, the largest tourist hub in the trek to the Everest base camp.
In Kathmandu, officials and hundreds from the mountaineering community joined a rally with celebratory banners.
Top Nepali climbers, including the record holder for most Everest ascents Kami Rita Sherpa, were honoured in a ceremony.
Sanu Sherpa, the only person to climb the world's 14 highest peaks twice, called on the government to support the Nepali guides, who bear huge risks to carry equipment and food, fix ropes and repair ladders.
"The government has not done much for the Sherpa. I think it would be of great help and we would be happy if the government helps educate children of those climbers who died on mountains," Sherpa told AFP.