1.
Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum
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Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum is a museum in the city of Al Ain, within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The museum is based in the palace of the former UAE President, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and it was originally built in 1910 on the western side of the Al Ain Oasis, the largest oasis in Al Ain. Sheikh Zayed lived here until 1966 and it was made into a museum in 1998. The museum presents many of the rooms in the palace, including an art gallery, many of the rooms are majlis or meeting rooms for receiving visitors. In one of the courts there is a grand court tent. There is also a Land Rover similar to the one driven by Sheikh Zayed in the desert to visit Bedouin communities, behind the museum is the Al Ain Oasis, with an entrance close by, and a path leading through the oasis to the Al Ain National Museum. Al Ain National Museum Al Ain Oasis Al Ain Palace Museum web page
2.
Al Ain
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Al-Ain, also known as the Garden City due to its greenery, is the largest inland city in the United Arab Emirates, the fourth-largest overall, and the second-largest in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. With a population of 650,000, it is located approximately 160 kilometres east of the capital Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain is the birthplace of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the United Arab Emirates, and has the highest proportion of Emirati nationals. Al-Ain is located in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, inland on the border with Oman, the freeways connecting Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai form a geographic triangle in the country, each city being roughly 130 kilometres from the other two. Historically a part of Ṫawam or Al Buraimi Oasis, Al-Ain has been inhabited for over 4,000 years, with archaeological sites showing human settlement at Al-Hili and Jabel Ḥafeeṫ. These early cultures built beehive tombs for their dead and engaged in hunting and gathering in the area, the oasis provided water for early farms until the modern age. A companion of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, Kaab Bin Ahbar, was sent to the region to introduce Islam to the people. He settled and died in the oasis, the forts currently in Al-Ain were built in the late 19th or early 20th century to solidify Abu Dhabis control over the oasis. Wilfred Thesiger visited Al-Ain in the late 1940s during his travels across the Empty Quarter and he met Sheikh Zayed and stayed with him at Al-Muwaiji Fort. This network of fortresses protected the Oases and settlements from bandit attacks, in 1952 Saudi Arabia sent raiders to capture Al-Ains fortresses and incorporate the oasis into the Saudi kingdom. Forces from the Trucial Oman Scouts, as well as the army of Muscat-Oman, with British intervention, the Saudi forces surrendered, leaving the oasis back in the hands of Abu Dhabi and Muscat-Oman. In 1971 Queen Elizabeth II visited the Hilton Hotel in the area, still in use, following independence in 1971, Al-Ain experienced rapid growth and investment as part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, quickly becoming larger and more successful than Omans Al-Buraimi. In 1972 Oman and Abu Dhabi agreed on the borders to divide Al-Buraimi. Until Sheikh Zayeds death in 2004, Al-Ains municipal code forbade construction of buildings over four storeys, with the exceptions of the Hilton, Danat Al Ain Resort, in the 1990s, a serious uprising occurred among the labourers of the industrial district of Al-Ain, Aṣ-Ṣanaiya. This uprising was suppressed by the UAE army and local police forces, all the labourers involved were interned and deported. Until 2006, Al-Buraimi and Al-Ain shared an open border and this border was closed in November 2006, and passport controls were imposed. Al-Ain is located in the region of Abu Dhabi Emirate just south of Dubai. The Eastern region covers an area of approximately 13,100 km², Oman lies to the east, Dubai and Sharjah to the north, Abu Dhabi to the west and the Empty Quarter desert and Saudi Arabia to the south. The topography of Al-Ain is unique and varies as one travel to the east, Jebel Hafeet is considered one of the monuments of Al-Ain, lying just to the southeast and rising to 1,300 m in elevation
3.
United Arab Emirates
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In 2013, the UAEs population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates. The country is a federation of seven emirates, and was established on 2 December 1971, the constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by a monarch, together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates, Islam is the official religion of the UAE and Arabic is the official language. The UAEs oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the worlds seventeenth-largest, Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first President of the UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare, education and infrastructure. The UAEs economy is the most diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, while its most populous city of Dubai is an important global city, nevertheless, the country remains principally reliant on its export of petroleum and natural gas. The UAE is criticised for its rights record, including the specific interpretations of Sharia used in its legal system. The UAEs rising international profile has led analysts to identify it as a regional. It appears the land of the Emirates has been occupied for thousands of years, there is no proof of contact with the outside world at that stage, although in time it developed with civilisations in Mesopotamia and Iran. This contact persisted and became wide-ranging, probably motivated by trade in copper from the Hajar Mountains, in ancient times, Al Hasa was part of Al Bahreyn and adjoined Greater Oman. Sassanid groups were present on the Batinah coast, in 637, Julfar was an important port that was used as a staging post for the Islamic invasion of the Sassanian Empire. The area of the Al Ain/Buraimi Oasis was known as Tuam and was an important trading post for camel routes between the coast and the Arabian interior. The earliest Christian site in the UAE was first discovered in the 1990s, a monastic complex on what is now known as Sir Bani Yas Island. Thought to be Nestorian and built in 600 AD, the church appears to have been abandoned peacefully in 750 AD and it forms a rare physical link to a legacy of Christianity which is thought to have spread across the peninsula from 50 to 350 AD following trade routes. Certainly, by the 5th century, Oman had a bishop named John – the last bishop of Oman being Etienne, in 676 AD. This led to a group of travelling to Medina, converting to Islam and subsequently driving a successful uprising against the unpopular Sassanids. Following the death of Prophet Muhammad, the new Islamic communities south of the Persian Gulf threatened to disintegrate, with insurrections against the Muslim leaders. The Caliph Abu Bakr sent an army from the capital Medina which completed its reconquest of the territory with the battle of Dibba in which 10,000 lives are thought to have been lost
4.
Abu Dhabi
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Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, and also capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAEs seven emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014, Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabis rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large. Today the city is the center of political and industrial activities. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy, Abu Dhabi is the fourth most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and in 2014 was the 68th most expensive big city in the world. Abu Dhabi is full of evidence that points to civilizations, such as the Umm an-Nar Culture. Settlements were also found farther outside the city of Abu Dhabi. There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet and this location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain, so it would have great visibility. It also contains a lot of moisture in its springs and lakes, origin of the name Abu Dhabi The origin of the name Abu Dhabi is uncertain. Meaning Father of the Gazelle, when translated from Arabic. According to Bilal al-Budoor, assistant under-secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, The area had a lot of dhibaa, an old story tells about a man who used to chase deer and was named the father of the animal. Abu Dhabis original name was Milh salt, possibly referring to the salty water of the Persian Gulf, some Bedouins called the city Umm Dhabi, while British records refer to the place as Abu Dhabi. According to some accounts, the name Abu Dhabi was first used more than 300 years ago. The first word of Abu Dhabi is pronounced Bu by inhabitants on the western coast. In the eastern part of the city, the pronunciation is Abu, origins of the Al Nahyan family The Bani Yas bedouin were originally centered on the Liwa Oasis. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections, in 1793, the Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the Persian Gulf due to the discovery of fresh water there. One family within this section was the Al Nahyan family and this family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today
5.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
