Guide · Dubai
Jumeirah Archaeological Site and the Abbasid town beneath Dubai
Explore the remains of a trading settlement in Jumeirah 2. Learn what archaeologists uncovered and how to check the visitor route before you go.
A silver dirham, a piece of decorated plaster and the foundations of a travellers’ inn give three different glimpses of life in medieval Dubai. All three belong to the archaeological story of Jumeirah. The place to find that story today is Jumeirah Archaeological Site in Jumeirah 2. Start at its visitor entrance on 16 Street and confirm the day’s access with Dubai Culture before travelling. National Cultural Map
Fast facts
| Detail | Visitor information |
|---|---|
| Destination | Jumeirah Archaeological Site, Jumeirah 2, Dubai |
| What to look for | Excavated buildings from an Islamic trading settlement |
| Main period | Abbasid, particularly the 10th and 11th centuries CE |
| Planning contact | Dubai Culture, 800 33222 |
| Tickets and opening times | Ask for the hours, fee and accessible route for your intended date |
How do you read a town from its foundations?
Start with the visitor panel. Pick out the outline of a single building before looking across the site. From ground level a series of low walls can be hard to distinguish. A plan makes it easier to see where one room ends, where a doorway leads and how people might have moved between spaces.
Archaeologists have identified a caravanserai, or inn for travelling merchants, a marketplace, a mosque and homes. Taken together they describe the needs of a traveller arriving with goods. There had to be somewhere to stay, somewhere to trade and a community to trade with. A fragment of ornamental plaster adds a more intimate detail. Some of the walls that survive as outlines once carried decoration. UAE National Cultural Map
Bilingual visitor panel at the entrance to Jumeirah Archaeological Site. Featured photograph by ZI Jony (CC BY-SA 4.0). Second photograph by ZI Jony (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The Ministry of Culture records eight excavated buildings and explains that more of the settlement lies underground. It also distinguishes the main Abbasid occupation from later periods. That matters when interpreting an object label. A date attached to one find does not necessarily date every wall around it. Ministry of Culture site history
Can you visit the excavations?
An archaeological field update in the Autumn 2025 bulletin of the International Association for the Study of Arabia described public access alongside continuing survey and development work. A current daily timetable and circuit were unavailable at our 11 November 2026 check. Call 800 33222 and ask which excavated sections and interpretation spaces are open that day. If you need a level route, include the stretch from the entrance to the viewing area in that question. Archaeological field update
Allow roughly 30 to 45 minutes as a planning estimate if access is confirmed. Wear shoes suitable for an outdoor site, follow the marked visitor route and leave fragments where they lie. Their position can contain as much archaeological information as the objects themselves.
Visitor information checked on 11 November 2026.