Abu Dhabi (AFP)
A pearl of 8,000 years, presented as the oldest in the world, will be exhibited for the first time to the public from October 30 to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, said Sunday the Department of Culture and Tourism of the emirate.
Called "pearl of Abu Dhabi" and discovered by archaeologists on the island of Marawah, off the capital of the United Arab Emirates, this jewel belongs to the Zayed National Museum.
It will be presented at the Louvre Abu Dhabi during an exhibition entitled "10,000 years of luxury", which will take place from October 30 to February 18, according to a statement from the Department of Culture and Tourism.
Carbon-14 analyzes have revealed that the rock layers from which the pearl originates date from 5,600 to 5,800 years before our era, during the Neolithic period.
"The discovery of the world's oldest pearl in Abu Dhabi clearly shows that much of our recent economic and cultural history has deep roots that date back to the dawn of prehistory," said Mohammed Khalifa al-Mubarak. the head of the Department of Culture and Tourism in the release.
Experts have suggested that pearls are traded with Mesopotamia for ceramics and other goods, or worn as jewelery, according to the same source.
The pearling industry flourished in the Gulf until the 1930s, the first discoveries of oil and the appearance of cultured pearls.
The exhibition "10,000 years of luxury" explores the very notion of luxury, its changing meaning through the centuries through 350 objects from French museums.
© 2019 AFP