Nestled between dunes, an hour’s drive from the skyscrers of Dubai, an abandoned town in the desert in the 1990s it stands as a haunting relic of the rid urbanization of the United Arab Emirates.
Built in the 1970s to house semi-nomadic Bedouins, the village of al-Ghuraifa was abandoned two decades later, when oil wealth transformed the country into a world center of trade and tourism, home to the futuristic cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
In recent years, the ghost town near the city of al-Madam, in the emirate of SharjahIt has become something of a tourist attraction. that allows you to esce the concrete jungle of coastal cities and get a glimpse of the harsh past of the Emirates.
The town, made up of two rows of houses and a mosque, “can teach us a lot about the modern history of the UAE,” said Ahmad Sukkar, an adjunct professor at the University of Sharjah who is part of a team investigating the site.
It was built as part of a public housing project after the formation in 1971 of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven kingdoms ruled by sheikhs. The discovery of oil thirteen years earlier had begun to transform the country.
The village was home to around 100 members of the al-Ketbi tribe, according to Sukkar. They were one of several Bedouin tribes that had hitherto led a semi-nomadic existence, raising animals, traveling through desert oases, and visiting Dubai and Abu Dahbi when they were small port cities. dependent on pearl fishing and diving.
The modern cement houses, built to ease the transition to sedentary life, had local features. The interior walls were brightly colored and some were adorned with mosaics.
The houses also had spaces where the village elders could hold local councils, known as “majalis” in Arabic. One of the houses was wallpered with a lush green landsce, which contrasted with the drab landsce of sand outside.
It is unclear what exactly sparked the exodus just two decades after the houses were built.
According to local tradition, the residents were driven out by evil spiritsbut Sukkar argues that they were more likely to leave in search of a better life in the fast-growing cities of the UAE.
The town had limited access to electricity and water and was hit by sandstorms. Families also faced a long journey across the desert to reach jobs and schools in Dubai.
Today, the desert is gradually taking over the town. The sand has seeped into the houses and, in some rooms, it hides the walls and almost reaches the ceiling. Only the mosque remains as it was, thanks to regular sweeping by maintenance workers from nearby al-Madam.
Some descendants of the Bedouins who once rode camels across the desert sands still live in rural areas of the Emirates, although many have now moved to cities with gleaming skyscrers, huge air-conditioned shopping malls and an extensive network of modern highways.
Expats from all corners of the world make up the vast majority of the UAE’s population, and some have taken an interest in its humbler past.
Tour guides were recently seen leading groups of visitors through the abandoned town. This has also been the scene of music videos and publications on social networks with foreign models, luxury cars and displays of opulence for which Dubai is now best known.
“I wonder why they left,” says Nitin Panchal, a visiting Indian expat. “Is it a genius, is it black magic? We will never know”.
The municipality recently installed a perimeter fence with a security gate, garbage cans and a parking lot. Past visitors had left graffiti, scred wall decorations, and climbed onto flimsy rooftops to take photos.
The new measures have removed some of the mystery from the place and increased the possibility of it becoming a tourist attraction more in a country full of them.
Danny Booth, an expatriate from the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, said he had decided “to come and have a look before things start to change here.”
“Sometimes it’s better not to change these places because they lose their charm when they get crowded,” he said.
PA Agency
Translation: Elisa Carnelli
Source: Clarin
