Al Fahidi Fort · The One Looking Down from the Wall

Al Fahidi Fort is the oldest building in Dubai, raised in coral stone and lime. It once guarded the entrance to the creek; later it served as a prison and as a palace, and today it is the Dubai Museum.

Beneath the fort a gallery has been dug out for displays of the old market and pearling life: figures, boats, heaps of spices, life-size bronze statues.

The night watchmen say that now and then a figure appears in the underground gallery that was not there before. They do not count the figures, and cannot say which one is new.

Historical Mysteries / Dubai · United Arab Emirates / 1787