Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi will open its first temporary exhibition, on 7,000 years of camel history, in early December, the museum said on October 14.
The Zayed National Museum camel exhibition, Tracks Through Time: The Camel in Society, Trade and Art, coincides with the museum’s first anniversary and adds to a busy cultural season in the emirate, which includes the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opening on December 11 and a calendar of more than 40 events. The museum bills it as the world’s first exhibition to explore camel history in full.
Highlights include wild camel bones from Baynunah in Abu Dhabi dating to 4,500-4,000 BCE, lent by the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and shown as the first public display of detailed evidence for the extinct wild camel. Dubai Culture and Arts Authority has lent Bronze Age remains from Al Sufouh and domesticated camel bones from the Iron Age site of Saruq Al Hadid, among the earliest evidence in the world of camel taming.
Other objects include rock art from Fujairah about 3,000 years old, an 1840s children’s book on camel species, a camel stamp seal and UAE postage stamps. Recordings of Taghrooda chanted poetry and Alheda’a camel calling, both on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list, sit alongside sections on Al Hejin camel racing and Mazayna beauty contests. Workshops, tours and a dedicated shop will run alongside the show. The closing date and ticket prices were not disclosed.
Peter Magee, director of Zayed National Museum, said the exhibition was “grounded in the latest scientific research and built through collaboration”.
Zayed National Museum, the UAE’s national museum, opened in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District in December 2025.