RAS AL KHAIMAH, (Pakistan Point News - 09th Apr, 2019) H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, has received a delegation from China's Palace Museum. The museum team is currently visiting the emirates to take part in joint research and analysis of Chinese ceramics found during archaeological excavations conducted across Ras Al Khaimah.
Headed by Lou Wei, the Deputy Director of the Museum, the delegation thanked H.H. Sheikh Saud for his continued support on the archaeological collaboration between the Palace Museum and Ras Al Khaimah’s Antiquities and Museums Department. The Museum and Department work together to not only study the ancient ceramics found since the project began in 2017, but also to carry out new excavations.
The archaeological team highlighted how several pieces of blue and white porcelain dating from the Yuan Dynasty of 1271-1368 were found in Ras Al Khaimah. Putting this find into perspective, Professor Wang Guangyao, Research Fellow at the Department of Objects and Decorative Arts at the Palace Museum, said, "there are only about 300 complete pieces of this type of porcelain in existence in the world."
He continued, "There is little documentary proof but the evidence we have found here in Ras Al Khaimah suggests very extensive and high-level trade between China [and this region] in the past."
In light of the recent discoveries, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr gave his consent to the team to loan the Chinese pottery found in Ras Al Khaimah to the Palace Museum to go on display at an exhibition there later this year that will shed light on trade links in the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
The Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah said, "These findings point to great cultural exchanges between our ancestors and the Chinese hundreds of years ago. We already know Ras Al Khaimah, or Julfar as it was then known, was a key trading post for the Gulf, India and Africa, and this discovery confirms our understanding that we traded with people from as far afield as China."
"I thank the Palace Museum and our Antiquities and Museums Department for their excellent work in unearthing these unique artefacts," His Highness concluded.
