In the chosen video, History of the Emirates: Society, the author focuses on society’s main characteristics during different eras. In the beginning, several general descriptions of the population are given. In this region, people are proud to be Emiratis because of their ambitions, language, and religion. However, according to the first president, their best achievement is the possibility to appreciate the past as it is a chance to make the best for the present and the future, and the role of society has to be underlined.
There are six stages of the Emiratis’ development, namely the first arrival of people (125,000 BC), the Stone Age (5,500 BC), the Bronze Age (3,000 BC), the Iron Age (1,100 BC), the Pre-Islamic era (300 BC), and the Islamic era (700 AD). The first people arrived at Jebel Faya many years ago and used caves as their strategic locations. Soon, climate changes and land drainage provoked migration, and new permanent nomad settlements were discovered in Marawah in 5,000 BC. Excavations showed that people built the first stone houses with cooking areas to stay protected from the sun and the rain. During the Bronze Age, people demonstrated good architectural skills and equality messages evidenced by the discovery of communal tombs in Al Ain. The domestication of camels and the first Majlis buildings (where people gathered and discussed public issues) were the Iron Age signs. The Pre-Islamic society is known for its coins as the signs of power in cosmopolitan cities ruled by men and women. With its caravanserais, mosques, and souks, Jumeirah’s research introduced the Islamic era when a new religion was developed and presented to the world.
The author concludes with the main Emiratis’ achievements in different eras. He underlines that people made tools and built houses to survive, promoted equality between poor and rich at the end of life, and proved the power of men and women in governance. The last minutes of the video set the goals of the next section in the Emirates history course about innovations that allow people to become masters.