World's oldest pearl, nearly 8,000-years-old, found in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, Oct 20: An 8,000-year-old pearl that archaeologists say is the world's oldest will be displayed in Abu Dhabi, according to authorities who said Sunday it is proof the objects have been traded since Neolithic times.
The natural pearl was found in the floor of a room discovered during excavations at Marawah Island, off the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which revealed the earliest architecture found in the country.
The oldest natural pearl in the world is less than a centimetre long. Courtesy Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi
"The layers from which the pearl came have been carbon dated to 5800-5600 BC, during the Neolithic period," Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism said.
"The discovery of the oldest pearl in the world in Abu Dhabi makes it clear that so much of our recent economic and cultural history has deep roots that stretch back to the dawn of prehistory," said its chairman Mohamed Al-Muabarak.
The excavation of the Marawah site, which is made up of numerous collapsed Neolithic stone structures, has also yielded ceramics, beads made from shell and stone, and flint arrowheads.
The "Abu Dhabi Pearl" will be shown for the first time in the exhibition "10,000 years of Luxury" which is opening on October 30 at the Louvre Abu Dhabi -- the outpost of the famous Paris museum.
Emirati experts believe that the pearls were traded with Mesopotamia -- ancient Iraq -- in exchange for ceramics and other goods. They were also likely worn as jewellery.
"The Venetian jewel merchant Gasparo Balbi, who travelled through the region, mentions the islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi as a source of pearls in the 16th century," the culture department said.
The pearl industry once underpinned the economy of the United Arab Emirates, but the trade collapsed in the 1930s with the advent of Japanese cultured pearls, and as conflicts rocked global economies.
Instead, the Gulf nations turned to the oil industry which dominates their economies to this day.
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Budget allocation to AYUSH Ministry sees 20% rise
New Delhi (PTI): Budget allocation for the AYUSH ministry saw 20 per cent increase, from Rs 3,671.82 crore (revised estimates) in FY 2025-26 to Rs 4,408.93 crore in FY 2026-27.
The government has also announced the setting up of three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda to strengthen research in the field.
Presenting the Union Budget 2026-27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Ancient Indian Yoga, already respected in several parts of the world, was given a mass global recognition when the Prime Minister took it to the United Nations."
Stating that post-Covid Ayurveda has gained similar global acceptance and recognition, Sitharaman said exporting quality Ayurvedic products could help farmers who grow the herbs and the youth who process them.
To meet the global demand, she proposed setting up of three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda, upgrading AYUSH pharmacies and drug-testing labs for higher standards of certification ecosystem, making available more skilled personnel, and upgrading the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre in Jamnagar to bolster evidence-based research, training and awareness on traditional medicine.
Among the Centrally sponsored schemes, the allocation for the National AYUSH Mission has been increased from Rs 780.96 crore in FY 2025-26 to Rs 1,300 crore in FY 2026-27, registering 66.5 per cent hike.
The allocation for the All India Institute of Ayurveda has been reduced by 12 per cent.
Funding for the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda has also declined from 279.24 crore to 219.05 crore.
