Al-Ahmadiya School

Dubai’s first school was founded by the pearl merchant Sheikh Ahmed bin Dalmouk and welcomed its first students, all boys, in 1912. You can see the original classroom where they squeezed behind wooden desks to learn the Holy Quran, grammar, Arabic calligraphy, mathematics, literature and astronomy. Otherwise, exhibits are pretty basic but the building itself is not: note the exquisite detail, especially the intricate carving within the courtyard arches and the decorative gypsum panels outside the entrance. It remained in use as a school until the student body outgrew the premises in 1963.