The House of Sheikh Saeed bin Hamad Al Qasimi

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The House of Sheikh Saeed bin Hamad Al Qasimi is a historic building in Kalba, part of Sharjah. It was built between 1898 and 1901 by Saeed bin Hamad Al Qasimi, the ruler of Kalba, and stood opposite the old Kalba fort. From 1903 to 1937 it served as the administrative center for Kalba and nearby areas.

The house was restored starting in 1993 and opened to the public as a museum on December 5, 1999. It is owned by the Sharjah Museums Authority.

The building has 17 rooms, three chambers, a yard, and a visitors’ reception room where Sheikh Saeed signed many treaties with the British during their occupation of the region. In the inner yard there are two suites with several rooms, plus a chamber, a kitchen, a nursery, and a bedroom for Sheikh Saeed, with a small storage area and a room for his personal weapons.

The Islamic Heritage Rooms display Islamic items, including a copy of the Qur’an written in 256 AH (about 870 CE) in Kashmiri script. Other rooms hold historical coins and archaeological pieces, such as stone bowls made of steatite dating to the second millennium BCE.