Records of the area where the emirate of Dubai is situated are very rare for any period before the 18th century.
During the expansion of the Sheikh Zayed Road between 1993 and 1998, remnants of a mangrove swamp were uncovered which were dated to approximately 7000 BC. It is thought that by about 3000 BC, the coastline had moved seaward sufficiently towards the present-day coastline and the area became covered in sand.
As it became more inhabitable, Nomadic cattle herders used the area to live and herd in. The date palm began to be grown locally in 2500 BC, and was the first instance of the land being used for agricultural purposes. The herders worshipped the god Bajir and various evidence suggests links to the mysterious Magan civilisation, who it is thought controlled the copper trade of this part of the ancient world, and of which there are archaeological sites in Bahrain.
For the next about 2700 years there are no more details, probably because of the desertification of the area, until the area came under the control of the Sassanian Empire, the last pre-Islamic Iranian Empire, in the 3rd century. Recent excavations of the Jumeirah area of Dubai have unearthed a 6th century caravan station suggesting the area was sparsely inhabited during this period.
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