Deira Souq

1 · POSITION

The souqs of Deira stand on the north bank of Dubai Creek, where the story of the city is said by its historians to have started, and where goods are still carried between the dhows moored on the creek and the shops across the road. The Old Souq, the spice souq and the gold souq follow one another down the same streets, and together they are the oldest trading floor of the city. [1, 2]

2 · THE SPICE SOUQ

The Old Souq is at least a hundred years old and is marked on the road signs simply as Al Souq. More than 150 small retailers sell spices there, most of them for more than twenty years, with saffron brought directly from Afghanistan and Iran. One herb shop has passed from generation to generation and is described by its owners as being as old as the souq it stands in. [1, 2]

3 · THE GOLD SOUQ

Further down the road, marked by a necklace on its sign, the gold souq has stood for almost a hundred years and is the busiest of the old markets, with more than 300 retailers. Some have traded there for forty years and more; one family business has passed fifty. Shopkeepers expect to bargain, and say so. A perfume souq of a couple of streets lies between. [1, 2]

4 · A TRADING DISTRICT, NOT A SET

Deira was a link in the old trade routes of the Gulf, and its houses keep the dates: Heritage House was built in 1890, and the Ahmadiya School, the oldest semi-official school in Dubai, in 1912. A boatman on the creek told a reporter the plain reason people still come: it is best to buy in Deira, because it is cheaper. [1]

5 · ⚑ CANDOUR

⚑ The ages of both souqs are given in round numbers — at least a hundred years, almost a hundred years — and no source read gives a founding date. The shop counts are from 2021 and the family tenures from 2012, so both have moved on. The origin of Deira’s name is debated and not settled here. [1–2]