Heritage is a foundation for the future, says Sultan

His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, attended the official ceremony on Monday for the inscription of “Faya” on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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Sheikh Sultan said, “Faya has provided a new and well-documented map of human migration and its routes, proving that the Arabian Peninsula was not merely a passageway but an early homeland in humanity's journey from Africa to the world, a place for settlement and life. Thus, Faya is no longer just a local site in the memory of the land, but a central station in the memory of humanity.”

“From this perspective, we do not see the inscription of Faya on the UNESCO World Heritage List as merely a recognition of this region's history-history validates itself, and we claim no credit, though we have many duties towards it, foremost among them being loyalty and preservation. We see this inscription as a new gift that this region offers to humanity, just as it has historically given the first agriculture, the first trade, the first road networks, the first administrative systems, and the earliest civil and social structures.”

“Through this inscription, humanity now has a new window through which to view the past of this region, to learn from it and draw guidance from the experiences of those who came before us.”