Abu Dhabi wasn’t the original name – it was previously called ‘Milh’, which means salt (probably because of the extremely salty water in the shallows around the islands). And even when the ‘Dhabi’ name took hold (there were a few dhibaa – deer – living in the Al Bateen area) some Bedouins still called the place Umm Dhabi (mother of deer) while the British maps started referring to Abu Dhabi (father of deer).
[Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue 15]
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