COVER N. 710 - U.A.E.- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Postmark: Customer Happines Centre Dubai Convention Centre Emirates Post 04.02.2026

Posted on 4th of February;  Received on the 6th May 2026

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Ravindra sends me a cover from Dubai in the UAE.... Luckily he did not get caught in the disruption caused by yet another senseless and illegal war that two and a half months later has only brought general economic uncertainty and particular suffering for those directly affected by military action, the more so in Iran and Lebanon, but also in other States of the Persian Gulf region.

Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi.

The United Arab Emirates became independent from the United Kingdom in 1971. According to a timeline of  Emirates Post history that I consulted here, "Post offices open in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah" in 1963 and 1964.

This is probably the event that was considered as the founding moment for Postal Services in Abu Dhabi, which 50 years later was celebrated with the 4 stamp souvenir sheet that Ravi used on this cover, issued on 3'MAR2013.

Of note is the fact that the stamps carry no face value indication, this being indicated on the frame of the sheet, as a global 10 dirham. As such I presume the stamps could not be used individually... was that so?

The four stamps (or should I call them vignettes?)  are illustrated with photographs of postal treatment facilities in Abu Dhabi. The top right corner and bottom left one stamps feature the same building on different eras (1968, 1975), Could it be that the other two with photos form 1963 and 1993, also show the same facility, as it was originally and as it looked like in 1993?

Postmark from The Customer Happiness Centre (quite an uncommon designation for a service...) of the Dubai Convention Centre.