Heritage sites and studies of the pearling industry in Arab Gulf nations focus predominantly on men who labored as merchants, boat captains, and pearl divers. They represent merchants as having reaped the greatest returns and divers as having endured the greatest hardships over the history of the industry. Recently published memoirs and interviews feature elder men’s recollections of their experiences as divers during their youth; these men focus on the hardships that they endured and attribute their success – even their survival – to chance or divine intervention. British records from the 1930s not only document the tribulations that divers reported; they also, as this article argues, depict human agency – instead of nature, chance, or divine intervention – as the main source of misfortune for divers. These findings trouble “official” representations of pearl diving, particularly the treatment of the divers, at such heritage sites.

阿拉伯海湾国家的遗址和对珍珠业的研究主要集中于作为商人，船长和珍珠潜水员的工人。他们代表了商人，他们收获了最大的回报，而代表多样化的商人则经历了整个行业历史上最大的艰辛。最近出版的回忆录和访谈记录了老年人对年轻时作为潜水员的经历的回忆；这些人专注于他们所承受的艰辛，并将他们的成功-甚至他们的生存-归功于偶然或神圣的干预。1930年代的英国记录不仅记录了潜水员所报道的灾难。正如本文所论证的那样，它们还描绘了人类的代理能力，而不是自然，偶然或神圣的干预，是造成潜水员不幸的主要根源。