Qatar

GIUSEPPE MASCI

A PICTORIAL
SOUVENIR
Qatar
A PICTORIAL
SOUVENIR
Qatar
A PICTORIAL
SOUVENIR

GIUSEPPE MASCI
Published by Motivate Publishing

Dubai: PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE

Tel: (+971 4) 282 4060, fax: (+971 4) 282 0428
e-mail: books@motivate.ae www.booksarabia.com

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Tel: (+971 2) 677 2005, fax: (+971 2) 677 0124

London: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER

e-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae

Directors: Obaid Humaid Al Tayer and Ian Fairservice

Text and captions: Frances Gillespie and Harvey Pincis

Consultant Editor: David Steele

Editors: Pippa Sanderson and Harvey Pincis
Deputy Editor: Moushumi Nandy
Assistant Editor: Zelda Pinto
Art Directors: Andrea Willmore and Carl Bergman
Designer: Cithadel Francisco
General Manager Books: Jonathan Griffiths

© Giuseppe Masci and Motivate Publishing 2008

Cover: An elegant Mosque in Al-Wakrah, an old fishing town on the

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material
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without the written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for the
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ISBN: 978 1 86063 209 9
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
Printed by Rashid Printers & Stationers LLC, Ajman, UAE
eastern coast of Qatar.
Half-title page: Detail of an intricately carved wooden door on
display in the private museum of Sheikh Faisal bin Jassim al-Thani.
Title page: A traditional coffee shop at the edge of Souq Waqif.
Customers stop for a rest and perhaps to drink a cardamom-spiced
coffee or smoke a hubble-bubble pipe (shisha).
This spread: A sunset on the western coast of the Qatar peninsula.
Following spread: Zubara fort, built in 1938 as a police post and
later preserved as an historic building and museum, stands on a
lonely stretch of coast in the north-west, guarded by a bronze
cannon. Not far away lie the partly excavated ruins of the old trading
and pearling town of Zubara, surrounded by a wall with massive
drum towers at regular intervals.

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Introduction
Q
atar is a peninsular, located halfway down the west
coast of the Arabian Gulf, with a history reaching back
to the Middle Stone Age when the climate was more
temperate than now. ‘Ubaid pottery from Mesopotamia
has been discovered there, pointing towards Qatar’s role
in prehistoric regional Gulf trade.
Fishing and, until the 1930s when the industry declined,
pearling were the mainstays of existence, together with sheep
and goat rearing in the interior. This way of life was transformed
when Qatar’s hydrocarbons industry was developed. As the
world’s third largest holder of gas reserves, the oil and gas sector
is the largest contributor to the country’s GDP, and this boon has
been used to diversify the county’s interests in various activities.
Through the vision of the Emir, HH Sheikh Hamad Bin
Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar today is a well-developed and vibrant
country that has hosted many world-class events showcasing its
state-of-the-art infrastructure in the fields of industry, commerce,
education, culture, leisure and sports.
Travel and tourism have developed rapidly, as have building
projects. The Qatar Pearl is just one of the multi-billion dollar
landmark projects and has both residential and commercial
components. Hosting the Asian Games in 2006 brought many
visitors to Qatar and provided the country with top class sports
complexes including the largest sports dome in the world.
Qatar has been quick to develop its educational and cultural
facilities with the establishment of the Qatar Foundation and
Education City, encouraging many international universities to
expand their educational programmes there.
While looking to the future, Qatar has carefully preserved
its heritage along with that of the region. The iconic Islamic
Art Museum is an illustrious example of this, housing a world-
leading collection of Islamic Art.
This unique photographic collection is a testament to the
strength of the Qatari people, their culture and their spirit.
The Sealine Beach Resort, south of Messaieed, is a relaxing place to spend
some time. Steep sand dunes nearby are popular with those who like to
career up and down in 4x4s and buggies, or race around on the desert floor.
Those who prefer a more sedate pace of life can take a ride along the beach
on a camel, the ‘ship of the desert’, or simply relax under an umbrella.

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Above and following spread: These peaceful sunsets scenes testify that, despite
the speed of Qatar’s development, the simple pleasures of life are still enjoyed.
Above, a man wades through the shallow waters searching for bait, while, in
the following spread, a family relaxes in one of the parks along the Corniche.

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 Inspired by tradition

30 31
 D espite the breathtaking pace of development,
the people of Qatar are deeply attached to
their traditions, rooted in a past of which they
are proud. The state religion is Islam; most Qataris
are Sunni Muslims and religious observances are
strictly followed.
Qatari nationals dress modestly in public. Men wear
a loose white cotton robe, the thobe, over white cotton
trousers. The head is covered with a cotton crocheted
cap called a gheffiah, and over it a square of cloth, the
guttrah, held in place with a double black coil, the agal.
A feature that is more popular with many Qataris than
with other Gulf nationals are the two long tasselled
cords, called karkhoosh, at the back of the agal. On
ceremonial occasions a fine cloak edged with a band of
gold embroidery, the bisht, is worn over the thobe.
Traditional wear for women is a long-sleeved dress,
the djallabiyah, embroidered at neck and cuffs and
worn over baggy trousers with embroidered ankle cuffs
called sirwal. Outdoors the abbaya, a black cloak of
cotton or silk is worn. Older women often prefer the
djallabiyah, but younger ladies may well wear the latest
Western fashions under their all-enveloping abbayas!
The head is covered either with a thin scarf called a
shaila, or a larger black headscarf, the hijab. Women
from Bedouin families often wear a short, stiffened
calico mask, the battula, and many ladies wear a veil,
the burqah, leaving only their eyes exposed.
The most important of the religious festivals is the
Holy Month of Ramadan. During this month Muslims
refrain from eating, drinking or smoking between dawn
and dusk. After sunset, people have an Iftar snack,
followed later in the evening by a meal of traditional
Ramadan delicacies, shared with family and friends.
Half way through Ramadan comes Garangou, when
children tour neighbourhood houses singing traditional
songs and collecting gifts of nuts and sweets. At the
end of Ramadan is Eid al-Fitr, a holiday lasting three
or four days. Later in the year, after Dhul Al Hijjah, the
month of pilgrimage to Mecca, comes Eid al-Adha.
Many modern buildings around Doha incorporate
such features of traditional architecture as windtowers,
32
arches and carved gypsum. Examples of intricately
carved gypsum can be seen in the palace now housing
the National Museum, and surrounding the doorway
of another former palace at Al Rayyan on the
outskirts of Doha. Near Grand Hamad Street is the
recently restored Wind Tower House, built in 1935
and now surrounded by the Najada Shopping Plaza.
Windtowers, known as badghir locally, were used
traditionally as a means of air-conditioning, funneling
cool breezes into a building at night and allowing
warm air to escape during the day.
Picturesque abandoned villages around the coastline
feature simple, one-room cottages of mudbrick or coral
rock, roofed with mangrove poles covered with a layer
of palm-leaf matting and coated with mud, formerly
the homes of fishermen and pearlers.
Since shopping malls began to open all over the
capital, some of the souqs have moved to new, marble-
clad, air-conditioned buildings. Unlike malls, where
prices are fixed, souq traders expect customers to
bargain. Souq Waqif, the rambling covered souq not
far from the Corniche, has recently been restored.
Rickety metal roofs have been replaced with ceilings
of mangrove or bamboo poles and matting, external
walls constructed from stone, and colonnaded
walkways provided, where coffee drinkers can sit and
watch the world go by, and smoke a shisha (hubble-
bubble) water pipe. Souq Waqif is the place to buy
traditional clothing of all kinds, perfumes which the
vendor will blend to the customer’s requirements,
and colourful spices displayed in sacks and boxes.
Kitchenware shops display everything from glassware
to aluminium cauldrons and trays big enough to
hold a young roasted camel! Along one side of Souq
Waqif, you can see palm-frond mats and baskets and
hand-woven material being made, and shops here sell
traditional souvenirs of all kinds.
Horses have been part of Arabian tradition from
earliest times, and Qatar has some of the finest
pure-bred Arab horses in the world. The Al Shaqab
Stud Farm, owned by HH the Emir, was one of
the first private studs to be established in the Gulf.
Horse-racing, both on the race track and in the form
of endurance races in the desert, is popular. The
involvement of the ruling family ensures Qatar’s place
in the world of the equestrian show ring.
Qatar has a large population of camels, which can
be seen browsing in the desert or exercising on the
roadside tracks at Al Sheehaniya, the small inland town,
a 30-minute drive from Doha, where camel-racing
takes place. The races are keenly followed, with the
best camels changing hands for the same astronomical
sums as race horses. High-tech robots have now
replaced the young riders who formerly raced the
camels, and visitors to the races, which take place
between October and April, are welcome.
Falconry has been popular since the days when
hawks were used by the bedouin for hunting, and there
is a falcon souq and several centres, where the hooded
and tethered birds sit quietly on their astroturf perches.
In autumn the main prey, houbara bustards, migrate
to the Arabian mainland to overwinter, preceded by
peregrine and sakr falcons. Traps are set up along the
coastline and, once caught, weeks of intensive training
follow before the falcons are ready to hunt. At the end
of the season some birds may be released into the wild,
while others spend the summer months being tended
in air-conditioned cabins.
Previous spread: Downtown Doha is a bustling hive of
activity, but there’s always time to sit and chat, like this
group of friends on a bench beside a lane in Souq Waqif.
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The 50,000-seater Khalifa Sports City hosted the Asian Games in 2006 with
over 10,500 athletes taking part. The stadium boasts an arched roof structure
and lighting arc, which creates a spectacular silhouette against the clear blue of
the sky. Other buildings include the Aspire Sports Dome housing the largest
indoor facility in the world, the Hamad Aquatic Centre and a Sports Hospital.

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