Select your language
Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Tinmal, Atlas, Morocco, Great Mosque, 12th century (Almohads), severely damaged in the strong earthquake on September 8, 2023.
Samarkand, Registan, Ulugh Beg Madresa, Ulugh Beg with scholars (astronomers)
Mada'in Saleh, Saudi Arabia: driving with my Nissan XTerra from Doha, Qatar to Berlin in Nov. 2016
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (ITHRA), Dahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Camels in Shahaniyya, Qatar before the race
'Imperial Days' in Constantinople, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Mehmed V in the carriage, 1917
Nemrud Dağı, Eastern Turkey (1988)
Iznik plate with Panther, wearing a bell on a chain, 16th c., Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Doha, Qatar
Camel ride next to the Pyramids (in the background Agfa advertisment): photo album documenting a Mediterranean trip (1928)
Afghanistan, a country with a long and complex history, underwent dramatic developments during the 1970s. In 1973 the last King Zahir Shah (1914 - 2007, r. since 1933) was replaced in a coup d'etat by his cousin and former prime minister Mohammad Daud, who stayed in power until April 1978 overthrown himself by a military intervention.
"On 27 April 1978 the world heard that there had been a successful military coup in Afghanistan. The régime headed by Mohammad Daud, which had itself come to power through a coup in July 1973, had been suddenly overthrown by tanks and jet planes that struck in the Afghan capital, Kabul. At first it seemed as if this was yet another military intervention which, although violent and abrupt, involved no major shift in the policies, social character or international alignment of those in power: a change comparable to Daud’s own coup, or to others in neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Arab world. Yet within days it became clear that the announcements of radical change coming over Radio Kabul were more than just the ritual demagogy of military coups: something rather more substantial had occurred." Fred Halliday on https://newleftreview.org/issues/i112/articles/fred-halliday-revolution-in-afghanistan
See images of 1970 taken on a private trip from Germany to Kabul on the land route in a VW beetle
Haile Selassie (1892-1975) was ruler of Abyssinia (Ethiopia and Eritrea) until 1974. The quite rare unoffical photo (probably at the airport) was taken by Erich Holm von Prosch during his visit there.
An interesting article was published in the 'Spiegel' in 1954 on the occasion of his state visit to the Federal Republic of Germany. To the article
India and the Gulf States
Relations between the Indian subcontinent and the Persian/Arabian Gulf stretch back millennia and have left many traces, both tangible and intangible, to the present day.
Coins minted in India under British rule (Raj) were the main means of payment used in the small sheikhdoms in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula during the 19th and the first half of the 20th century.
A fine example is a rupee from 1840 bearing the portrait of Queen Victoria and the inscription "East India Company" which was counter marked in the 1960s with an intriguing design: a gazelle and the inscriptions "Qatar and Dubai."
The Letter of the Prophet (pbuh) displayed in the National Museum of Oman in Muscat, which opened its doors in 2016, is one of several documents claining to have been written during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570 CE in Mecca - 632 CE in Medina).
The label at the showcase in the museum gives the following information :
Letter of the Prophet Muhammad,
to Abd and Jaifar, joint Kings of Oman (facsimile),
Ink on leather,
8 AH/ 630 CE.
It clearly states that the document on display is a faksimile (a one to one copy) but doesn't say where the original is kept.
For more information see the article by LAKSHMI KOTHANETH in the Oman Observer from May 8, 2019 - link below
National Museum of Oman Images
Bifolium from a Qur'an manuscript known as the Mushaf al-Hadina (Nurse's Qur'an), copied in a bold, angular cursive script with colourful vowel marks.
Made for a female patron, the nursemaid of ruler al-Muizz ibn Badis of the Zirid dynasty of Ifrigiya, who reigned over the central Maghreb region in the 4th century AH (11th century CE).
On occasion of the 52nd National Day on 2 December 2023 an unusual, eye catching picture of the founding father of the nation, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918–2004) arriving at Heathrow Airport, is presented.
Sheikh Zayed's first official visit to the United Kingdom in June 1969 lasted four days, but was prolonged for two weeks privately.
He came to London for political talks at a time when the British Empire, the ‘protective power’ for the last 150 years had decided the year before to withdraw their troops from the Trucial States / Coast, also called Trucial Oman until the end of 1971. This affected all seven Arabian Sheikhdoms: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qawain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujeirah.
As impressive as the picture, is the text on the back of the photo, describing the noble man to the point:
“In the hour it took him to get from London s Heathrow Airport to the Dorchester Hotel yesterday, the Sheikh of Abu-Dhabi's personal fortune went up by another £10,000.
Not that anybody bothered to point this out to the man now in Britain on a four day official visit.
Its the sane every hour of every day of the year adding up to an annual income of £80 million for the 51-year-old ruler of the state on the Persian Gulf.
The source of it, of course, is the oil. But there is a difference between Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nihan [sic!] and some of the other oil rich rulers of the area.
He prides himself on spending every penny of his income - and just about all of it on his people.
His philosophy is simple: The money belongs to my people. I organise the wealth, they enjoy it.
And enjoy it they do. The state's population of around 40,000 has the highest income per head of any country in the world.
Photo shows Heathrow airport, the Sheikh receives a subject’s greeting...a kiss on the nоsе.”