A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, August 9, 2013

Solution to This Morning's Photo Quiz

It's five PM and time to post the answer to this morning's nostalgic photo quiz. As you'll recall, this was the photo:

Unfortunately, the contest provoked only one response, unlike the great responses I got to the General Sisi post. The one answer was from "Karl," who said "Dubai."

A very reasonable guess. The dhows on the beach guarantee it's somewhere in the Gulf, and as I said, it doesn't look like this anymore. A reasonable guess, but wrong. Here's the picture with the original caption, which is scanned from Lorimer's Gazeteer.
Yes, not Dubai, but Doha. Pre-Oil, pre-Natural Gas, pre-Al Jazeera, pre-Education City, pretty much pre-everything.

Prize quote from Lorimer, Vol. IIA (1908), p.489:
"The general appearance of Dohah is unattractive; the lanes are narrow and irregular, the houses dingy and small. There are no date palms or other trees, and the only garden is a small one near the fort, kept up by the Turkish garrison."
Enjoy your weekend. Doha today:

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