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Qatar’s museums,a
glimpse of the past
Qatar has a tremendous amount on offer in a variety
of large and small general and specialized museums,
renovated forts and old buildings.
The Qatar National Museum and Aquarium on Doha’s
Corniche offers an insight into the history, natural
history and traditions of the country. The building
itself is an award-winning restoration of the old
turn-of-the century palace, which belonged to Sheikh
Abdullah Bin Qassim Al Thani. The lagoon is home
to several types of wooden dhow, used in past for
fishing, pearling and trading, but the water is
also the habitat of fish and turtles, which will
obligingly glide past waiting photographs.
The aquarium by the side of the lagoon offers the
opportunity to peer eyeball-to-eyeball with the
huge bottom-feeding hamour, such a feature of Gulf
menus, watch the sharks conger eels and stingrays,
marvel at the colours of the reef fish and wonder
at the beauty and danger posed by the dragon fish,
so feared by the old pearl drivers. You can also
read about the life of the pearl divers and see
some of the simple equipment they used such as the
turtle shell nose clips, the baskets in which they
collected the oysters, the knives used to open them
and the sieves used to grade the pearls. There are
explanations of how the oysters grow, how the pearls
are formed and the different named given to the
various shapes and sizes of pearl.
The museum is administered by the Department of
Museums and Antiquities, which is also responsible
for the Weaponry Museum in the Al Laqta area of
Doha, the Museum of Oriental Art and the regional
museums in Al Wakrah, Alk Khor and Al Zubarah Fort,
as well as the Al Koot handicrafts museum in Doha
and the Ethnographical Museum.
The National Museum is open from 9 am to noon and
from 3pm to 6pm every day except Saturday. (Tuesdays
is reserved for families only). Summer times are
often one hour later in the afternoon and evening.
The National Museum sets out old artifacts in each
of the different rooms around the courtyard, showing
what life was like in the traditional homes, the
simple equipment used by those offering medical
treatment and the day-to-day utensils used in the
houses. There is a collection of national costumes
and embroidery and a reconstruction of the old Qur’anic
school. Films depict various aspects of the Bedouin
lifestyle from making and erecting the brown cream
and black tents, known as ‘Bayt Al Shar’
(House of Hair) to the importance to poetry and
storytelling. Bedouin hospitality is explained as
is the traditional coffee making ceremony.
There are maps showing the location of the various
archeological digs, together with artifacts retrieved
such as ancient stone axes and arrowheads, as well
as pottery. There is quite an extensive display
of geological samples and even a selection of mounted
insects and dried and pressed plants. The development
of the oil and gas industry is also illustrated
and explained. The buildings themselves demonstrate
many different features of traditional Gulf architecture.
In a separate section of the National Museum are
some of the gifts presented to the state, as well
as overseas decorations and awards.
Timings at regional museums vary. Al Zubarah fort,
on the north west coast of the country, was built
in 1938 and is close to a major archaeological site.
It houses a number of antiquities found in the area
and is close to several old and deserted fishing
villages. To reach it, you drive out of the capital
on the north road and take the sign-posted turning
to the left at the police post, which is about 58
km out of town.
The fishing towns of Al Khor (north of Doha) and
Al Wakrah (south of Doha) both have small museums
housed in restored buildings.
You currently have to be with an organized tour
group to visit the Weaponry museum, in the Al Laqta
area of Doha, but its well worth the effort. Plans
are underway to move several of the different collections
into a new museum complex under one roof, but at
the moment the weapons – which originated
from a private collection are in three adjacent
villas in an area close to the Department of Passports
and Immigration in Medinat Khalifa.
The ground floor of one building is devoted to pure
gold Gulf swords and daggers – each labeled
with the name of its owner, details of its manufacture
and information which will tell you to whom and
by whom it was gifted. The stairway to the upper
levels is decorated with circular displays of swords
and shields, leading to impeccable displays where
you can wonder at sets of chain mail, 16th century
Portugese armour and weapon and exquisitely engraved
Persian and Ottoman-Turkish rifles with mother of
pearl inlay or decorated with silver, coral and
precious stones.
The museum has as its nucleus the private collection
of Sheikh Hassan Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al Thani,
which was purchased by the state in 1994. There
are over 2300 exhibits, each carefully labeled and
in each of the various sections are paintings or
photographs depicting the owners and users of the
weaponry.
Old Indian long-rifles, each two to three metres
in length, leave you puzzling as to how they could
ever you puzzling as to how they could ever have
been aimed accurately and there is a beautiful collection
of curved silver khunjars or daggers from Gulf countries.
In another building are the cannon and cannon barrels,
bows and arrows, spears, battle axes, flintlocks,
fusils and martinis, pistols and rifles. Many of
the exhibits are Ottoman Turkish, Persian or Indian,
but in addition to those from the Gulf are examples
from Europe, Africa and other parts of the world.
Al Koot fort in the centre of Doha is in the al
Bida district, which was at one stage a village
in its own right and the capital of Qatar. The fort,
with its three circular and one square towers, now
houses a collection of local paintings, weaving,
old doors and gypsum carvings and explanations of
such crafts as spinning and weaving, gypsum burning,
boat building, cotton carding, etc. The Ethnographical
Museum is in an old restored house, which has a
traditional wind tower. Such devices, which funnel
the air through the building, were used way before
electricity and air conditioning were available
and together with other architectural features,
kept the houses amazingly cool even in the intense
heat of summer. The artifacts in ethnological museum
have recently been photographed and catalogued in
collaboration with the Doha based Gulf Arab States
Folklore Centre. The Museum of Oriental Art is another
superb exhibition of works emanating from a private
collection and again, special arrangements are required
to visit.
Separate to the above museums are the philatelic
museum at the General Post Office in West Bay and
a small museum next to the Souq Post Office, which
shows the evolution of the postal system in the
country – complete with old post boxes, sorting
machines, rubber stamps, weighing machines and the
books in which weights of incoming and outgoing
mailbags were noted together with details of their
points of origin or their destinations. Demonstrations
of traditional crafts, such as gypsum carving can
usually be seen at the Qatar Fine Arts Society building,
near to the Doha Club and the Ras Abu Aboud Road
flyover at the end of the Corniche. The traditional
domed fishing traps (called gargour) are still used
but now made of modern materials these can be seen
at the dhow harbour near to the Diwan Emiri and
the clock tower, half-way along the Cornich.
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