Monday, September 28, 2009


I went to Souq Wagef again tonight... this may have been my 8th or 9th time.
It is, in fact, my favorite place in Doha.

It is far from original, as the authentic souq was torn down to be rebuilt (and made to look old, just like the original- wtf) about ten years ago.
But inside of the souq are still some of the same Qatari store owners whose austere presence and unbelievable kindness make me feel like I am in a real place, and not in a saran wrapped bubble.

Plastic cities and cultures are popping up all over the world, and I should know best, coming from the United States; but plastic is plastic and no matter where I am, I don't like it.
None have developed so fast and gregariously as they have in the Gulf.
As a result, the history and cultural traditions of Qatar are disappearing with a similar quickness.

Gulf pearls (especially from Bahrain and Qatar) were valued more than any in the world. Some thing in the sea beds of Qatar and Bahrain made the pearl's brilliance, color, shape and size superior to that of any other pearls. The pearls were taken to pearl trading centers in Dubai and Bahrain after which they were shipped to India where they were in high demand by Maharajas for lavish decorations; and what was left was sent to Kings and Queens in Europe.

these are Tasas which pearls were sifted through and sorted by size



and this is a tiny little pearl scale

Pearling was much more than a livelihood in Qatar. It was the ONLY livelihood, and everything was centered around it. The Tawwash (pearl traders), when they weren't buying or selling pearls, they were gathered together at a coffee shop in Souq Wagef to discuss the pearl market inside and outside of their region.
During the off season, Pearl divers and marine entertainers would congregate at Duoor (specific houses) to practice different forms of Nahmah (marine entertainment). Nahmah was the most essential component of pearl diving which included the songs, poems (Mawwal), chants and other rituals that were performed on the boats to enhance and encourage the working spirts of the pearl divers. These artistic forms of expression were not taken lightly, and involved the entire community. The poets and singers were highly respected artists who were a foundational structure of Qatari coastal communities. Any action that was performed in relation to pearl diving, including ship building, the hoisting of the sails, the departure and return of the divers, and much more, was accompanied by a specific Nahmah ritual. This practice was cherished and loved to such a degree that it became a common practice even during the winter months when pearl diving was not in season.
It is worth noting that through out history, Arabs (city, coastal and Bedouin alike), have found ways to maintain a high morale, good humor and a ripe spirit even in the dimmest of circumstances.

In the 1940's two things happened which contributed to the demise of pearl diving. The Japanese Cultivated Pearl flooded the market with such force that a G1 Dhana pearl (best quality) went from 5,000 rupees a Shoo (like a Karat) to 50 rupees. the other contributing factor was India's independence in 1947. India in the 1900's (and much earlier) was Qatar's biggest pearl buyer as well as the largest pearl market in the world. After they gained independence, an abrupt halt was put on imports of luxury goods. Qatar underwent one of the most devastating recessions known to the Gulf. Pearl diving was replaced with destitution and poverty. The population in Qatar decreased from 25,000 to 10,000.

The transition from a life of extreme toil and hardship to a life of lavish luxury happened quickly and without deliberation.
Oil was discovered and money swept across the Gulf like a sandstorm.

Pearls soon became a luxury to the Gulf inhabitants instead of a livelihood. Woman of the Gulf began to acquire a taste for pearl jewelry which they had never worn until this point.
It was also around this time that the demand for the Gulf pearl rose again. It became evident to pearl collectors that the cultivated pearl lost its glister and shape while a natural pearl stayed true for many many years.
Diving although, was no longer practical in the Gulf, so the same people in the Gulf that sold the pearls (Tawwash) went back to their buyers in India and Europe to retrieve the same pearls that they sold.
Today, the Gulf pearl is high in value and demand, and low in quantity.
But maybe, just maybe, I can get my paws on one little pearl to take home with me.
That would be worth many hours of wandering around the Souq, which I will do regardless.
The shop owners at Souq Wagef are starting to recognize me. And each time I go I make a new friend. There is one old Qatari shop owner that invites me into his tiny little shop every time he sees me.
And each time I go I stay for long periods of time while he sits on the floor and tries to speak to me in broken english and serves me tea and coffee and gives me little trinkets. In two hours, I take away about 2 complete sentences. The rest is gibberish and I love it. His hospitality and surreal kindness communicate more than words could translate.







Tuesday, September 15, 2009












I'm not sure how to go about describing tonight's interview.
It was awkward to say the least.
A friend of mine accompanying me said that it made her muscles tense. For whatever reason, Sa'ad Isma'el was not happy to be interviewed. He was very willing, but at the same time he seemed perturbed about it.
As a young boy, he dove for pearls with his father. He showed me the rock that he would attach with a rope to his foot to sink to the bottom. He also showed me the plug that he used for his nose when diving.
He put a basket net around his neck that he used to put the oysters and clams in.
For his family, he would bring back starfish shaped like camels and his mother would put little saddles on them.
He is the first genuine pearl diver (no scuba gear) that I have met. He was young when he dove, as pearling hasn't been practiced out of necessity for 50 or 60 years in the gulf.
He said he knew the songs of the pearl divers. He also said that he could sing them, as well as translate them.
But he would not.
He kept saying, "why does it matter," "who will care..."
I promptly said that I would care.
He responded with a long pause, during which I waited with my camera ready.
No songs for me.
not today anyways.
I asked him if he new any stories, legends or folklore told from pearl divers.
he said that he did, and then proceeded to tell me a TOTALLY unrelated story about his beard, a strand of hair, a box, and loaning someone some money.
I was perplexed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6w9NwH0bSk
But I think that he was trying to convey something about trust, and that a man's word used to be worth something. -Today, in Qatar, trust and honor are not what they use to be.
I believe pearl diving represents something more than just a novel memory to Sa'ad Isma'el.
Oil and gas are fine and dandy, and everyone is fat and happy...but in the process of rapid development and money trees popping up everywhere, certain things were lost, and maybe there are some people that miss those things.
On November 15, 2005 the Doha Debates proposed this question to Qataris and Arabs from all over the Islamic world: was the oil a blessing or a curse?
the result: "This house believes that oil has been more of a curse than a blessing for the Middle East"
The motion was passed 63% - 38%.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Today I spoke with a man named Majd Almeer.
He was exactly one hour late for the interview.
"The Emir was leaving his palace so they closed all the streets," he explained.
He arrived wearing a Thobe, making it all the more official.
He has written many articles on Qatari history and Pearling. They, along with any other related literature, are in Arabic; so he is having some of this literature translated for me. He is itching for someone to share his massive amounts of information with. After I emailed and asked for a time to set up an interview, he met with the Ministry of Culture and was given permission to access to anything he might need to help me with this article.
Whatever I wanted to get out of this interview, I got it, and much more (with the exception of a personal diving tour with underwater camera equipment- but don't think I didn't ask).
The history of Qatar, and most of the gulf, is incredibly complicated. And after 2 hours, I think I might have a little piece of the puzzle figured out.
Qatar, before the Al-Thanis (current Royal family), were ruled by a tribe called Al Khalifa until till the early 1900's (don't quote me on the dates just yet) before they were overtaken by the Al Thanis. The Al Thani tribe came from a tribe known as Tameem. The Tamimi tribes were quite possibly the biggest in Arabia. Their members numbered in the millions. About 100 years ago, the Tameem tribe, along with many other tribes, went to war with King Abdullah Azziz Ibn Saud (Saudi Arabia) under a man called bil Khathleen (this spelling is WRONG). The reason for this war is too complex to go into; (something about a Mohammad bin Abdul Wahab and the Wahabi teachings, which have since been renounced due to their speculated promptings of the jihad...) basically it was a religious dispute (shock) and I fear that some of you may have already lost interest.
Back to the war-
King Saud only had about 300 men, and his enemies knew this. The only reason that King Saud was so respected was because he had Islamic scholars behind him and therefore gained fear and respect from most of the Arabian Gulf. But the tribes went to war nonetheless, expecting an absolute victory while outnumbering the Saudi army by thousands upon thousands. What they didn't know was that King Saud had made a pact with the British, and was supplied with machine guns, while bil Khathleen's men had only swords. The tribes were massacred by King Saud's men. The tribesmen and warriors remaining (those that didn't surrender their allegiance to King Saud) scattered all over the middle east. The Tameem tribe went to Qatar, where they defeated the current ruling tribe, Al Khalifa, on Zubara fort. The Al Thani family was only called Al Thani after Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani (al Tamimi) fought and won al Wajba war against the Ottomans (1890's) and gave himself a new name to differentiate himself and his ruling tribe from the previous Tamimis. Wikipedia begins its history of Qatar with the Al-Thani tribe. (Although, Mr. alMeer said that he was going on Wikipedia tonight to fill in the gaps).
Still awake?
The Tameem tribe (now Al Thani) were an absolutely fierce people. There is an Arabic saying that goes, "if it wasn't for Islam, Tameem would have eaten all Arabic tribes."
Before Islam, the Tamimi defeated Persia 10,000 soldiers to 100,000.
Even the the Prophet spoke of the Tamimi tribes as very strong and feirce people.
If a member of a Tameem tribe has a son that is killed in battle, the parents would take the news with great honor and would celebrate the event.
"they killed for fun" says Mr. Almeer.
If they were thirsty they would kill their camels and take the water from their stomachs.
For energy, they would mix sand with water, AND THEY WOULD DRINK IT. (holy mother of all bad asses). Apparently there are some minerals in the sand that can provide some kind of sustenance.
The Tameem existance was a wretched one. Qatar is an absolutely dry country, and it took a certain kind of person just to try and survive here, let alone succeed. Pearling and fishing (and moving) were the only means of survival for many of the inhabitants here.

Majd Almeer comes from generations of Pearlers. He comes from both the poor and the rich side of Pearling, making his information all the more objective. His father's father was a Tawash, a wealthy trades man and buyer of pearls. His mother's father, on the oposite side of the spectrum, was a poor pearl diver. The Tawash would meet the boats in the water as they sailed to shore from a season of pearling, and he would buy the pearls from the captain aboard the ship. The Tawash would buy the pearls while on board the ship so the that divers wouldn't get cut out of their share of the money.
The Tawash were born wealthy, and with this wealth they would buy pearls, and take them to India, or other places where they would trade them for other goods. To my surprise, pearls were traded, not sold. And the pearls themselves didn't make anyone wealthy (at least not in the gulf); they were bought by people who were already rich. The divers themselves would make little to nothing, living off of peanuts while working the hardest and facing the most danger.
Each man, while diving, was attached to a rope that was held by another man aboard the ship. Many ropes were cut during the dives either by rocks, sword fish, sharks, and other things. If the rope was cut, the diver had to swim his way (10- 20 meters) to the surface- a very difficult thing to do with no air in your lungs.
The last man that I interviewed (the pearl man) told me that giant clams (dr. doolitle style) would literally close on the divers and prohibit them from re-surfacing.
I didn't believe him.
But apparently this DID actually happen- Mr. Almeer told me of a man that died in the sea while diving for pearls because a giant clam closed on his arm, and he lost too much blood. He said they have tiny little teeth, and when they shut, they can't be opened.
There was at least one singer aboard each ship. The singers were also divers, and their renowned voices were attributed to their ability to hold their breath under water for so long.
By the end of the interview, Majd Almeer was telling me folklore and (get ready) literally singing me songs of the pearl divers.
He sang one that was about the mothers who would lament for their sons and husbands as they boarded the ships. He translated the song, which was truly heart wrenching- and told me that his mother (whose father was a pearl diver) used to cry every time she heard the song.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I got a little teary eyed.


Saturday, September 5, 2009






after hours of wandering around Bida park in Doha, Qatar, i finally found 'the pearl man.'
Abdulla Nassir (the spelling is questionable at best) comes from a family of pearl divers. he has gone pearl diving many times, mostly off the coast of Oman, but unlike his father and his grandfather, he had the luxury of diving gear.
his english made it difficult to ask specific questions, but on the whole, the interview was a success.
the man was about my height, and super spunky.
with a devious little smile.
he had an abundance of information about pearl diving than anyone in qatar, and was more than happy to share it.
once he knew that i was serious about my inquiries, and not just a passer-by,
he went to the back of his store and returned with pearls that were worth tens of thousands of dollars. pearls that were more than 50 years old, retrieved from the ocean floors of qatar, bahrain and kuwait.
according to him, men from all over the gulf (saudi, kuwait, bahrain, oman, qatar, abu dabi, dubai, etc...) would sail in small boats (that would comfortably fit 30 people) with 150 men per boat, and up to 1000 boats at a time. they would leave in may, and would not return to land until september or october depending on their success.
after hours of diving up to 20 meters meters to the ocean floor, the men were allotted three tiny tiny TINY little cups of water a day. one in the morning, afternoon and evening.
he showed me the cup-shaped corral that the divers would drink out of.

when i asked about the songs of the pearl divers, i was given more information than i knew what to do with. apparently, there were different songs that were sung for different actions. the divers would carry drums aboard the ships, and they would sing a certain song when the first sail went up, and another for the second, larger sail.
when they had to pull the anchor, there were men that would beat a drum and chant to boost morale. apparently the anchors were absolutely monstrous.
when i asked if i could hear any traditional songs like this, he promptly got on the phone with one of the most well known and respected musicians in the gulf (his name escapes me)
and is going to bring cd's for me next week.
in addition to massive amounts of pearls and sea-shells, Abdulla Nassir let me have a peak at his antique collection. he showed me opium pipes from China, silver castings from mongolia, jewelry boxes from the forbidden city, a pearl scale from 1720. how he acquired these treasures is 'forbidden information.'
next week, same time, same place- im bringing a camera corder this time and will report back with more of the same-

the pearl man