2004.130.22142.1

Collection type

Photograph

Description

Portrait of Muhammad bin Fadil, a falconer in Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's hunting party, sitting on a camel with a peregrine falcon on his arm in the Al Khatam sands near Jebel Hafeet (Jabal Hafit). Muhammad bin Fadil kneels on his camel, which is saddled with a dark sheepskin and a burlap sack (most of the camel is outside the frame). He wears a patterned ghutra (headscarf), a thobe (long shirt) and a wraparound skirt. A hooded peregrine falcon perches on a mangalah (cuff) on his near hand and he holds a camel stick in his other hand. In the far distance a sheer faced rock mountain (likely Jebel Hafeet [Jabal Hafit]) sits below the horizon. This image was taken between December 20, 1948, and January 27, 1949, during which time Wilfred Thesiger stayed with Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in Al Ain and joined him on a number of hunting excursions.

Geographical reference

United Arab Emirates

Asia > Western Asia > United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi Emirate; Al Ain Region; Al Khatam - Abu Dhabi Emirate; Al Ain Region; Jebel Hafeet [Jabal Hafit]

Cultural groups

Arab

Person

Named Person Muhammad bin Fadil

Photographer Wilfred Patrick Thesiger

Expedition or compiler Wilfred Thesiger United Arab Emirates Winter 1948-49

PRM source Wilfred Patrick Thesiger

Date / Period

Date of photograph: 20/12/1948 - 27/01/1949

Acquisition information

Acceptance in Lieu: 03/2004

Photographic process

Negative film Kodak

Black & White

Dimensions

Image dimension 35 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 2004.130.22142.1 Previous PRM number: WT.1949.39.6.18 Previous other number: 1949.39/6.18

Research and responses

Research Notes - 'Last winter I spent three weeks hawking with the Abu Falah sheikhs on the Trucial Coast at the southern end of the Persian Gulf.... The Arabs here use the peregrine, which they call "shahin", whereas on the open gravel plains of the Nejd they prefer the saker falcon or "hurr". The peregrine is swifter, bolder and more persevering, but the saker is said to have better eyesight and is worth up to twenty pounds, whereas a peregrine can be had for ten pounds.... Zaid planned the hunt in a wide circle among the sand dunes to the south-west of Buraimi. There were many wells of sweet water there, which would be a convenience, while heavy rain earlier in the year had produced rich grazing in the sands.' Wilfred Thesiger, 'Hawking in Arabia', Listener, 42 (1949), p.803-804. [AK 07/04/2011]

Research Notes - 'I spent the next month hawking with Zayid in the Khatam sands. The Al Bu Falah and Bin Maktum sheikhs of the Trucial Coast look forward eagerly to the hawking season which in these parts starts in November and usually ends in March. Zayid uses peregrines (shahin, pl. shuahin) mostly of the Eastern race, though I noticed one Barbary falcon among his birds, in preference to saker falcons (hurr pl. harar) which are preferred on the open plains of the Najd. The saker has better eyesight than the peregrine and can see a bustard on bare ground at an incredible distance, but among the sands, where bustards are easily tracked and where they can be approached from behind the dunes, the Arabs fancy the peregrine since it is swifter, bolder and more persevering than the saker. These peregrines are caught on the islands and salt flats along the Trucial Coast while on migration in November and December.' Wilfred Thesiger, pp. 143, in 'Desert Borderlands of Oman', Geographical Journal, 116, Oct. - Dec. 1950, pp. 137-168. [AK 07/04/2011]

Search terms: Hunting, Portrait