This is the National Museum of Qatar. We learned so much about Qatar. The second largest concentration of dugongs in the world are found off shore here (dugongs are the Asian equivalent of manatees). The highest concentration of whale sharks are also found here, but they are not in season so we can't take a tour. On our way to the museum we got rained on! The Uber car's windshield wipers were not too effective due to lack of use, but we made it there safe and sound. The museum was very large and the exhibits were spread out in a labyrinthine path. We zigged and zagged from 200 million years ago to recent history. There were fossils, taxidermy, old swords and guns, oil related technology and diplomatic artifacts. There was even a large area devoted to the recent embargo imposed by neighboring gulf states on Qatar starting in 2017 and ending in 2022. We had to do some research once we got back to fill in the blanks.
A dark cloud in the distance
Rain rain rain!
No pictures yet of the outside due to the rain, the inside looked like a spaceship
So many angles and shapes
This building is like a puzzle
A skeleton of a dugong
A very big nose
The earth 200 millions years ago
An ostrich
Whale shark
Oryx with very sharp pointy horns
A great face
Hedge hog
Honey Badger
Jerboa are cool little mouse like beasties
Water jugs here. Note the placard which is behind a low barrier. The font was so small that we had to bend over to try to read the information. If we got too close to the exhibit, an alarm would go off, but if we stayed further back we could not read the information. Grrrr!
Many different camel saddles
This one was made from bent sticks
Here is one like that
Falconry is a UNESCO recognized cultural heritage
These are large walls for the tents
Gold!
Sand flowing like water
This camel is all folded up
A list of the brands used to identify the ownership of camels
Here is one of the brands
A collection of blankets
These traditional images line the wall
Most buildings were very plain but these decorative gypsum blocks spruced them up
A fun smaller door inside the larger door
So many types of boats
Full color
Traditional costumes
Very fancy golden pieces
Cha ching
More gold
A guitar and a violin of sorts
These matched earrings of gulf pearls were once owned by Elizabeth Taylor
So delicate
A fancy bracelet
Emeralds from the Byzantine era 330 - 1453 CE
It looks like a rug but it is made of pearls
Diamonds?
So detailed
Very large
This tiara can be converted to a necklace
So many swords
Gold scabbards
Yikes!
Ceremonial daggers
A display of older technology
The typewriter has Arabic letters
Each of the recent heads of state had a display with their ceremonial daggers
These medallions reminded me of the medallions of European Royalty
Sure enough these were presented to the Sheiks by various European Royals
Very fancy
Detailed and beautiful
There was information about the territorial dispute between Qatar and Bahrain
The ratios of the flag of Qatar is 11:28 more than twice as wide as it is tall
The flag outshines everything around it
Outside the museum were bronze camels and other animals
The rain had stopped and so I could take pictures of the building
Next to the museum was the old palace from the 1800's
The palace is being renovated
Sparrows
A picnic zone
The palace
Back into the museum and all the many layers
Samples of the Desert Rose Quartz
Here is an example of the Desert Rose Quartz
Facets of the crystals
A tiny person can be seen here
Shadow and light
A very elaborate building
Windows peeking out here and there
The finish on the walls is random
Lots of flags
A sea of flags
I wonder how many flags are flying
The skyline
