{"id":67,"date":"2019-12-12T13:42:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T13:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/?p=67"},"modified":"2024-11-12T22:14:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T22:14:12","slug":"the-history-and-culture-of-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/2019\/12\/12\/the-history-and-culture-of-qatar\/","title":{"rendered":"The history and culture of Qatar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lucy (Year 9)<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve chosen to write my article about Qatar.   I used to live in Qatar when I was younger, and the culture I experienced while I was there fascinated me.  Recently, I returned to Qatar and visited a new museum, entirely dedicated to the history of Qatar.    I found this an enlightening experience, and I wanted to share the culture with others.  Qatar has a rich history and culture, dating back to the forming of the Arabian Peninsula 700 million years ago.  The Qatari peninsula comprises a wide variety of ecosystems; from arid deserts to stunning rock formations and lush underwater worlds.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people who inhabited Qatar moved between the land and the sea:  herding, trading, hunting and pearling.  Half of the year would be spent in the desert, while the other, the pearling season, would be spent by the coastline.  Pearls were Qatar\u2019s main trade for millennia, and supported the Qatari livelihood.  Families would pass on expertise surrounding pearls, and in the summer fleets of boats and divers would leave for the reef to dive for pearls.  The wealth of this nation was built on the pearl-rich sea surrounding the peninsula.  In fact, until the early 1900s, pearls were Qatar\u2019s most valuable export.  Successful pearl merchants were very famous and wealthy, and respected amongst the community.  Qatar\u2019s entire cycle of movement was based upon the pearl seasons.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the autumn and winter, the people of Qatar would journey\ninto Al Barr; the desert, to herd and to hunt. \nIn the desert, large communities would be formed, with families\ndepending on each other and showing shared values of hospitality and respect.  Communal values of valour, courage, honour,\nintegrity and respect gave people a strong sense of family loyalty which\ninfluenced behaviour amongst the community. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 628 AD, Islam came to Qatar, and quickly became the\ncountry\u2019s main religion.  Islam was\nimportant in all areas of daily life, and this is shown not only in the\nconstruction of elaborate mosques; (such as those in the archaeological site of\nMurwab) but in the expressions of modesty in the clothes of both men and women,\nand the development of a majilis (now incorporated into the hallway) in every\nhome.  The role of a majilis was as the\nsocial heart of a Qatari home, and it was the space for welcoming guests and having\ndiscussions.  Even today the majilis is\nan important part of Qatari society, with one being present in almost every\nhome.  As the Hadith (an important script\nin Islam) states, \u201cPart of man\u2019s happiness is a spacious dwelling, a good\nneighbour, and a good camel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern history of Qatar has been defined by the discovery of oil in the 1940s.  The demand for pearls plummeted in the early 1900s, taking Qatar\u2019s economy with it; due to the creation of \u201cfake pearls\u201d- pearls that were grown in freshwater and not seawater.  These new pearls were more affordable and therefore more popular, although of a much worse quality than seawater pearls.  Qatar was struggling until 1940, when the onshore oil field of Dhukan was found, followed 10 years later by Qatar\u2019s first offshore field.  These oil discoveries meant Qatar\u2019s economy boomed, and it has now regained its wealth of centuries ago.  Qatar has also become more involved on a recreational level, with the country hosting the recent world Athletics Championships and due to host the Football World Cup in 3 years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Random Interesting Item-related point:  Oud is something commonly used in Qatar.  It is burned as an insect repellent and has a sweet perfume smoke, made from burning crystals and charcoal. <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
Here is a map of the Middle East<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I hope you enjoyed this brief summary about Qatar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a little test- Can you translate any of these Arabic words? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Shukran<\/li>
  2. Nem<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Bonus Challenge- Can you do these in their original form?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u0644\u0627\n\n\u0639\u0641\u0648\u064b\u0627\u060c\n\u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u062d\u0628 \u0648\u0627\u0644\u0633\u0639\u0629  \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Lucy (Year 9) I\u2019ve chosen to write my article about Qatar.   I used to live in Qatar when I<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modern-foreign-languages","comments-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whs-blogs.co.uk\/linguistica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}