1963 Saqr Map of Qatar - Oil Infrastructure

Qatar-saqr-1963
$4,000.00
خريطة قطر مبيناً عليها البلاد والقرى والمواقع الهامة / [Map of Qatar showing the country, villages, and important sites]. - Main View
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1963 Saqr Map of Qatar - Oil Infrastructure

Qatar-saqr-1963

Early Days of Qatar's Oil Industry.
$4,000.00

Title


خريطة قطر مبيناً عليها البلاد والقرى والمواقع الهامة / [Map of Qatar showing the country, villages, and important sites].
  1963 (dated)     30.25 x 21.5 in (76.835 x 54.61 cm)     1 : 200000

Description


A scarce and striking 1963 map of Qatar, prepared by Abdel Badie Saqr, a leading figure in the country's educational bureaucracy. It presents the territory late in the period when it was a largely autonomous British Protectorate and in the early years of an oil and gas boom that has defined its economy ever since.
A Closer Look
Qatar is displayed with roads, administrative boundaries, cities, towns, police stations, oases, and other features labeled. The red line running horizontally across the country is an oil pipeline from the Dukhan Field to the port of Mesaieed (مسيعيد). The capital, Doha (الدوحة), appears to its north, though today Doha has grown to the point that Mesaieed, al-Wakrah (الوكرة), and al-Wukair (الوكير) are practically suburbs of the metropolis. An inset map at top-left presents Qatar in the context of the wider Persian Gulf.
The Dukhan Field
The Dukhan (دخان) Field was the first oilfield discovered in Qatar, in the late 1940s, and remains its most productive. However, its remote location and the difficulty in moving heavy equipment there, along with the disruptions caused by World War II (1939 - 1945), limited its exploitation until 1949. The field was initially operated by Petroleum Development (Qatar) Ltd., a subsidiary of the Iraq Petroleum Company, until the nationalization of the oil sector in 1973. In subsequent years, natural gas reserves were also discovered, making it an essential and lucrative part of Qatar's national economy.
Publication History and Census
This map was prepared by Abdel Badie Saqr (عبد البديع صقر) in 1963 (AH 1383). Saqr was an education official and a founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar. A stamp at bottom suggests that it was sponsored by the Qatari government, plausible given Saqr's position, though this is not explicitly stated. It is marked as the tenth edition of the map (الطبعة العاشرة), though the map is now very rare in any edition. The only other known example is held by the Beirut Arab University.

Cartographer


Abdel Badie Saqr (عبد البديع صقر; 1915 - 1986) was an Egyptian political activist and later a prominent educational and cultural advisor to the Qatari government. Born to a family of military officers, he began a career as a merchant but soon became involved with Hassan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood. In the early 1950s, he was encouraged by Mohib al-Din al-Khatib to move to Qatar and become the head of the country's Committee of Education within the Ministry of Knowledge. In that role, he promoted religious conservatism and Islamic moral education in the country's schools. He also opened Qatar's first schools for girls. Starting in the late 1960s, he headed a government-affiliated publisher and became a cultural advisor to the ruler of Qatar. Saqr also was instrumental in establishing the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar. More by this mapmaker...

Condition


Good. Toning along fold lines and edge. Verso repairs to fold separations. Small areas of loss at fold intersections. Some handwritten annotations.

References


Beirut Arab University Call No. 912.5693.