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Photo Samples, Middle East
Syria,
Tunisia, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Oman,
United Arab Emirates, Kuwait & Turkey
This, the most unstable and unruly part of the
world, is to most people synonymous with political violence, Islamic fundamentalism and
terrorism. However, if you venture beyond the politically charged speeches of the imams
and presidents, chances are that you'll enjoy a perfect stay, meeting nothing but
friendliness and hospitality, and it certainly doesn't reduce the value of the experience
that, even outside Egypt, the Middle East contains some of the most fantastic archeological monuments on earth.
I know the countries such as
Egypt, Iran, Yemen and
(some might say) Afghanistan belong to the Middle East as well, however, to make things
simpler, I have chosen to give them their own list of photos; just check the list to the
left.
As usual, all photos are, of course © Claus
Qvist Jessen, and none of them are to be used without my permission. |
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All
over the Middle East, elderly men seem to spend most of their daylight hours sitting in
small tea houses, playing "tablas" (backgammon). This gentleman is from
downtown Damascus, Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Damaskus tea
and bucket seller. Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| One of the
most important mosques in the region is the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus. Surprisingly,
there is no seperation in between the male and female parts of the huge room, and even
toursists are permitted to enter. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| To the
outsider, Islam is very much a question of discipline. The common prayers almost look like
military exercise, here from the Ummayad Mosque, Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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And down they go; Ummayad Mosque, Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Arab lady from Central Damascus; Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Arabs praying inside the elaborately made Roqqaya Mosque of central
Damascus; Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Magnificent details from the ceiling of the Roqqaya Mosque of central
Damascus; Syria. This mosque is Shia rather than Sunni and receives lots
of Iranian pilgrims. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The Maluula Monastery close to Damascus is one of the very few remnants
of the Christian past of the region. Actually, there is a whole complex
of monasteries, each representing different lines of Christianity. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The impressive and unconquered 11th and 12th century Crac de Chevaliers in western Syria, the most impressive
of all the crusader forts in the Middle East. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| A vaulted
arch of Crac de Chevaliers; western Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| The entrance
of Palmyra, the best preserved Roman ruins in Syria, and certainly
among the best in all of the Middle East. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Palmyra
sunset; Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| The
Citadel of Aleppo; Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Inside
detail from the Citadel of Aleppo; Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Young
boy reading the Quran, supervised by his father; Ummayad Mosque of
Aleppo, Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Four
venerable (and almost blind) gentlemen at the Ummayad Mosque of Aleppo,
Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Time for
prayer; Ummayad Mosque of Aleppo, Northern Syria.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| A family
f pilgrims at the Ummayad Mosque of Aleppo, Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| The
covered bazar of Aleppo is definitely on of the best and most colourful
of the whole region; Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Goats
heads from the Aleppo Bazar; Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Camel
head; Aleppo Bazar, Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Coffee
vendor at the Aleppo Bazar; Northern Syria.
One cup costs a few cents and it tastes delightfully. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Clothings merchant; Aleppo Bazar, Northern Syria. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Some of
the buildings in central Beirut still bear the scars of decades of civil war. Most are
still inhabited, but the right one, the Holiday Inn Hotel, has been like this since the eighties.
The picture is from 2008.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Slightly confusing signboard; downtown Beirut.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Modern
mosque; downtown Beirut.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Bread vendor,
Beirut Corniche, Lebanon. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Another
important site of Roman ruins lies at Baalbek, eastern Lebanon. This is the famous Jupiter
Temple. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The tiny and cosy harbour of the Christian town of Byblos, north of
Beirut, Lebanon. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Roman amphitheatre; Byblos, Lebanon. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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One of the most important mosques in the whole world, The Dome of The
Rock is supposed to have been built on the site where Mohammed rose to
Heaven. Unfortunately, it's less than 200 meters away from the Western
Wall, holiest site of the Jews; Jerusalem, Israel.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The old town; Jerusalem, Israel.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Elderly
Orthodox Jew praying at the Western Wall;
Jerusalem, Israel. The Western Wall is the only remnants of the Second
Temple of King Solomon and is regarded as the holiest spot on Earth - to
the Jews, that is.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Orthodox Jew and Israeli soldier praying in fromt of the Western Wall.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Rabbi embracing the Torah during a Bar-Mitzwa ceremony;
Jerusalem, Israel.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Three
young boys during their Bar-Mitzwa;
Jerusalem, Israel.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Scenes from a Bar-Mitzwa ceremony;
Jerusalem, Israel.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The basement cave in the Church of Nativity, Bethlehem, Israel.
According to the legend, this was built on top of the birthplace of
Jesus.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The Catholic cathedral; Tunis, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Craving a tombstone; Tunis, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Local book-store; Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Outside airbag; Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Playing cards at a cafe; Tunis, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Lazy cafe man; Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The local fitness studio. Schwartzie go
home! Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Veggies for sale; Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Local bread vendor; Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| The
Tunis suburb Sidi Bou Said
is extremely beautiful. Blue and white colours all over, but very
touristic; Tunis, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Sidi Bou
Said door, Tunisia. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Roman amphitheatre; old town of Karthango, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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"Alexanders Baths" at Karthango, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The ancient, circular harbour of Karthango, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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French style church; Karthango, Tunisia.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The landmark of Kuwait,
the mighty Kuwait Towers, central Kuwait City. The towers were
designed by a Swedish architect company and the upper ball of
the middle tower is accessible to the public.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Inside the Kuwait Towers; Kuwait City.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Kuwait City
sky-line.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The dome of the Great
Mosque; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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Local butcher at the
central market; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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Burqa shop; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
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Young Kuwaiti couple,
very traditional and very much in love; Kuwait City.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Pakistani taylor of Kuwait City.
Most of the labour of Kuwait is imported workers on short-term work
permits.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Hot lunch! How to heat
the food at the taylor's shop; Kuwait City.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Fixing the measuring; a
taylor in action; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
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The fishing harbour; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
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Unloading the fish; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
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Puffing the shisha seems
to be the national sport among Arab gentlemen
(and women!); Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
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Two more happy smokers;
Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
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Arab perfume pusher; Kuwait City. © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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By far, the tallest building in the world,
the Burj Khalifa measures a grand 880 meters to the top; Dubai, United Arab Emirates. © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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The worlds first 7-star hotel - or so they
say. Burj Dubai; Dubai, United Arab Emirates. © Claus Qvist
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The "Creek", the old center of Dubai; United Arab Emirates. © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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Looking inland at the Creek; Dubai, United Arab Emirates. © Claus Qvist
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Local transport across The Creek; United Arab Emirates. © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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| In the Arab
world, there is always time for another cup of chai (tea), here from Dubai, United Arab
Emirates. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Even in
Dubai, Manchester United's got some fans. Here Christiano Ronaldo painted on a local bus;
Dubai, UAE.
© Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The Maydan Arean, the
site of the greatest horse race on the planet: The Dubai World Cup;
Dubai, UAE. The prize fund of the last and most important race is 10 mio
$, and it costs 100,000 $ just to enter the race. © Claus Qvist
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The most devoted
horse-man of the world's gotta be the leader of Dubai and vice president
of UAE: Sheik Mohammad bin-Rashid al-Maktoum. This photo was
taken from a 3-4 meter distance! © Claus Qvist
Jessen |
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The final fireworks after
the 2010 World Cup. © Claus Qvist
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Night music after the
Dubai World Cup 2010 has to be just as lavish as any other detail of the
arrangement: Not a small blues band but an intimate concert starring two
of the biggest stars ever made: Elton John and Carlos Santana. © Claus Qvist
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Senor Carlos on stage
after the Dubai World Cup 2010; Dubai, UAE. © Claus Qvist
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The east coast of the
Emirates, UAE. © Claus Qvist
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Oldest mosque in the
country, somewhere on the east coast of UAE. © Claus Qvist
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Headgear for sale; Dibba,
the east coast; UAE. © Claus Qvist
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One of the most touristy
thing to do: Desert fun driving; UAE. © Claus Qvist
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A short break in the
desert driving; UAE. © Claus Qvist
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| One of the
highlights of the Middle east, and now elevated to be one of the "New
Seven Wonders", is Petra in southern Jordan. Built in the 1.st century AD,
this temple, "The Khazneh" ("Treasury"), was made famous in the third Indiana Jones film. © Claus
Qvist Jessen |
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"The Monastery", the largest building in Petra. You can climb all the
way to the top. © Claus
Qvist Jessen |
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| Amman,
Jordan, is a very cosmopolitical city with lots of people from anywhere but Jordan. This
Saddam Hussein look-alike gentleman comes from Iraq. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The Arabs love sweets and desserts, as shown here from Amman, Jordan. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Outside The King Hussein Mosque; Amman, Jordan. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Fishing boats close to Muscat, Oman. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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The undisputed ruler of Oman, Sultan Qaboos. Aged more than 60, not
married and with no kids, his succession is the cause of much worry
among Omanis. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| One of
several Medieval forts in
the central Oman. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| In central
Oman, the dry mountains are cut through by a number of fertile "wadis". These
wadis are normally dry, but during rain, they flood and a river of more than 2-3 meters of
mud and water moves rapidly through the valley. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| The top of
the mosque, Nizwa, Oman. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Detail from the tiles of the mosque, Nizwa, Oman. © Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| Before the
invention of the right angles! Teenage girl from the central highlands of Oman. ©
Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Sunset fishing at Ras Madrakah; Southern Oman. ©
Claus Qvist Jessen |
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A nice bluefish from Ras Madrakah; Southern Oman. ©
Claus Qvist Jessen |
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Very concentrated domino player from Salalah; Southern Oman.
©
Claus Qvist Jessen |
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| A cosy,
Turkish get-together in an Istanbul cafe. © Claus Qvist
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| Mobile
drink-seller, Istanbul, Turkey. © Claus Qvist
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