Alhumdallilah”, is the simple caption for this image of a young boy mugging for the camera deep in the desert of Abu Dhabi.The location is Shah, one of a string of villages that form the Liwa Oasis and while the photograph is undated, it was probably taken after 1950 but before 1960.Shah still exists today – as, quite possibly does the boy – but in very different circumstances, including multi-lane motorway that connects the village to the capital in less than three hours.
In the time of this photograph, Liwa was the last watering hole after the coast and before the Empty Quarter, a place where camel caravans would regularly pass through.It was also the ancestral heartland of the Bani Yas tribe and the Al Nahyan family.
The men of Liwa would work as pearl divers in the summer months.Today Liwa remains important for other reasons, with the Shah gas field coming on stream this year. The Shah gas is “sour” meaning it has a high concentration of sulphur, which can be extracted and sold for export.
No longer a job for camels, the granulated sulphur will be transported on trains operated by Etihad Rail to Ruwais.Shah and Liwa’s other export is much more palatable. The Oasis has long been famous for its date palms, while that modern motorway makes a trip to next month’s Liwa Date Festival an easy day out.
* James Langton
