Half Past Ten in the Afternoon

236 Pages·2014·5.24 MB·English

by  James Budd

Half Past Ten in the Afternoon
An Englishman’s Journey from Aneiza to Makkah
J B
AMES UDD
Foreword by
Ibrahim Abdulrahman al-Turki
Arabian Publishing
Half Past Ten in the Afternoon: An Englishman’s Journey
from Aneiza to Makkah
By James Budd
© James Budd 2014
Produced and published in 2014 by
Arabian Publishing Ltd
4 Bloomsbury Place, London WC1 A 2QA
Email: [email protected]
Published with the generous support of Yousef Ibrahim al-Bassam
Edited by William Facey
The moral right of the author has been asserted according to the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise) without prior permission in writing of the publisher and copyright holder.
A catalogue card for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-95767633-6
Typeset in TranslitLSU 11.5 pt/14
The Semitic Transliterator font used in this work is available from
www.linguistsoftware.com/stu.htm
Typesetting and digital artwork by Jamie Crocker, Artista-Design, UK
Printed and bound by TJ International, Cornwall, UK
To my friends
in Aneiza, Riyadh, Jeddah and al-Khobar
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction by Dr Ibrahim Abdulrahman al-Turki
1 ‘The Paris of Najd’
2 Arabic Time, David Copperfield and Lorna Doone
3 Colleagues
4 Al-Zghaibiyah and al-Khubaiba
5 Horrible for Breakfast
6 Sha‘ban Tries a New Trick
7 Doughty, Philby and Others
8 The June War
9 After the War
10 The Winds of Change
11 Goodbye to Aneiza
12 Journey to Makkah
13 Aneiza Revisited, 2011
Glossary
Further Reading
Index
List of Illustrations
Map of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Photographs
Between pp. 76 and 77
All photographs are by the author unless credited otherwise.
1. View of the town of Aneiza in 1967.
2. View of Aneiza from across the wood market, late 1960s.
3. Silsilah Street, Aneiza, in 1967.
4. The al-Hiyalah district of Aneiza in late 1969.
5. The author’s first house in Aneiza, 1965. By courtesy of Abderrrahman al-
Owaid.
6. A typical street in Aneiza in 1967.
7. Harvesting dates at al-Wadi, 1968.
8. Making mud bricks, Aneiza, 1969.
9. The Sangar, Aneiza, February 1985. By courtesy of William Facey.
10. Abu Sami, Mr Kreda and teaching staff of the Secondary School, 1968.
11. The author and students at al-Zghaibiyyah, 1969.
12. A school outing near Aneiza in 1967.
13. Round the campfire: a student outing to al-Musaffar, ca. 1967–68.
14. Students in the dunes, al-Musaffar, ca. 1967–68.
15. Abdelmalik al-Bassam and guests in the author’s house, Aneiza, 1967.
16. Abdullah al-Yahya al-Sulaim, ca. 1968.
17. View of Aneiza from the Sangar, 2011.
18. Silsilah Street, Aneiza, in 2011.
19. The majlis in the Bassam House, Aneiza, in 1985. By courtesy of William
Facey.
20. The restored majlis in the Bassam House, Aneiza, in 2011.
21. The restored ujaar, kummar and taag in the Bassam House, Aneiza, in 2011.
22. The author’s old house in al-Gar‘awiyyah, 2011.
23. Al-Hiyalah, Aneiza, in 2011.
24. The author visiting al-Alloush’s camels, 2011.
25. The author with ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-‘Uyuni in his garden.
26. The author with friends in al-Musawkaf, Aneiza, 2011.
27. Al-Khraiza Mosque, Aneiza, 2011.
28. The Prophet’s Mosque, Madinah, 2011.
29. The forecourt of the Grand Mosque, Makkah, 2011.
30. New buildings overlooking the Grand Mosque, Makkah, 2011.