One of the benefits of a holiday is that it is an opportunity to step back from the daily challenges of work and to allow the mind to wander off in pursuit of new experiences and new ideas. Not that matters related to work are ever very far away, for me anyway, but the time to think quietly and to stand back is of enormous value.
Apart from pursuing hobbies, like birdwatching in a cooler climate, one of the things I value most is the opportunity to read more. Some of the books I am reading on my current break in the British Channel Island of Jersey are light, trashy novels – they may amuse, but scarcely educate and stimulate.
Others, though, are quite different. I’ve recently derived much pleasure from reading books on British and European medieval history, refreshing and expanding on knowledge learnt at school or university that has long since been forgotten.
I’m currently reading a well-researched study of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a remarkable 12th century duchess who was queen of France and then of England. She was also the mother of two English kings and of the wives of a German emperor, a king of Sicily and a king of Castile, now part of Spain. One of those English kings, Richard the Lionheart, crossed swords with the great Muslim leader Saladin during one of the Crusades.
The details of Eleanor’s marital and political career are fascinating, though scarcely of much relevance to a UAE audience today. But the biography had a throwaway line in a description of London in about 1150 that grabbed my attention and prompted further thought. At that time, over 850 years ago, England was trading with western Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Mediterranean, and “gold was even imported from Arabia”.
That gold, I assume, must have come from what is now Saudi Arabia, where mines were reopened a few years ago. Who today is aware that Arabia exported gold to western Europe so long ago?
There is other evidence, too, of the contribution made by Arabia in the past to the flowering of prosperity and of culture in western Europe. Not long after Eleanor of Aquitaine – and perhaps during her lifetime, too – merchants from the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa were making their way overland to the Gulf, to trade with Julfar, in Ras Al Khaimah, and the kingdom of Hormuz.
From there, fine Gulf pearls made their way back to the courts and the potentates of Europe. Some of those pearls can be seen in paintings of the Renaissance era. Over 1,000 years earlier, other pearls from the Gulf were highly prized by the ladies of imperial Rome, as, indeed, they were in the courts of late 19th century Europe.
There was the transfer of ideas, too. In 1145, an English contemporary of Eleanor, Robert of Chester, introduced the Arabic system of algebra to Europe. Either he or another early English scholar, Adelard of Bath, were the first to introduce Arabic numerals to Europe, though not until the 16th century did they finally replace the old Roman numerals.
Political and religious conflicts, like those engendered by the initial expansion and then waning of the early Arab-Islamic and the later Ottoman empires, attract attention from historians, and rightly so, although one wishes that they were better known, better understood. These ancient connections of goods and ideas, though, are also fundamental elements of the histories of the Arab world, stretching right into the Arabian peninsula, and of Europe, including its westernmost extremities.
The importance of a greater focus on the history and heritage of the UAE and of the peninsula as a whole, in our educational system is widely recognised: it’s an essential part of the promotion of the country’s national identity. Perhaps, in that, the gold jewellery of Eleanor of Aquitaine has a part to play.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
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Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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How Sputnik V works
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
Profile
Company name: Marefa Digital
Based: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Number of employees: seven
Sector: e-learning
Funding stage: Pre-seed funding of Dh1.5m in 2017 and an initial seed round of Dh2m in 2019
Investors: Friends and family
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
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Remaining Fixtures
Wednesday: West Indies v Scotland
Thursday: UAE v Zimbabwe
Friday: Afghanistan v Ireland
Sunday: Final
