Tour Route

Chapter I
 Tour Guide Route

This booklet is your tour route through Chapter 1. It assists you to create and build a
tour that works for you and your visitors. To be a tour guide is to be a storyteller, and
this is how you should view your role while guiding visitors through the museum. Rather
than recite dry factual object information to visitors, try to engage them with the overall
main messages, immersive feel and overall displays of the galleries. Make use of the
bespoke art films to highlight the experiential approach of the museum. It is also
sufficient to direct attention to 2-3 highlight objects per gallery when you want to make
a point about something. Do make sure to make use of this booklet in conjunction with
your NMoQ Tour Guide Manual.

The Formation of Qatar

NMoQ Overview Tour: Include all content below (9 mins)
NMoQ Highlights Tour: Focus on Qataraspis model and dugong skeleton (6 mins)

On entering the first gallery, stand your group next to the display area on the left-hand
side.

We start our story over 700 million years ago. This gallery bring us back to Qatar’s
ancient geological past. Let’s watch together some of the beautiful imagery contained
within Christophe Cheysson’s art film ‘The Beginnings’ (2018).
Allow 30 secs for your group to absorb the film and then ask them some prompt
questions i.e. What do you think of it? Is there any particular sections you liked?

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The two display areas you see in front of us are divided into 7 distinct time periods that
range from 700 – 2 million years ago. Each one contains fossils of ancient plants and
animals that lived in those times. Let’s jump back about 400 million years to the
Devonian period, a time when Qatar’s landmass was still submerged under water, and
discover one of the first predatory fish to have swum the prehistoric seas.

This is Qataraspis, an armour-plated fish. Experts believe it hunted its prey along the
seabed. Our reproduction of this ferocious looking fish is based on a tiny fossil fragment
that was discovered in the 20th century, during oil drilling at the Dukhan oil field.
Do you think it resembles any contemporary fish today?

Move your group slightly beyond the Qataraspis reproduction until they are standing in
front of the trilobites and ask the following question:

Does anyone know what these hard shelled sea creatures are called?

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They are trilobites and are quite special as they were the first group of animals to
develop complex eyes. Their hard outer skeleton means that they are amongst the best
preserved animals from prehistoric times.

Move your group over to the second display area

As we move between the two display areas, we are literally stepping across millions of
years in time. Around 25 million years ago, life had diversified and become much more
complex. Qatar was still under water with sea turtles, marine crocodiles and other

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mysterious looking animals living here. The skeleton of one of these mysterious animals
is on display here – can you guess what this is?

Prompt your group into guessing the name of the dugong.

Dugongs are also known as sea cows and are herbivorous mammals. This skeleton was
discovered in 2005 and experts believe it is around 20 million years old. Not many
people know that the waters around Qatar are home to the second largest population
of dugong in the world.

Just behind the dugong skeleton you can see a fossilized crocodile skull with a distinctive
snout which it used to catch fish. The fossil was discovered in 2005 in southwest Qatar.
This crocodile species is now extinct

Lead your group to the final section of display area 2

Why do you think I might be showing you these beautifully shaped rocks?
Allow them time to make the link between the desert rose and NMoQ building.

These rocks, called desert rose, are clusters of gypsum crystals containing trapped sand
particles. They form over thousands of years under the surface of deserts.

This ends your exploration of gallery 1. Now walk your group into gallery 2.

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Qatar’s Natural Environments
NMoQ Overview Tour: Include all content below (9 mins)
NMoQ Highlights Tour: Focus on description of main animal display area & marine
habitats, shark array (6 mins)

On entering the second gallery, stand your group in front of the large display area of
animals.

In this gallery, you get to discover the diverse landscapes of Qatar with their very
different types of plants and animals. Let’s just have a look at some of these habitats
captured in the beautiful art film ‘Land and Sea’ (2018) by Christophe Cheysson.

Allow 30 secs for your group to absorb the film and then ask them some prompt
questions i.e. Is there a particular habitat or scene that sticks in your mind? Ask them
are they surprised by the diversity of Qatar’s landscapes?

Our display area is divided into three sections. Each section represents a very different
type of habitat you can encounter as you travel around the country. The first one here
on the right hand side is a sandy desert, mostly found in southern Qatar. The intense
heat and unstable sands do not stop a whole host of life living here as you can see from
our models.

You will notice the iconic Arabian oryx dominating the scene. These animals are really
well adapted to this kind of environment as they can survive for up to six months
without drinking water. Slightly closer to us in the display, you see the Arabian Horned

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Viper, which takes its name from the distinctive horn-like scales that project from above
its eyes.

Now move your group towards the central section of the display

In this part of the display we move into the interior of Qatar, and see what is called a
stony desert. The landscape here is dominated by flat, rocky plains.

Here you can see a family of Sand cats slowly creeping up on their prey! They might look
cute, but they are predators and use their large sensitive triangular ears to hunt
rodents, hares and birds. They are the smallest cat species in Arabia and unfortunately
are endangered because of overhunting and destruction of their habitat.

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Perched higher up on the rock you can see a very famous animal of Qatar – the falcon.
They are found across most of the country and hunt insects and small mammals.

Move your group towards the end section of the display

The landscape we are walking to in this section of the display is known as a rawda,
which means garden. A Rawda usually has areas of green in the desert, as you can see
with the plants on display here. The soils in these areas hold water much better than in
sandy or rocky environments, allowing plants to grow.

This ferocious looking animal facing us is a honey badger. They live in burrows that
protect them from the harsh environment. They get their name as honey is a major part

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of their diet. To get the honey, they release a powerful spray into beehives, causing the
bees to fly away.

Let’s the leave the land behind now and go and explore Qatar’s underwater creatures.

Move your group over to the display area Marine Habitats.

As you walk the group over you can point out the Arabian Ostrich and Caracal and
highlight how one (the ostrich) has become extinct from human activity and the other is
endangered across the globe. This is a good point to introduce the concept of
preservation and the need for the protection of natural habitats.

The seas around Qatar are home to over 700 marine species, including one of the
biggest in the world, directly above you - the mighty Whale shark. It’s the world’s largest
fish and grows up to 12 metres in length. They are harmless to people. However, the
next two sharks you see have a more fearsome reputation, the tiger shark and
hammerhead shark. These models are about 4 metres in length but both these animals
can grow up to 6 metres.

Two much more friendly looking sea creatures on display here are the green turtle and
the dugong. Remember you saw a prehistoric skeleton of a dugong in the first gallery!
Dugongs feed on a diet of seagrass.

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Let’s leave Qatar’s natural world behind now and go explore the country’s ancient past
in the archaeology gallery.

As you lead your group out of gallery two, point out the biodiversity wall to them.
Explain that they can always come back and use the interactive touchscreen to find out
more about Qatar’s plants and animals are intimately connected to each other.

This ends your exploration of gallery 2. Now walk your group into gallery 3.

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The Archaeology of Qatar
NMoQ Overview Tour: Include all content below (9 mins)
NMoQ Highlights Tour: Focus on petroglyphs; Murwab model & objects (6 mins)

On entering the archaeology gallery, stand your group at the top of the gallery so that
they can see there is a sequence of display cases running down the middle.

We are now in the archaeology gallery. The array of display cases you see in front of you
takes you through centuries of Qatari history, from 8,000 years ago to the early 20th
century. The first two cases, show you artefacts used by early hunter-gatherers that
roamed the land that is now Qatar. The objects displayed in this gallery demonstrate
that Qatar’s history is very ancient, and not as recent as many people believe it to be!

Before we move further along the gallery, let’s have a look at some amazing rock
carvings to our left.

Move your group to stand in front of the petroglyphs.

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These rock carvings are model replicas based on the originals that can be seen in various
places around Qatar. There are around 38 petroglyph sites in the country. Most of them
are difficult to date, as rock carvings are usually disconnected from other pieces of
archaeological evidence that would help experts date them. A few of them, however,
are easier to date as they contain detailed carvings of boats. Dhow experts are able to
identify the designs of these boats and when they were in use. Some of the circular
carvings are also thought to be an ancient game called mancala, however, this has not
been conclusively verified.

Now, move your group down the gallery so that they are standing in front of the first
digital display model connected to the archaeological site of Al Khor. The objects in the
display case opposite the digital model are all from the area of Al Khor in northeastern
Qatar.

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Al Khor was a very important area during the Bronze Age. This digital model shows how
it was settled at different periods of time and some of the objects found in
archaeological digs. The objects found in Al Khor demonstrate the important trade links
that existed between the people living there with important regional powers at that
time, such as the Dilmun civilization in current day Bahrain, and the Kassites of
Babylonia in modern day Iraq.

Move your group from the Bronze Age artefacts of Al Khor to the Iron Age as
represented by the following object

We have now moved from the Bronze to the Iron Age as represented by this bowl,
which is probably one of the most beautiful in the whole gallery. It is made from a rock
called steatite, otherwise known as soapstone. You can clearly see it has incised lines,
and it may have been imported overland from southern Arabia. It was unearthed within
a tomb, which highlights how important it was to its owner. It is a 13significant object as
it shows the sophistication of life during the Iron Age in Qatar.

At this point, as you are now in the centre of the gallery, make reference to the art film
‘Archaeology’ by Jannane Al Ani. Draw attention to how she uses close-ups of details
found on some of the archaeological objects displayed in the gallery. This approach is
mixed with wider aerial views of Qatar, giving a sense of the vision of the archaeologist.

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Move your group to the display case showing Qatar 300 BCE-610CE

This display case shows us many different aspects of daily life in Qatar during this
period. The three-handled jars were imported from abroad and used to store and serve
water. We also see jewelry made from stone, shell and glass. The large red stone
pendant may have been crafted in Qatar. Some experts believe the stone fragment
bearing a cross might be evidence of an early Christian community at this time.

The coins are from Persia and would have been in currency during the Sassanian Empire
– the last imperial dynasty before the arrival of Islam.

Now, move your group so that they are standing in front of the second digital display
model connected to the archaeological site of Murwab, northwestern Qatar. The
objects in the display case opposite the digital model are all from Murwab.

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This model shows the village of Murwab, a significant and wealthy settlement of around
1,000 years ago, the early Islamic period. It was an important point of trade as can be
seen from the ceramics and coins in the display case opposite.

Some of the most important archaeological finds to be discovered at Murwab include a

small metal lion figurine and copper oil lamps. The finding of such imported metal
objects at this time from possibly Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) or Persia (modern
day Iran), highlight Qatar’s external trade links.

This ends your exploration of gallery 3.

Now walk your group into gallery 4 (the beginning of Chapter 2)

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