As the flag of the United Arab Emirates was raised over Union House in Dubai for the first time, Noor Ali Rashid pressed the shutter on his camera. it was a time for celebration but for Rashid, also a working day.
Video: 29. Asahi Pentax camera
Noor Ali Rashid photographed life in the Emirates for more than 60 years. This Asahi Pentax was one of 30 cameras he had used in his career as a Royal photographer.
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For more than 60 years, the Dubai-based photographer chronicled life in the seven emirates, from the rulers of the nation to the landscape and culture of his adopted land.
Perhaps his most iconic photograph was taken on the day of union, December 2, 1971, with the rulers standing underneath the fluttering flag.
His daughter, Shamsa, recalls the moment: "From what I understand from him, it was extremely exciting.
"On that day, the most famous photograph of his is the flag hoisted and the six rulers at that time standing right below.
"It is the way we officially announced ourselves as a nation."
The camera shown here is one of up to 30 cameras Rashid used in his long career. Asahi Pentax - now simply called Pentax - had developed the world's first single-lens reflex camera in 1957, with this model introduced in the late 1960s. In the final years of his life he had made the transition to digital.
"He had an amazing collection," says his daughter. "He loved his cameras."
Born in 1929 in what is now Pakistan, Rashid was sent to Dubai by his father, who was unhappy at his son's interest in photography and hoped that a job working in a shop in Bur Dubai would focus his attention on business.
Attending the funeral of Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum shortly after arriving in the city, Rashid later presented the results to Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, whose accession he also captured. A career as a Royal photographer was born.
His family estimate Rashid had taken more than one million frames by the time of his death in August 2010. For his daughter, the task now is to organise them into a permanent archive.
"We have so far archived about 200,000 black-and-white images from the early 1970s," she says. "It's a fascinating project and a wonderful thing to work on."
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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