Alexandermcnabb

This user is a participant in
WikiProject United Arab Emirates.

Very high unreviewed pages backlog: 13531 articles, as of 00:00, 25 November 2024 (UTC), according to DatBot

When I'm doing more than just catching up on my watchlist, I write articles and content and generally try to build coverage of the Emirates. A resident here since 1993, I'm particularly interested in UAE history, archaeology and Emirati things in general - particularly in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. I've spent much of the past 38 years living in and travelling around the Middle East

I'm useless at source editing and am frequently to be found at the site of train crashes trying to look innocent and sidle away. Give me Visual Editor, then I'm yer man...

I consult on publishing, media, communications and international relations by day and write novels and history books and stuff by night.

I've so far created (in no particular order):

Al Heera • Sharjah Fort • Sharjah Wanderers • Al Mahatta Fort • Hatta Fort Hotel • Al Bithnah • Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club • Mleiha Archaeological Centre • Wasit Wetland Centre • Wadi Suq Culture • Ed Dur • Al Thuqeibah • Al Madam • Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives • Hafit period • Muweilah • Dubai International Writers' Centre • Rain Room • Pink Caravan • Wadi Bih • Jebel Al Buhais • Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve • Al Ashoosh • Bidaa Bint Saud • Qattara Oasis • List of Ancient Settlements in the UAE • Al Falayah Fort • Al Faqa • Umm Al Quwain Fort • Margham • Saih Al Salam • Nazwa • Al Lisaili • Al Sajaa • Al Zahra Hospital • Sharjah Police Force • Mahdha • Seih Al Harf • Thameed • Obeid bin Said bin Rashid • Rashid bin Maktoum • Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum • Dunes (stamps) • Persian Gulf campaign of 1819 • Hassan bin Rahma Al Qasimi • Al Zorah • Saqr bin Rashid Al Qasimi • Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi • Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi • Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi • Khalid bin Ahmad Al Qasimi ‎• Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi II •‎ Rashid bin Matar Al Qasimi • Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi • Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi • Rashid bin Majid Al Mualla • Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mualla • Hamad bin Ibrahim Al Mualla • Ali bin Abdullah Al Mualla • Mubazzara Dam • Abdelaziz bin Rashid Al Nuaimi •‎ Abdulaziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi • ‎Humaid bin Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi • ‎ Al Mualla • Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi • Saif bin Hamad Al Sharqi ‎• Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi • Na'im • Al Sharqi ‎• Saeed bin Tahnun Al Nahyan • Khalifa bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan ‎• Tahnun bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan • Buraimi Dispute • Jiri plain • Bani Kaab ‎• Hamdan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan • Kunud • Al Bu Muhair • Arab Reading Challenge • ‎ Mazari • Manasir (tribe) • Sharqiyin • Dhawahir • The Founder's Memorial • Sudan (tribe) • Gainsborough Stud‎‎ • Duru (tribe) • Awamir • Bani Hadiyah • Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates • the Arab Strategy Forum • Random International • Budi Tek • Iron Age in the United Arab Emirates • Battle of Dibba • Heart of Sharjah • Sharjah Investment and Development Authority • Al Hefaiyah Conservation Centre • Bait Al Naboodah • the Battle of Dhank‎ • Awhala Fort • Wadi Hayl • Wadi Saham • Wadi Qor • Wadi Siji • Wadi Helo (wadi) • Wadi Shawka • Wadi Sal • Wadi Tuwa • Wadi Maydaq • Wadi Esfai • Wadi Asimah • Wadi Ejili • Wadi Fara • Wadi Sidr • Wadi Tayyibah • Wadi Naqab • Tahil (Sharjah) • Samuel Hennell • Al Hayl Fort • Ghayl Fort • Hyacinth incident • The Flying Saucer, Sharjah • Taryam Omran Taryam • Abdullah Omran Taryam • Ibrahim Bin Mohammed Al Midfa • Al Bait Hotel • Ajman Fort • Al Bithnah Fort • Labsah • Tayyibah • Habus • Kalba Fort • Perpetual Maritime Truce • Dhaid Fort • Air Outpost • Wadi Shie • Elphinstone Inlet • Fili Fort • Abdulrahman bin Muhammad Al Shamsi • Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo • Kalba Ice Factory • Al Suhub Rest House • Siniyah Island • Khawatir • Al Bu Kharaiban • Rashid (tribe) • Frauke Heard-Bey (I am very, very proud to have repaid just a tiny bit of the enormous debt I owe her, BTW) • David Heard • Peter Hellyer • Kush • Julfar • Wadi Sur and some other stuff, too.

Oh, and Mimar Hayruddin, who isn't from or in any way remotely connected to the Emirates but who needed doing...

Funny, really, that nobody had bothered before...

A note on Arabic transliteration

A montage of different road signs in and around the village of Shis in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, showing the joys of transliteration - not one is spelled the same!!!

One of the joys of my life in writing Wikipedia articles about the Emirates is the wonderful world of Arabic transliteration. Place names in the Emirates can be pretty wild if you're a stickler for spelling - for instance, the Ras Al Khaimah village of Habhab is signposted as just that - but the first building you see as you enter the village is the Hebheb Police Station. Mileiha, Malayha, Mleiha and Maleyah are all the same place, it just depends on what English vowels you decide on when you're translating. Now you add 'al', Arabic for 'the'. So is it Jebel Al Hafeet or Jebel Hafeet? (Let us for one second agree to pass on the idea of Jabal, Jabel or even Gebel - jebel being 'mountain').

Now let's add some spice. Ar Rufaysah, al-Rufaisa and An-Rufaisah are the same place. I always choose 'Al' as a prefix if it's the known form - for instance, Umm Al Nar rather than Umm an-Nar, simply because that's easier for Latin alphabet users to use, understand and - more importantly, search. But Al Bithnah Fort should really, really be Bithnah Fort.

For added fun, throw in some old Brits trying to spell Arabic their way, and you have Joasmee (for Qawasim or Al Qasimi), Abothabee (Abu Dhabi, as you ask) and Dubayy (for Dubai) let alone Ash Shariqah (which is how Sharjah used to be spelt). These spellings have often persisted decades beyond their time, thanks at least in part to Wikipedia. So you'll sometimes find yourself battling someone with a copy of Lorimer or, worse, Miles who insists they have a source that spells Buraimi as Buraymee.

I - personally - hate transliteration marks because they add no value in English and confuse search. So wherever possible I find the most definitive (street signs, for instance) spelling and use that. Sometimes that just gets a bit mad, to be honest, for instance Awhala Fort in the village of Awhala is a place that is also rendered - on street signs in the area - as Ohala, Wahala and Ouhala.

Sometimes, you just have to make a call...

A note on me

My consulting work over the past three decades and more has involved varying roles with a wide range of Middle Eastern media companies as well as both public and private sector players in the region, including work for a number of international and regional tech blue chips, Fortune 500 companies, mobile operators, telcos and the governments of both Jordan and the UAE. I edit here in my own name and on my own cognisance and do not, and never have had, any scope of work, KPI or any other professional or paid interest involving editing Wikipedia on behalf of any client.

If you came here to find out how to use my identity to browbeat or threaten me, I'd refer you to the rather glorious Arkell v Pressdram.