In this series, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (Father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, tells the story of Bdah Al Hajri, whom he first encountered in the desert as a baby in 1979. Reunited in 2013, Abu Jack and Bdah have become close friends. Bdah’s mother, Masturah, reflected on her life as a newlywed.
In al Hasa, fifty miles inland from the Persian Gulf, a small drilling rig was helping to prove the existence of the great En Nala anticline, still the largest single complex of oil fields in the world. Sandy was "sitting" that well.
In this series, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (Father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, tells the story of Bdah Al Hajri, whom he first encountered in the desert as a baby in 1979. Reunited in 2013, Abu Jack and Bdah have become close friends. In late 1978, Bdah Al Hajri was born in a Bedouin tent at the northern extremity of the Eastern Province oil fields, near the remote Aramco construction site at Fazran.
Here is a wonderful collection of photographs taken by Aramco photographer Bert Seal that will take you down memory lane while envisioning those happy golden days of the 1950s.
In this piece, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, is escorted deep into the Rub Al Khali (the Empty Quarter) to meet, for the first time, the son of an old acquaintance. Before first light there was a slight chill in the air, and the men gathered around the cooking fire. Coffee and tea were served, and conversation ensued. Inevitably the discussion turned to the herd.
In this piece, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, is escorted deep into the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) to meet, for the first time, the son of an old acquaintance. We stopped at the edge of the camp. I stepped out of the Landcruiser and called out “Salaam Aleikum!” to the group of men standing facing us.
In this piece, Mark Lowey, “Abu Jack,” is escorted deep into the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) to meet, for the first time, the son of an old acquaintance.
In this piece, Mark Lowey relates an alarming incident in the early childhood of Bakhait Al Marri, son of a Bedouin gentleman who Mark met in 1979.
The first half of 1956 is full of interesting developments for Aramco. Notable visitors to Dhahran include King Saud, who is feted at a 600-guest dinner, Steve Bechtel, president of the Bechtel Corporation, top officials from the Aramco’s owner companies...
One Friday morning in the blue-tinted bedroom of our Dhahran duplex we awakened very early. We planned a picnic, not to Half-Moon Bay where everyone went, but to an artesian pool, a small lake north of Qatif, a seacoast town.
In this piece, Mark Lowey shares a touching tribute to Quriyan Al Hajri as told by Quriyan’s longtime friend and Aramco colleague, Richard Moffitt. Mark met Quriyan in 2013 when their chance encounter led Mark to reunite with the long-lost Bedouin families whom he had first met in 1978.
In this piece, Mark Lowey, “Abu Jack,” is escorted deep into the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) and told the astonishing story of a water well named Umm Al Abel.
It was the winter of 1952. Aramco had just produced its 300 millionth barrel of oil. The Administration building was so new that the parking lot is still unpaved.
Tavy Sandin shared the following pictures of the first community Christmas tree in Dhahran. The pictures, taken in the very early '50s, are of the building of the first tree in the 7th St. Christmas Tree Circle. Tavy writes, "My dad, H.L. "Sandin" and his neighbors, one being Chuck Mathews, were responsible for the design and building of the tree. This all began about 1952 when the residents decided to enter the 7-unit portion of the Company-held competition for best Christmas decorations.
Midway through the 1950s, Aramco continues to flourish, achieving the distinction of becoming the world’s largest oil company. In 1955 the company reaches a milestone by pumping out barrel number 2 billion of Saudi Arabian crude.
Atlantis of the Sands? A lost city? A meteorite impact site? For years, the mystery of Wabar fascinated a young associate professor of geology at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran. This is the story of his travels to the site – in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter...
The second half of 1954 is a time of great change for the Webster family as younger daughter Susan leaves Dhahran at the tender age of 13 to attend boarding school in Switzerland. With older daughter Judy still at the American Community School in Beirut, it is Ken and Mildred’s first taste of “empty nest syndrome” and they have decidedly mixed feelings about it.
Newly crowned King Saud arrives in Dhahran for an extended stay during the first week of January 1954, followed by a long hunting trip throughout the Kingdom. Dhahran District Manager Ken Webster reports on His Majesty’s visit in detail and continues his regular family correspondence describing daily Aramco operations and newsworthy developments.
In September 1979, Mark Lowey completed a nearly two-year stint working in the oil fields of the Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia. Together with a colleague, he traveled to Kathmandu and then Pokhara, the gateway to the Himalayas’ Annapurna region in cemtral Nepal.
1953 is a memorable year in the history books. Most notably for Aramcons, it is the year when King Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, dies in the fall at the age of 73. His son, Crown Prince Saud, is named the new king by the royal family and another son, Faisal, is named crown prince.