<img src=’https://248am.com/images/museumkuwait.jpg’ alt=” />
A reader scanned and sent me the old pictures below of Kuwait. A lot of them are aerial shots most probably taken from a helicopter. On the back of the photos there is a stamp that reads “With the compliments of the Ministry of Information”. Is the building in the picture above still around? The file name says it was museum.
Thanks Khalid!
Update: I’ve reuploaded all the photos above in high res and you can view them here.
25 replies on “More old pictures of Kuwait”
thanks mate
i think it’s next to the brit embassy…i recognise the arches…sadly, it’s pretty much in ruins now
To answer your Q
Some of the building is still around (sigh). It used to be the National Museum. Sadly, it’s ruins now. It’s off the Gulf road, near the British embassy. Just next to Dasman Palace and back of Mais AlGhanim.
Very nice and intersting pix thx, the pic u r talking about I think that it is Khaza’al palace but I’m not sure, and what is left from that building is located next to dasman palace (behind british embassy)
its located right behind the british embassy but was severely damaged during the war. it was the palace of khazaal of arabistan which was later converted into the first kuwaiti museum before the current museum had opened during the eighties.
Why the heck are those pictures in black and white? They are not even nearly that old. This is misleading!
any idea where pic 8 and pic 10 were taken
The locations of pic 3 & 4 have undergone major changes.
I hope someone would take pics to compare both those locations…
r u sure picture 10 is in kuwait????
🙁
I wish i have a time machine to take me back! Things looked so much better… now every thing is just so jumbled up and out of character it looks like ur looking at a bag of different sized jelly beans :`(
I am also curious to know where image 10 is.
I can recognize most of the other images. I have a new photo of image 11 that I took last year on one of my urban exploring trips. Got to go through my archives though.
Metabolism: I believe image 8 is the old Messilah hotel.
wow thanks mark , the round building in the first photo is the famous green building in old salmiya which has got demolished recently .
It still hasn’t been demolished 🙂
sorry for that mark haven’t been there for a long time 🙁 hope it it will be saved although i doubt it .
That was back in Kuwait early years before the golden age, Kuwait were well structured, preparing to its golden age: 70’s and 80’s.
I feel sad the way Kuwait turned out is now, although am not Kuwaiti (but hometown it is..), my heart aches painfully each time i see disorder or uncivilized thing..
not to mention Parkingless Towers of Sardines Flats, special thanks to those people helped building it (do i have to mention them ?)… lol
(شر البلية ما يضحك)
If I remember correctly then khaza’al plalace (first pic) has been fenced for restoration.
Can someone go down to near the brit embassy and take a picture of how the building looks today and maybe mark could post it next to it? That would be cool
I agree with you Mesh, Kuwait was at its best in the 60s, 70s and 80s and it went downhill in the 90s. Believe me, bro. Most Kuwaitis feel the same way you do. We all complained and still do, but it appears that the higher ups or some of the higher ups don’t care.
I enjoy the old photographs of Kuwait. It is too bad more old buildings are not preserved as they were in their glory. I have a photo of a nearby building to this one (across the street to the north I think) on the old blog posting.
https://misterian.com/2008/10/kuwait-wind-tower/
A kind commenter to the photo on Flickr
Link here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/misterian/2969393719/
Said the following
———
As for the building, it was built and owned by Shiekh Khazaal the ruler of Khuzestan
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khuzestan)
up to the year 1925, before the Iranian government invaded the province and claimed it as an Iranian land.
Shiekh Khazaal was a friend of Shiekh Mubarak the ruler of Kuwait at that time, and he had the land as a gift from Shiekh Mubarak.
It’s unclear what happend to Shiekh Khazaal but his supporters think that he was killed by the Shah of Iran.
Looking at the pictures I don’t think the museum is the same building as the one near Dasman. The plaque on the left of the entrance in the high res scan of the picture says:
“Ministry of Education Antiquity Museums Section – Kuwait Museum -“
can anybody specify Picture # 10 location ?
Picture says oil port. I’ve see something similar from far near Hilton Mangaf. Could be that oil port?
I believe here is where picture #10 was taken
https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hilton+kuwait&ie=UTF8&hq=hilton+kuwait&hnear=&ll=29.065759,48.162217&spn=0.002837,0.003921&t=h&z=18&iwloc=C
First Picture is the Dywaniya of Shaikh Khaz3al next to Dasman Palace.Was purchased by the late Shaikh Abdulla Al-Jaber ( Then in charge of Education ) & converted it to Kuwait Musium. When the new Musium was built,he rented it to a whole Sa3eedi village (probably around 300 hundred of them) & they practically ruined it !! Then they were evicted and the building was totally ignored.
Shaikh Khaz3al’s Palace was the building opposit the Dywaniya & later became the house of late Mr.Khalifa Al-Ghanim. At that time he & Sayyed Hameed Behbehani were business partners,importers of Jaguar & Pegoet car & Synalco soft drink. This house was also ignored & now it is in ruins but can still be seen.
Yes the photo is for the old National Museum next to the Amiri Palace
What about those vaulted apartment blocks seen in picture 9 which are labeled government housing. does anybody recognise them? are they still standin? i am very curious to see them as an architect.