Photo of the day: Bint Nafaa, b. 1962
By Edouard
Posted on September 5th, 2008 in Egypt, General, Kuhaylan, Racing, Saudi
The gorgeous Bint Nafaa was born in Egypt in 1962, and bred by Ahmed Hamza’s Hamdan Stables, yet she does not have the “Straight Egyptian” label.
The Pyramid Society, who coined the “definition” of a Straight Egyptian and Egyptian breds, does not accept El Gadaa, Nafaa’s sire, as a Straight Egpytian.
El Gadaa was a racehorse, who stood at Hamdan stables for a while and was bred by Miqhim ibn Mahayd, the Shaykh of the Bedouin Fad’aan tribe. Egyptian records have him as being by El Sabaa, also a racehorse, out of a Ma’naghiyah of Ibn Mhayd.
Fine. But many questions remain unanswered. Did Miqhim race Arabian horses in Egypt? or did he sell the horse to a racehorse owner? did he own El Gadaa’s sire El Sabaa? where was El Gadaa bred, in Egypt, or in the desert?
I know Miqhim ibn Mahayd left Syria sometimes in the 1950s (will get back to you with the exact date) after a series of problems with the Syrian regime, and moved to Saudi Arabia, where he received royal treatment from the King - himself a fellow Anazeh tribesman, who incidentally bred Bint Nafaa’s dam Nafaa, a desertbred Kuhaylah (so marbat) by a ‘Ubayyan al-Suyayfi - a strain that branched off ‘Ubayyan al-Hunaydees. I know Miqhim kept a small herd of horses in Syria with the care of an agent.
One definitely needs to learn more about El Gadaa.. Meanwhile, check out this breeding program, which seeks to preserve the descendants of Nafaa through her other daughter Nadia and her granddaughter Serenity *Bint Nadia (by Sameh x Nadia by Ezzat).
September 6th, 2008 3:17 am
Ibn Mhyad left in 1958 when Nasser changes the “Bedouin status “in Syria ie:they were exempted from enlistement in the army,their cars were allowed to circulate in the Basia without paying taxes ,a dispute between 2 tribesmen was solved by a bedouin court according to old rules…
We own a colt (Hamdani el Efri) from Anbargi breeding which great dam was Ibn Mhayd own mare ,he sold her to the Anbargi’s when he left,
I’m not sure that he left any horses to be raised in Syria with his “wakil” or agent.
Omar Anbargi could ask Saed Agha Yagan the well known breeder who’s farm is next to the Fadaan lands about this subject.
September 6th, 2008 8:05 am
That must have happened before 1958, because the hujjah that Ibn Mhayd signed for the first Anbarji mare (the Hamdaniyah you are talking about) was dated from 1956, with Ibn Mhayd in Saudi Arabia..
Also, If I recall well Omar Anbarji told me the horses were left with Sulayman al-Issa from the clan of al-Beekat, who was acting as Miqhim’s “wakil”.. To be checked again.
September 6th, 2008 8:46 pm
Hi Edouard,
I have to presume that Wisteria still hasn’t had her baby yet. Am I correct?
Is there any chance you know Brian Bennett of Bentmoor Arabians here in Michigan? Just wondering…..
Jane Karr
September 6th, 2008 9:18 pm
Hi Edouard,
I too liked the pic of Bint Naf’aa in the Hamdan Stud book. There is a mare in Germany tracing to her in tail female, with the rest of the pedigree being Egyptian, and another mare with a Crabbet/English sire line tracing to this Bint Naf’aa female line. As I understand it, the Pyramid Society recognizes lines other wise eligible if they are also registerable in the U.S. by our registry. So if our registry does not recognize and register descendants El Ghadaa, the Pyramid Society can’t either. Same issue for descendants of Sharkasi. I don’t know what the Asil Club’s position is on this line, but the Egyptian/El Ghadaa mare in Germany is now 15 years old. Her name is Chira (GASB 14909). The Datasource shows no progeny yet, but they can be behind on foreign progeny sometimes.
September 6th, 2008 9:27 pm
It is interesting to note that hypothetically if El Ghadaa was proposed to Al Khamsa and accepted by them as a roster horse, and this German mare Chira that I mentioned above, had an otherwise eligible foal that was imported to the U.S., it would be Al Khamsa even if not registerable by AHA, because Al Khamsa does not require AHA registration.
I might add that thanks to *Serenity Bint Nadia, the Nafa’a line (without El Ghadaa) is doing okay in the U.S. with the dedication of Samantha at Blue Pyramid Arabians.
September 6th, 2008 9:34 pm
oops! I gave the wrong German registration number for Chira, it is GASB 15155. She is sire by Saymoon (Maymoon x Sayameh I by Anchor Hill Halim) and out of Cylia (Madkour I x Cleopatra, a daughter of Bint Nafa’a).
Also when replying to my comments refer to me as JoeF. This helps to eliminate confusing me with the senior honorable member here, Joe Achcar, who is far more knowledgeable. (I am just the junior).
September 6th, 2008 10:18 pm
Hi Jane, indeed Wisteria hasn’t delivered yet.. She was bred to Javera Thadrian back in September, and then bred again over the next few weeks.. I know Jeanne Craver is keeping a close eye on her, so I am not too worried..
September 6th, 2008 10:21 pm
Hi Joe (Ferriss), the association of El Gadaa with Miqhim ibn Mahayd speaks in favor of the horse.. but I have always felt he needed to be investigated further.. Do you know what the Hamdan Stud studbook has to say about him?
September 6th, 2008 11:23 pm
Page 66 of the Hamdan herd book has El Gadaa as follows (quoted). No date is shown.
1.—EL GADAA
Stallion, chestnut, bred by Sheikh Midjhem Ibn Meheyd of the Fidaan Anazeh Bedouin Tribe of Arabia.
Presented to Ahmed Hamza as a gift by Gadaan Ibn Meheyd.
Sire: El Sabaa, a Koheilan el Mohssen, who raced successfully in Lebanon.
Dam: A Maanagiyah.
September 7th, 2008 10:27 am
Hi Jeanne, is there any reason not believe this information?
Both strains are staple Fad’aan strains. I will look up the Fad’aan family tree to see if there was a Gadaan (Jadaan) Ibn Mahayd alive in Miqhim’s time. There was of course a Jadaan Ibn Mahayd at the time of Lady Anne Blunt (the rider of Proximo), and Miqhim was his grandson. Also it may be useful to look up El Sabaa in what remains of the Lebanese racetrack archives..
September 7th, 2008 12:09 pm
It would be interesting to know what original material is left of Ahmad Hamza’s files for confirmation, but I know of no reason to discount what he wrote.
September 7th, 2008 8:36 pm
It will be nice to ask Nabil Nasrallah General Manager of the Beirut race track:
sparca@cyberia.net.lb
The Beirut race track archive are in very good and well kept, and Nabil a very nice gentleman.
It will be better if Jeanne ask him instead of Edouard or myself.
September 8th, 2008 5:28 pm
I can do that, in regard to asking about El Sabaa. Thanks for the address.
September 11th, 2008 8:13 am
I called Omar Anbarjiand and asked him on the Ibn Mhayd departure date from Syria,luckily his father,who new Ibn Mhayd,was sitting next to him,the father stated that Ibn Mhayd never left Syria and died in Aleppo.So I asked Omar to give us on the blog,more accurate infos.It is Ramadan and we have to excuse our Moslem friends if they are not prompt to respond.
To JoeF.thank you for the flowers my friend I really dont deserve them.
September 11th, 2008 11:01 am
How strange Joe… when I asked the same Omar Anbarji about the hujja of his Hamdaniyah mare (Deheym), he told me his father had to get a written hujjah from Miqhim Ibn Mhayd in Saudi to prove that she was Asil, because the registration committee would not accept the testimony of Miqhim’s “slaves” who had stayed behind in Syria when Miqhim left… we need to check with him again.
September 11th, 2008 1:43 pm
Lets wait for Omar answer on the subject ,I will be back Sunday to Damascus and will call him again.
September 17th, 2008 6:53 am
Dear Edouard ,
I visit your blog, I just do not feed back because my knowledge about “other people’s horses ” is limited, it is a really great blog and I hope that one day you will talk about Hamdani Ofri or Kuhaylan Khdili in Syria, so I can write. Just 10 days ago , I had a more than great chestnut foal, dam Kuhaylan Khdele, sire by Hisham Alandalus, Hamdani ofri, I will send its picture one day to your blog.
Joe Achkar was so kind to call me and ask me to comment about Sheekh Mujhem.
Anyway, considering Sheekh Mujhem , what I know is that we got our Hamdani Ofri Mare from Sulayman Al Issa, which Mujhem left for him.
I have to admit that I am not sure where did Mujhem go, he stayed in Aleppo for a while, but later, I do not know.
September 17th, 2008 8:41 am
Ahlan Omar, good to hear from you and Ramadan Karim. Thanks for your input, you know Kuhaylan al-Khdili is next on my list of strains, so you will have a chance to comment. Congratulations on your new foal.