Mawj al-Atheer
MAWJ AL-ATHIR: a chestnut desert-bred Asil stallion [photo available];
Strain: Saglawi Nijm al-Subh, of the marbat owned by the Maraziq clan [or guild] of the Shammar tribe; the strain is also called Saqlawi Marzaqani.
Sire: a Saqlawi Marzaqani; according to Abd al-Qadir Hammami, an old horse merchant from Aleppo, his sire was al-Marzaqani al-Adham (“the black Marazaqani”), a celebrated stallion of the Saqlawi Marzaqani strain, bred by the Maraziq clan of the Shammar tribe, used by them as a stallion and later taken by the ’Anazah tribe; according to Fawaz al-Rajab, an older horse merchant from Hims, the sire of Mawj al-Athir was also his maternal brother, then a yearling, who bred his own dam by accident. He also mentioned that Mawj al-Atheer’s brother later broke a shoulder, which would mean his sire is the famous Saqlawi Marzaqani Abu-Kitf. According to Radwan Shabariq, Abu-Kitf and the black Marzaqani were maternal haf-brothers. Also according to Fawaz al-Rajab, Mawj al-Athir and another great desert-bred racehorse, Ghuzayyil, were sons of two sisters.
Dam: a Saqlawiyah Marzaqaniyah from the Maraziq clan of the Shammar;
Racing and Breeding Career: Mawj al-Athir raced successfully in Beirut and was later bought by the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture for breeding.
Progeny: Mawj al-Athir was the sire of the beautiful grey Kuhayla Nowaqiyah “Bint Mawj al-Athir”, dam of my father’s “Nawaqiat ‘Akkar” (herself by Achhal). He left no other produce I know of in Lebanon. His line survives in Syria however through his son, Amali, the Kuhaylan Khdili of ‘Abdu Tannus in Aleppo.