The only American woman doctor in Aramco

This interesting 2019 article from Aramco Expat is an obituary of sorts for John Ames, an early (pre-World War II) Aramco employee. He was the husband of Dr. Esther Ames, who imported the Ubayyah mare *Mahraa and her daughter *Muhaira to the USA.

The following exceprt struck me:

John was married to Esther – Esther Ames MD.  As the only American woman doctor in Aramco, she spent a fair amount of time in Riyadh tending to the women of the royal family: the dowagers, the princesses and their daughters. She was a great favorite and was showered with elaborate hand-embroidered dresses, finely worked brass coffee pots, silk scarves and the like. Sometimes Emir Saud bin Jiluwi, the governor and most powerful man in eastern Saudi Arabia, would send his personal black Cadillac and two bodyguards to take her to his palace. John even managed to get a blade out of the connection when some grateful prince sent him a curved, eight-inch dagger in a beautiful jet black scabbard filigreed in fine gold-plated wire.

Surely, if Dr Ames, the only American female doctor in East Arabian, had attended to the wealth of the wives, sisters or daughters of Saud Ibn Jalawi, that would have warranted the gifting of a nice Arabian mare as a token of gratitude. This direct and very personal connection to Ibn Jalawi speaks well for the origins of *Mahraa.