Yoghbi () is an abandoned village in north-west
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
located in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Al Shamal
Al Shamal () is a municipality in Qatar. Its seat is Madinat ash Shamal and it is considered to be one of the major cities in Qatar, although its population is barely over 7,000. The seat's name translates to "city of the north".
Ras Rakan, t ...
.
It accommodates the earliest yet-discovered
Islamic
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
-era settlement on the Qatar Peninsula.
It is about to the north of
Umm Al Maa and to the southwest of
Murwab, two other historic Islamic-period sites.
Etymology
In
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, "yaghbi" is a term that roughly translates to "inconspicuous". This name was derived from its low elevation and partial concealment by stands of trees.
Geography
Yoghbi is in the
hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...
of
Zubarah
Zubarah (), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined, ancient town located on the northwestern coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about from the capital Doha. It was founded by Shaikh Muhammed bin Khal ...
and is near to Al Haddayah and
Umm Al Maa. The site is situated in a
rawda (depression). Large clusters of still-active wells are found here, as well as small
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
structures built to encourage the formation of
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
s.
Archaeology
In March 2019, the joint archaeological mission of
Qatar Museums and the
University College London Qatar (UCL-Q) discovered the oldest known settlement in Qatar dating to the Islamic period, which began in c. 628 CE. The settlement discovered here is thought to have been founded during the
Sasanian period, between 538 and 670 CE. However, habitation continued well into the
Umayyad period, with some ruins bearing features that indicate they were built sometime between 661 and 750 CE.
Jose Carvajal Lopez, the lead archaeologist for UCL-Q, stated that this finding is of some significance because it suggests that habitation of Qatar's north coast was not dependent on trade generated by the formation of
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
in 762 or the emergence of
Siraf around 800.
References
Al Shamal
Archaeological sites in Qatar
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