In a huge discovery, research team unearths the country’s earliest Islamic period site

If you are a history buff, then this news is likely to make you happy.

A combined research team from Qatar Museums (QM) and UCL Qatar unearthed the earliest Islamic period site in Qatar, which is also one of the earliest in the region, reported Gulf Times.

The remains, which is in the country’s northwest, have been dated to the later Sassanian period, between 538 and 670 CE. The architectural features still in place today can be traced back to the Umayyad period of 661-750 CE.

The excavation came as part of a joint project between QM and UCL Qatar, called Crowded Desert. For the past three years, the project has centred around the archaeological study of Meleiha and Umm al-Ma’, near Al Zubarah. 

However, it was at the excavation of Yoghbi that the team, led by Dr Jose Carvajal Lopez, uncovered Qatar’s earliest Islamic period settlement.

Amongst the items found were ceramics from between the seventh and eighth centuries and fragments of glass, metals, stone vessels and fishing tools from the early Islamic period.

The discoveries at Yoghbi are significant because they counter the previous academic belief that the occupation of the Gulf in the early Islamic period is linked to the peak of trade with the Indian Ocean, that was brought about by the foundation of Baghdad in 762 CE and Siraf, around 800 CE.

“The main aim of this project is to enrich our knowledge and understanding of the nomads and sedentary people who lived in the area, and their relationship with other distant places in the Gulf,” said QM’s Director of Archaeology Faisal Al Naimi.

“This information helps us paint a better picture about the great historical themes prevalent in the Middle East, such as the early civilisations, the Islamisation of the region and the Gulf’s long-distance connectivity with the Indian Ocean and the rest of the Middle East,” he added.

“The results of the Crowded Desert Project, and in particular those of the excavation of Yoghbi, were completely unexpected. They've opened our eyes to the rich treasure of knowledge that lays still buried in Qatar and other countries of the Gulf,” said Dr Lopez.

The information gathered by researchers at areas such as Meleiha and Yoghbi will allow experts to reconstruct the contribution made by the Bedouins of Qatar to the tremendous historical themes of the Gulf region, including the development of early civilisations, the Islamisation of Arabia and the Gulf, and Qatar’s connectivity with the rest of the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.