Khatt is a mountainous

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

south-east of the city of

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Famous for its hot springs, and latterly home to a spa hotel, there is evidence that Khatt has been a site of constant human settlement since the stone age – a record of over 5,000 years of occupation.

History

Surveys carried out by a team from the

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

in the early 1990s showed evidence of

Ubaid Period The Ubaid period (c. 6500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall and later by Leonard Wo ...

stone age occupation (knapped flint), as well as a collection of 16

Hafit period The Hafit period defines early Bronze Age human settlement in the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the period from 3200 to 2600 BC. It is named after the distinctive beehive burials first found on Jebel Hafit, a rocky mountain near Al Ain, bord ...

corbelled stone beehive tombs. Umm Al-Nar period burials were also uncovered, as well as evidence of Wadi Suq pottery. The discovery of red-ridged Barbar Ware speaks of trade with 'Dilmum', or

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, during the transitional period between the end of the Umm Al-Nar period and the ensuing Wadi Suq period. Evidence has also been found at Khatt of

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

occupation and pottery, and - contemporaneous with the nearby port and settlement of Julphar - Chinese blue and white porcelain dating to between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

Al Qasimi Rule

Khatt was an

Al Qasimi Al Qasimi ( ar, القواسم, spelled sometimes as Al Qassimi or Al Qassemi; plural: Al Qawasem ar, القواسم and, archaically, Joasmee) is an Arab dynasty in the Persian Gulf that rules Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, today forming two of ...

settlement, populated in the main by members of the

Naqbiyin The Naqbiyin ( ar, النقبي, singular Al Naqbi) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They are mostly settled within the emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah and have long been influential in the tribal politics of both emirates. B ...

, 'Awanat and Sharqiyin tribes – today the Al Naqbi Tower still stands in the village. Dominating the population, the settlement of the Naqbiyin is said to have taken place over a period of 300 years. The Sheikh of Khatt was a signatory to the

General Maritime Treaty of 1820 The General Maritime Treaty of 1820 was a treaty initially signed between the rulers of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Great Britain in January 1820, with the nearby island state of Bahrain acceding to the treaty i ...

with the British. The treaty was issued in triplicate and signed at mid-day on 8 January 1820 in Ras Al Khaimah by Major-General

William Keir Grant General Sir William Keir Grant, KCB, GCH (born William Keir; 25 May 1771''Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950'' – 7 May 1852) was a British Army general during the first half of the 19th century. He was born in Fife, Scotland,''1 ...

together with Sheikh Hassan Bin Rahman. Hassan was styled "Sheikh of Hatt and Falna" (Hatt being modern day Khatt) because he had ceded Ras Al Khaimah town to the British for use as a garrison town. Other tribal Sheikhs of the Omani coast signed soon after. The maritime peace notwithstanding, Khatt was subject to the occasional depredations of bedouin from the interior and, in 1888, a feud between the people of Ras Al Khaimah and the mountain-dwelling

Shihuh The Shihuh ( ar, الشحوح, ') is an Arab tribe living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. In the singular, the name is Al Shehhi, a common family name in the UAE and Oman today. Inhabiting the northern part of the Hajar Mountain rang ...

tribe resulted in several townspeople being murdered and over 200 date palms in Khatt being destroyed. '' Lorimer'' noted, in 1908, 100 houses and 20,000 palm trees at Khatt.

Springs

The sulphorous waters of Khatt Springs attain a depth of 90 feet, with a constant temperature of some 40 °C. Due to its mineral content and heat, the water is said to have medicinal benefits soothing skin ailments, rheumatic diseases and muscular problems. The waters rise from limestone bedrock. A total of three springs rise at the site, which has been developed to include a spa hotel managed by French operator Golden Tulip and offering a range of treatments.

References

{{Ras al-Khaimah Villages in the United Arab Emirates Populated places in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah