Umm al Kilab is a settlement in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, located in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Ash Shamal Al Shamal ( ar, ٱلشَّمَال, Ash Shamāl) is a municipalities of Qatar, municipality in the state of Qatar. Its seat is called ''Madinat ash Shamal'' and it is considered to be one of the major cities in Qatar, although the population is ...

. Owing to its propensity for vegetation, various farms are based in the area. In the past, its inhabitants excavated sections of its depressed terrain to create small reservoirs that would fill during rainy season.

Etymology

As a rawda where rainwater collects, the area is relatively rich in vegetation. In

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, "umm" translates to mother and is used at the beginning of place names to describe an area with a particular quality. The "kilab" portion of its name is the plural form of "kalb", the Arabic word for

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

. It was named in memory of a number of dogs that died in the area.

Archaeology

The

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

has worked with the

Qatar Museums Authority Qatar Museums (formerly the Qatar Museums Authority) is a Qatari government entity that oversees the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, MIA Park, QM Gallery at Katara, ALRIWAQ DOHA Exhibition Space, the Al Zubarah ...

to report on the

Islamic Archaeology Islamic archaeology involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Quran, and early Islam. The science of archaeology grew out of the older mul ...

and heritage of Qatar. An archaeological site dating back to the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

period with a length of 410 meters lies on the fringes of a rawda in Umm Al Kilab. Trees, wells and remnants of old structures can be found

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

. Aforementioned structures are aligned with

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

. Numerous gastropod shells of ''

Conus ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

spp.'' are found in the ruined village, despite being 6 km inland, and a shell mound is found at the north-east end. The purpose of these shells are unknown. Modern research has shown that some ''Conus'' shells are toxic to humans while others possess potential for pain relief.

References

Populated places in Al Shamal {{Qatar-geo-stub