![Mysterious City (3207952435)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Mysterious_City_%283207952435%29.jpg)
Zekreet ( ar, زكريت) is a village in north-western Qatar near
Dukhan
Dukhan ( ar, دخان) is a city in the western municipality of Al-Shahaniya in the State of Qatar. It is approximately west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency QatarEnergy and is the site of the first oil ...
and about 80 km north-west west of
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
. Originally a sparsely populated area, Zekreet was built up in the 1940s after oil operations commenced in Qatar. This included the construction of a harbor for oil equipment and a number of small houses which eventually developed into a village. There are a number of visitor attractions and old ruins at the site, one of the most notable being Zekreet Fort, which is housed to the immediate north of the village.
Etymology
The village's name is derived from the
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 ...
word "zikra", which in English translates to "memories". Originally, the name applied to a nearby
rawda which had sentimental value for its inhabitants, but the name was eventually given to the village itself.
Zekreet is also spelled as ''Zikrit'' and ''Zekrit''. An area known by a similar name called
Bir Zekrit
Ras Abrouq ( ar, رأس أبروق; also known as Bir Zekreet) is the northernmost extension of the Zekreet Peninsula, a stretch of land to the north of Dukhan in Qatar. It has a beach of the same name (more commonly known as Ras Abrouq) is located north of Zekreet.
Geography
Zekreet is situated near the bottom small stretch of land known as the
Zekreet Peninsula
The Zekreet Peninsula, also known as the Abrouq Peninsula, is a peninsula in western Qatar, located to the north of the industrial city of Dukhan. Much of the area is associated with erosional landforms such as foothills, mesas and gypsum plateaux. ...
which protrudes into the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
and of which
Ras Abrouq
Ras Abrouq ( ar, رأس أبروق; also known as Bir Zekreet) is the northernmost extension of the Zekreet Peninsula, a stretch of land to the north of Dukhan in Qatar. It has a beach of the same name occupies the northern extremity.
Dukhan
Dukhan ( ar, دخان) is a city in the western municipality of Al-Shahaniya in the State of Qatar. It is approximately west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency QatarEnergy and is the site of the first oil ...
is the closest sizable settlement.
To the west of the village is the
Bay of Zekreet
The Bay of Zekreet ( ar, دَوْحَة زِكْرِيت, Dawḩat az Zikrīt) is a half-moon shaped bay on the Zekreet Peninsula in western Qatar. The Zekreet Peninsula is a rocky, sandy desert, with numerous rock formations and gypsum plateau ...
, a half-moon shaped
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
which in the past was an extension of the 20 km-long
Dukhan Sabkha
Dukhan Sabkha, located in the northern section of the Dukhan region in western Qatar, is the largest inland sabkha (salt-flat) ecosystem found in the Persian Gulf. The sabkha runs for approximately 20 km, occupies an area of 73 km², has a width o ...
. There is a
cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
protruding into the bay known as Ras Zekreet.
Much of the area is associated with erosional landforms such as
foothill
Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...
s and
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
s.
History
Pre-20th century
![The Fort at Zekreet (7242410386)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/The_Fort_at_Zekreet_%287242410386%29.jpg)
Zekreet was likely inhabited during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the same era that saw the rise of the nearby northern settlements of
Zubarah
Zubarah ( ar, الزبارة), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined and ancient fort located on the north western coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about 105 km from the Qatari capital of Doha. ...
and
Al Huwaila
Al Huwaila ( ar, اَلْحُوَيْلَة, Al Ḩuwaylah; also spelled Lehwaila) is an abandoned town in Qatar located in the municipality of Al Shamal. Prior to the 18th century, and as perhaps as early as the 16th century, it served as Qatar's ...
. Historic references to the area in the English language are scarce, but a local fort was mentioned by
J.G. Lorimer, who claimed that it was built by the pirate ruler of Qatar
Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah
Rahmah ibn Jabir ibn Adhbi al-Jalhami ( ar, رحمة بن جابر بن عذبي الجلهمي; c. 1760–1826) was an Arab ruler in the Persian Gulf region and was described by his contemporary, the English traveler and author, James Silk Buck ...
in c. 1800. The village may have been abandoned around 1811, the same period that Zubarah was sacked.
20th century
Oil was discovered for the first time in Qatar in 1936 in the nearby mountain range of
Jebel Dukhan to the south. The western side of the
Bay of Zekreet
The Bay of Zekreet ( ar, دَوْحَة زِكْرِيت, Dawḩat az Zikrīt) is a half-moon shaped bay on the Zekreet Peninsula in western Qatar. The Zekreet Peninsula is a rocky, sandy desert, with numerous rock formations and gypsum plateau ...
, across the bay from the village, accommodated the first shallow-water harbor in Qatar to be used by oil companies to unload their equipment during the 1940s. Food supplies and fresh water from
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 ...
were also imported here. The growth and formation of the modern village of Zekreet was dependent on this harbor, however it was subsequently made obsolete by
Mesaieed
Mesaieed ( ar, مسيعيد, also transliterated as ''Musay'id'' and ''Umm Sa'id'') is an industrial city in Al Wakrah Municipality in the State of Qatar, approximately south of Doha. It was one of the most important cities in Qatar during the ...
Harbor in 1952, and by the 1960s was decommissioned altogether.
![Qatar, Zekreet (Bir Zekrit)(2), village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Qatar%2C_Zekreet_%28Bir_Zekrit%29%282%29%2C_village.JPG)
Like most settlements in Qatar, seawater intrusion contaminated the coastal aquifers, therefore the contemporary village was established inland on the other side of the bay near existing water wells on the
Zekreet Peninsula
The Zekreet Peninsula, also known as the Abrouq Peninsula, is a peninsula in western Qatar, located to the north of the industrial city of Dukhan. Much of the area is associated with erosional landforms such as foothills, mesas and gypsum plateaux. ...
. Many inhabitants from eastern Qatar migrated to the
Dukhan
Dukhan ( ar, دخان) is a city in the western municipality of Al-Shahaniya in the State of Qatar. It is approximately west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency QatarEnergy and is the site of the first oil ...
region in the 1950s to find work in the oil industry; notable tribes among these migrants being the
Al Muhannadi The Al Mohannadi ( ar, المهندي) tribe is an Arab tribal confederation based primarily in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, especially in Qatar. Being a tribal confederation that emerged in the coastal town of Al Khor, the larger portion of ...
, the Bani Hajer and the
Na'im
The Na'im () (singular Al Nuaimi ) is an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries.
The Na'im is divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban, the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Sham ...
. Population estimates in 1950 put the number of men at 200 and women at 250 in the fledgling village. Zekreet opened its first primary school for boys in 1957 with a capacity of 45 students, making it the first settlement in the region to establish a formal school. A few years later, in 1960, the village's first primary school for girls was founded with roughly 26 seats. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, all inhabitants of the western industrial settlements sent their children to these two schools.
Subsequently, the government decided to centralize all of the western region's infrastructure in the city of Dukhan, and so in the 1970s Zekreet's two schools were closed and its students shifted to the schools' replacements in Dukhan. The population of Zekreet sharply fell in the following years; by 1990 it was estimated that it had only 50 households. A majority of its residents were still employed in the energy sector.
21st century
In January 2019, it was estimated that Zekreet had about 7,000 people living in the village, mainly expat workers.
Industry
As of 2017,
Qatargas
Qatargas is the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) company. It produces and supplies the globe with 77 million metric tonnes of LNG annually from across its seven ventures—Qatargas 1, Qatargas 2, Qatargas 3, Qatargas 4, RL1, RL2 a ...
is in the process of implementing the $600 million Zekreet Gasoline Project. It will eventually produce up to 75,000 barrels per day.
Archaeology
![Far view of Film City in Zekreet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Far_view_of_Film_City_in_Zekreet.jpg)
The first archaeological excavations at Zekreet took place in 1973–1974 by a team led by
Beatrice de Cardi. Zekreet Fort was discovered during this period. The area was again excavated by a French team from 2002 and 2005 and the contents of this excavation were analyzed in 2006. The total area of the excavated site was 18,000 m².
Nineteenth-century ceramics have been discovered ''in situ''. Some of the pottery has been traced back to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Visitor attractions
Zekreet Fort
Zekreet Fort has been dated to the late 18th or early 19th century. The fort's shape is quadrangular with four circular watchtowers.
At the initial time of construction, the fort did not have any towers. The towers were instead added to each side in a reconstruction phase. Facilities for "
debis" (date syrup) production are believed to have been at the site.
Film City
A replica city was built to the north of Zekreet for use in film production.. It includes a large fort surrounded by palm trees.
House of the imam
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 ...
has embarked on a project to repackage a house belonging to the former imam of Zekreet during the 1950s as a cultural venue where educational workshops are held. As part of the repackaging, a passage will be constructed from the building to
Richard Serra
Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material quality and exploration o ...
's sculptures in
Ras Abrouq
Ras Abrouq ( ar, رأس أبروق; also known as Bir Zekreet) is the northernmost extension of the Zekreet Peninsula, a stretch of land to the north of Dukhan in Qatar. It has a beach of the same name .
Zekreet Commercial Plaza
On an area of 6,692 m
2, the Zekreet Commercial Plaza features 36 businesses, 31 residential units and several offices. Included among these businesses are restaurants, a bank, a post office, and a grocery store.
Gallery
Abandoned vehicle at Zekreet.jpg, Abandoned vehicle in Zekreet
Qatar, Zekreet (Bir Zekrit)(3), village.JPG, An old building in the village
Up-close view of the mosque in Zekreet.jpg, Up-close view of the mosque in Zekreet
Reconstructed dwelling atop a limestone rock in the Zekreet Peninsula.jpg, Reconstructed ruins on a limestone rock in the Zekreet Peninsula
References
{{Al-Shahaniya Municipality
Populated places in Al-Shahaniya
Populated coastal places in Qatar
Archaeological sites in Qatar