Zekreet

Zekreet is a village in north-western Qatar near Dukhan and about 90 km northwest of Doha. 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.EtymologyZekreet is also spelled as Zikrit and Zekrit. An area known by a similar name called Bir Zekrit (more commonly known as Ras Abrouq) is located south of Zekreet.HistoryZekreet was likely inhabited during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the same era that saw the rise of the nearby westerly settlements of Zubarah and Al-Huwaylah. 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 in c. 1800. The village may have been abandoned around 1811, the same period that Zubarah was sacked.The area accommodated the first harbor in Qatar to be used by oil companies to unload their equipment.ArchaeologyThe 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 18,000 m².