Al Zubarah Archaeological Site

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Al Zubarah Archaeological Site: A Testimony to Ancient Trading Traditions in the Gulf Region

The Al Zubarah Archaeological Site, located on the northwestern coast of the Qatar peninsula, stands as a significant remnant of the region's rich history and thriving trading traditions. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, this walled coastal town offers an exceptional insight into the urban trading and pearl-diving culture that once dominated the Gulf region.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The walled coastal town of Al Zubarah in the Persian Gulf flourished as a pearling and trading centre in the late 18th century and early 19th centuries, before it was destroyed in 1811 and abandoned in the early 1900s. Founded by merchants from Kuwait, Al Zubarah had trading links across the Indian Ocean, Arabia and Western Asia. A layer of sand blown from the desert has protected the remains of the site’s palaces, mosques, streets, courtyard houses, and fishermen’s huts; its harbour and double defensive walls, a canal, walls, and cemeteries. Excavation has only taken place over a small part of the site, which offers an outstanding testimony to an urban trading and pearl-diving tradition which sustained the region’s major coastal towns and led to the development of small independent states that flourished outside the control of the Ottoman, European, and Persian empires and eventually led to the emergence of modern day Gulf States.

Encyclopedia Record: Zubarah

Zubarah, also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined, ancient town located on the northwestern coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about 65 miles or 105 kilometres from the capital Doha. It was founded by the Bani Utbah tribal confederation who migrated from Kuwait in the mid-eighteenth century. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013.

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