MURWAB

About fifteen kilometers south of Zubarah, Murwab is the only archaeological site that is not located on the coast. It is however closed to the public. It dates from the 9th century (Abbasid period) according to a coin and ceramic material found on site, and was inhabited until the 11th century. It had about 250 houses and two mosques. Excavations have revealed tombs. An ethno-archaeological study was carried out based on the analysis of the socio-economic organization of the modern village of Al-'Uqdah, compared to the archaeological results obtained from the excavation and photogrammetry of Murwab. It turns out that a "majlis-reception" room could be identified and that the association of this particular room with a number of domestic dwellings accounts for different phases of sedentarization of this population. A sampling of surface ceramics allows us to detect areas of domestic reoccupation during the 18th and 19th centuries. On the Murwab site, these traces are distinguished by a large rectangular surface, completely cleaned of stone and flattened, with a line running around the perimeter and allowing for the holding of the tent's canvas. Often large in size, these traces of temporary settlements are quite visible. The discovery of blue-glazed ceramics dated to the 18th century, as well as ceramics with olive and brown glazes, attests to a reoccupation in these areas where mastabas and tents of the modern period are present.