page_title: Al Ghariyah
section_title: Archaeology
hierarchical_section_title: Al Ghariyah / Archaeology
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign for the archaeological site of Al Ghariyah in northern Qatar.
context_page_description: Al Ghariyah is a village on the northeast coast of Qatar located in the municipality of Ash Shamal. It was founded in 1885 by settlers from the town of Al Wakrah. It was a site of contention between Qatari tribes allied with the Ottomans and Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani.
  A number of ancient cup-marks and rock engravings were discovered in Al Ghariyah.
context_section_description: A number of structures dating to as early as the 17th century and as late as the mid-19th century have been discovered. To the east of these structures and the proceeding village that was formed in 1885 are various petroglyphs carved on the sides of the low rock outcrops on the southern flank of Jebel Ghariyah. Consistent with what has been observed elsewhere in the country, cup-marks are the most common form of rock carving. Here they appear in various forms, such as single cup-marks measuring 0.15 in diameter, in daisy-like patterns known as rosettes, and in aligned rows of three to six cup-marks. Furthermore, similar to what was observed in Fuwayrit 6 km to the south, there are also rock carvings at the highest point of the jebel at its northern extremity, a spot that would have offered the best vantage point of returning pearling vessels. 
  The motifs of Jebel Ghariyah's petroglyphs bear much resemblance to those found at nearby Jebel Fuwayrit and Jebel Jassassiyeh, and even to rock carvings found in the east in Freiha. It is speculated that aside from aesthetic purposes, these rock carvings also served functional purposes such as facilitating board games like mancala.
caption: A sign declaring Al Ghariyah as a protected archaeological site
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D200", "Image XResolution": "600", "Image YResolution": "600", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.2.00", "Image DateTime": "2011:01:05 14:35:02", "Image ExifOffset": "186", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "802", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7557", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "16", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:01:05 12:29:39", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:01:05 12:29:39", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "915241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "19/5", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "19", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}