Failaka Island in the Late Islamic Period. Investigations at the fishing village of Kharaib al‐Dasht

Author(s):  
Agnieszka Pieńkowska ◽  
Marek Truszkowski
2016 ◽  
Vol XXIV (1) ◽  
pp. 560-589
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Pieńkowska ◽  
Marta Mierzejewska ◽  
Magdalena Nowakowska

The site of Kharaib el-Desht on Failaka Island, Kuwait, was explored by an archaeological Kuwaiti–Polish team for the first time in 2013. The project included a survey and underwater archaeological research. Preliminary results indicate a dating of the site to the late Islamic period. Pottery collected from the survey of the site and from the excavations has been studied in a sepearate appendix to this report. As for the underwater and waterfront archaeology project, the main objective was to locate and describe seashore archaeological sites, provide documentary evidence and manage proper preservation of the discoveries in order to further educational opportunities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Bonnéric

The pottery discovered at al-Qusur (Failaka Island, Kuwait) is of first importance to clarify thedating of the Christian settlements of the Arab-Persian Gulf. Firstly attributed to the Sasanianperiod by their excavators on the base of pottery and stucco studies, theses sites were thenattributed to the Early Islamic period by other scholars according to the artefacts published.Complete catalogues of the materiel unearthed on these sites are still lacking. This article offers afirst overview of the pottery discovered at al-Qu??r by the French Mission in Kuwait in 1988–1989and in 2007–2009 in two buildings identified as two churches (A1 and A2), two courtyard houses(B1 and B8), and seven isolated buildings (B2–B7 and B9). The corpus was incomplete due to theloss of sherds from 1988 and 1989 campaigns during the Gulf war and to the treatment of partof the pottery discovered from 2007 to 2009. If quantification was meaningless and petrographyimpossible, this corpus reflects the cultural proximity of the site with Mesopotamia and Persiaand diagnostic sherds such as pitchers with gouged lines or pointed circles with incised lines andgouged motifs, stamped sherds, carinated turquoise-glazed cups, attest that the main occupationof the site is related to an Early Islamic period. This dating is consistent with other Christian sitesin the region, contradicting both Arabic and Syriac sources that propounded the disappearanceof Christianity as soon as the beginnings of Islam.


2016 ◽  
Vol XXIV (1) ◽  
pp. 529-546
Author(s):  
Magdalena Żurek

Excavations of the Qusur complex in the center of Failaka Island in Kuwait commenced in 2011 and were continued in 2013, carried out by a team from the University of Warsaw. A magnetic prospection preceded the fieldwork. In the course of two seasons three of nine units in the northernmost part of the site were investigated. Stone enclosures and small houses with white mortar floors were discovered and dated provisionally to the late pre-Islamic and early Islamic period. The settlement was cleared of practically all finds save for some refuse pottery in the courtyards.


2016 ◽  
Vol XXIV (1) ◽  
pp. 547-559
Author(s):  
Franciszek Pawlicki

An extensive archaeological prospection along the coasts of Failaka recorded over 180 sites, different stone structures, surface pottery assemblages, farms and enclosures. These were registered, documented and mapped. Stone by stone plans were drawn up of a number of substantial structures that were cleaned and some general observations were made. All prospected and cleaned structures proved to be built of local ashlar sandstone straight on solid ground or bedrock. All kinds of mortar and plaster was used for building construction. Flat stones of similar dimensions were carefully selected. Buildings were neatly designed with entrances always in the middle of the front wall. Archaeological sites of Al-Sabbahiya, Um al-Dakhan, Matitah, Kharaib el-Desht with a density of different historical structures dating from the mid- and late Islamic period are found in the southern regions of Failaka Island.


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