Editing History of Qatar (section)

==Antiquity==

===Iron Age and Babylonian–Persian control (680–325 BC)===
{{See also|Assyria}}
[[File:Mysterious City (3207952435).jpg|thumb|200px|Reconstructed ruins in [[Zekreet]], on the west coast of Qatar near [[Ras Abrouq]].]]
[[Assyria]]n king [[Esarhaddon]] led a successful campaign against ''Bazu'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anciv.info/mesopotamia/late-babylonian-period-neo-assyrian-period.html|title=Late Babylonian Period and Neo-Assyrian Period (1000 BC - 606 BC)|publisher=anciv.info|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> an area which encompassed Dilmun and Qatar,<ref>{{cite book|last=Liverani|first=Mario|title=The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0d1JAgAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|page=518|isbn=978-0415679060}}</ref> in {{Circa|680 BC}}. To date, no archaeological evidence of early Iron Age settlements has been discovered in the peninsula.<ref>{{Harvnb|Casey|Vine|1991|p=16}}</ref> This is likely due to adverse climatic changes rendering Qatar less inhabitable during this period.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002278/227867e.pdf|journal=World Heritage|volume=72|date=June 2014|title=Archaeological heritage of pre-Islamic Qatar|author1=Sultan Muhesen |author2=Faisal Al Naimi |page=50|access-date=14 February 2016}}</ref>

In the 5th century BC, Greek historian [[Herodotus]] published the earliest known description of the population of Qatar, describing its inhabitants as 'sea-faring [[Canaan]]ites'.<ref>{{cite book|title=Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen|publisher=JPM Publications|year=2010|page=31|isbn=978-2884520997}}</ref>

===Hellenistic period (325–250 BC)===
{{Main|Seleucid Empire}}
Around 325 BC,<ref name="mccoy"/> [[Alexander the Great]] sent his top admiral, [[Androsthenes of Thasos]], to survey the entire Persian Gulf. The requested charts arrived shortly after Alexander died in 323 BC.<ref name="mohamed">{{cite book|last=Althani|first=Mohamed|title=Jassim the Leader: Founder of Qatar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_J9kiBRdIgC|publisher=Profile Books|year=2013|page=16|isbn=978-1781250709}}</ref> [[Seleucus I Nicator]] was awarded the eastern part of the Ancient Greek Empire after Alexander's death. Starting from 312 BC, he expanded the [[Seleucid Empire]] eastward of Babylon, purportedly encompassing parts of Eastern Arabia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reade|first=Julian|title=Indian Ocean In Antiquity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtzWAQAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|year=1996|page=252|isbn=978-0710304353}}</ref> Archaeological evidence of Greek-influenced materials has been discovered in Qatar. Excavations north of [[Dukhan]] uncovered potsherds of Seleucid characteristics, and a cairnfield consisting of 100 burial mounds dating to the era was discovered in [[Ras Abrouq]].<ref name="embassy"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Kapel|first=Holger|title=Atlas of the stone-age cultures of Qatar|year=1967|page=12}}</ref> The relatively large number of cairns suggest a sizeable sea-faring community prevailed in the area.<ref name="vine3">{{Harvnb|Casey|Vine|1991|p=17}}</ref>

After losing most of their territories in the Persian Gulf, Seleucid influence ceased in the area by {{Circa|250 BC}}.<ref name="ibp">{{cite book|title=Qatar Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0SbBQAAQBAJ|publisher=Int'l Business Publications, USA|pages=34, 58|year=2012|isbn=978-0739762141}}</ref><ref name="philippe"/>

===Persian control (250 BC – 642 AD)===
{{Main|Parthian Empire|Sasanian Empire}}
{{See also|Christianity in Qatar|Spread of Islam}}
[[File:Sixth Map of Asia Which Includes Arabia Felix, Carmania, and the Persian Gulf.tif|thumb|left|220px|The earliest known depiction of Qatar as ''Catura'' in [[Ptolemy]]'s map produced in the 2nd century.]]
Following the eviction of the Seleucid by the [[Parthian Empire]] in {{Circa|250 BC}}, the latter gained dominion over the Persian Gulf and Arabian coast.<ref name="ibp"/><ref name="philippe">{{cite book|last=Cadène|first=Philippe|title=Atlas of the Gulf States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSSzAQAAQBAJ|publisher=BRILL|year=2013|isbn=978-9004245600|page=10}}</ref> As the Parthians were dependent on trade routes through the Persian Gulf, they established garrisons along the coast.<ref name="ibp"/> Pottery recovered from expeditions in Qatar has demonstrated links to the Parthian Empire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.world-archaeology.com/features/qatar-bridging-the-gulf.htm|title=New techniques to locate lost prehistory in Qatar|publisher=world-archaeology.com|date=28 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Ras Abrouq]], a coastal city north of [[Dukhan]], housed a fishing station which foreign vessels used to dry fish in 140 BC.<ref name="rahman2">{{Harvnb|Rahman|2006|pp=33}}</ref> Several stone structures and large quantities of fish bones were recovered from the site.<ref name="vine3"/>

[[Pliny the Elder]], a Roman author, wrote an account of the peninsula's inhabitants around the mid-first century AD. He referred to them as the "Catharrei" and described them as nomads who constantly roamed in search of water and food.<ref name="vine3"/> Around the second century, [[Ptolemy]] produced the first known map to depict the landmass, referring to it as "Catura".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qnl.qa/collections/aihl/maps|title=Maps|publisher=Qatar National Library|access-date=11 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606173751/http://qnl.qa/collections/aihl/maps|archive-date=6 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:The Sasanian Empire at its apex under Khosrow II.svg|thumb|The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent c. 620, under [[Khosrow II]]]]
In 224 AD, the [[Sasanian Empire]] gained control over the territories surrounding the Persian Gulf.<ref name="philippe"/> Qatar played a role in the commercial activity of the Sasanids, contributing to at least two commodities: precious pearls and purple dye.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/qatar-history.htm|title=Qatar - Early history|publisher=globalsecurity.org|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> Sasanid pottery and glassware were found in Mezru'ah, a city north-west of [[Doha]], and fragments of glassware and pottery were discovered in a settlement in Umm al-Ma'a.<ref name="embassy"/>

[[File:Isak Sirin.jpg|thumb|[[Isaac of Nineveh]], sometimes referred to as 'Isaac of Qatar', was born in [[Christianity in Eastern Arabia#Beth Qatraye|Beth Qatraye]]]]
Under the Sasanid reign, many of the inhabitants in Eastern Arabia were introduced to Christianity after the religion was dispersed eastward by Mesopotamian Christians.<ref name="gillman">{{cite book|last1=Gillman|first1=Ian|last2=Klimkeit|first2=Hans-Joachim|title=Christians in Asia Before 1500|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGpr2KsbS94C|publisher=University of Michigan Press|pages=87, 121|year=1999|isbn=978-0472110407}}</ref> Monasteries were constructed in Qatar during this era,<ref>{{cite book|last=Commins|first=David|title=The Gulf States: A Modern History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T56CBAAAQBAJ|publisher=I. B. Tauris|page=16|year=2012|isbn=978-1848852785}}</ref> and further settlements were founded.<ref name="rahman2"/> During the latter part of the Christian era, Qatar was known by the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] name '[[Christianity in Eastern Arabia#Beth Qatraye|Beth Qatraye]]' (ܒܝܬ ܩܛܪܝܐ; "region of the Qataris").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aub.edu.lb/communications/media/Documents/May_2011/grant-syriac-EN.pdf|title=AUB academics awarded $850,000 grant for project on the Syriac writers of Qatar in the 7th century AD|publisher=American University of Beirut|date=31 May 2011|access-date=12 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528053210/http://www.aub.edu.lb/communications/media/Documents/May_2011/grant-syriac-EN.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> A variant of this was 'Beth Catara'.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oRcFAAAAQAAJ| title = PROCEEDINGS OF THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPA; CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AT MEETING HELD IN PHILADELPHIA IN AUGUST AND SEPT. 1835, p. 65| year = 1835}}</ref> The region also included [[Bahrain]], [[Tarout Island]], Al-Khatt, and [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kozah|first1=Mario|last2=Abu-Husayn|first2=Abdulrahim|author2link=Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn|last3=Al-Murikhi|first3=Saif Shaheen|title=The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|year=2014|page=24|isbn=978-1463203559}}</ref> The dioceses of Beth Qatraye did not form an [[ecclesiastical province]], except for a short period during the mid-to-late seventh century. They were instead subject to the Metropolitan of [[Fars (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)|Fars]].<ref name="brookes">{{cite web|url=http://heritage.brookes.ac.uk/downloads/abu-dhabi-collections.pdf |title=Christianity in the Gulf during the first centuries of Islam |publisher=Oxford Brookes University |access-date=27 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528032636/http://heritage.brookes.ac.uk/downloads/abu-dhabi-collections.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

[[Muhammad]] sent [[Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami]], a Muslim envoy, to a Persian ruler in Eastern Arabia named [[Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi]] in 628 and requested that he and his people accept Islam. Munzir obliged his request, and most Arab tribes in Qatar converted to Islam.<ref name="diwan">{{cite web|url=http://www.diwan.gov.qa/english/qatar/Qatar_History.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122071350/http://www.diwan.gov.qa/english/qatar/Qatar_History.htm|title=History of Qatar|publisher=Amiri Diwan|archive-date=22 January 2008 }}</ref> It has been proposed by historian Habibur Rahman that Munzir ibn Sawa's seat of administration existed in the [[Murwab]] or Umm al-Ma'a area of Qatar. This theory is supported by an archaeological find of approximately 100 small stone-built Islamic-period houses and fortified palaces of a tribal leader in Murwab, which are thought to have originated from the early Islamic period.<ref name="rahmanh"/> After the adoption of Islam, the Arabs led the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] which resulted in the fall of the Sasanian Empire.<ref name="fromherz">{{cite book |author-link1=Allen James Fromherz|last= Fromherz|first= Allen|date= 13 April 2012|title= Qatar: A Modern History|publisher= Georgetown University Press|pages=43, 60, 2041|isbn= 978-1-58901-910-2}}</ref>

It is likely that some settled populations in Qatar did not immediately convert to Islam. [[Isaac of Nineveh]], a 7th-century [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac Christian]] bishop regarded as a [[saint]] in some churches, was born in Beth Qatraye.<ref name="fromherz"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Mahony|first1=Anthony|last2=Loosley|first2=Emma|title=Eastern Christianity in the Modern Middle East (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XzOMAgAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|year=2010|page=23|isbn=978-0415548038}}</ref> Other notable Christian scholars dating to this period who hailed from Beth Qatraye include [[Dadisho Qatraya]], [[Gabriel of Qatar]], [[Gabriel Arya]] and Ahob of Qatar. In 674, the bishops of [[Christianity in Eastern Arabia|Beth Qatraye]] stopped attending synods.<ref name="brookes"/>