Editing History of Qatar (section)

===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>