Zekreet

Remains of the historic Zekreet Fort

Zekreet was likely inhabited during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the same era that saw the rise of the nearby northern settlements of Zubarah and Al Huwaila. Historic references to the area in the English language are scarce, but a local fort was mentioned by J.G. Lorimer, who claimed that it was built by the pirate ruler of Qatar Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah in c. 1800. The village may have been abandoned around 1811, the same period that Zubarah was sacked.[6]

Oil was discovered for the first time in Qatar in 1936 in the nearby mountain range of Jebel Dukhan to the south.[9] The western side of the Bay of Zekreet, across the bay from the village, accommodated the first shallow-water harbor in Qatar to be used by oil companies to unload their equipment during the 1940s.[10] Food supplies and fresh water from Bahrain were also imported here. The growth and formation of the modern village of Zekreet was dependent on this harbor, however it was subsequently made obsolete by Mesaieed Harbor in 1952, and by the 1960s was decommissioned altogether.[11]

View of the village in 2015

Like most settlements in Qatar, seawater intrusion contaminated the coastal aquifers, therefore the contemporary village was established inland on the other side of the bay near existing water wells on the Zekreet Peninsula. Many inhabitants from eastern Qatar migrated to the Dukhan region in the 1950s to find work in the oil industry; notable tribes among these migrants being the Al Muhannadi, the Bani Hajer and the Na'im. Population estimates in 1950 put the number of men at 200 and women at 250 in the fledgling village. Zekreet opened its first primary school for boys in 1957 with a capacity of 45 students, making it the first settlement in the region to establish a formal school. A few years later, in 1960, the village's first primary school for girls was founded with roughly 26 seats. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, all inhabitants of the western industrial settlements sent their children to these two schools.[11]

Subsequently, the government decided to centralize all of the western region's infrastructure in the city of Dukhan, and so in the 1970s Zekreet's two schools were closed and its students shifted to the schools' replacements in Dukhan. The population of Zekreet sharply fell in the following years; by 1990 it was estimated that it had only 50 households. A majority of its residents were still employed in the energy sector.[11]

In January 2019, it was estimated that Zekreet had about 7,000 people living in the village, mainly expat workers.[12]

Zekreet Fort has been dated to the late 18th or early 19th century. The fort's shape is quadrangular with four circular watchtowers.[6] At the initial time of construction, the fort did not have any towers. The towers were instead added to each side in a reconstruction phase. Facilities for "debis" (date syrup) production are believed to have been at the site.[15]

A replica city was built to the north of Zekreet for use in film production. It includes a large fort surrounded by palm trees.[16]

The Qatar Museums Authority has embarked on a project to repackage a house belonging to the former imam of Zekreet during the 1950s as a cultural venue where educational workshops are held. As part of the repackaging, a passage will be constructed from the building to Richard Serra's sculptures in Ras Abrouq.[17]