Failaka, Kharāᵓib al-Dasht

Kharāᵓib al-Dasht

Kharaib Desht
Kharaib el‐Desht
Kharaib al-Desht

• Project name:

  Part of the Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Mission (KPAM)
  Kuwait Failaka Archeological Research Project – comparative study of the settlement patterns on Failaka Island. Investigations of Kharaib el-Desht Settlement Complex
  

• Type of site:

  Settlement

  Location:

  Kuwait
  Failaka Island

  Dating:

  Late Islamic period (from the end of the 16th to the end of the 19th century)

Most interesting finds:

– Fishing village with domestic architecture and fishing installations (over 100 ovens used for fish processing)
– Large mosque with internal buttresses
– Fishing structures located along the coast of the Kharaib el-Desht Bay
– Rich assemblage of imported glass bracelets

History of research:

Investigated by the PCMA mission in:

2013, 2015–

Type of research:

Excavations, supplemented by underwater research (subproject: M. Nowakowska, MA)

Directors:

Piotr Bieliński – co-director of the Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Mission (KPAM)
Hamed Al-Mutairi – co-director of the Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Mission (KPAM)
Agnieszka Pieńkowska – project director

Co-operating institutions:

– Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw
– National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters of the State of Kuwait

Description of the site and research:

Kharaib el-Desht lies on the north-western coast of Failaka Island. Late Islamic settlement remains cover a stretch of land approximately 450 m long and from 80 to 100 m wide. In written sources, the site is mentioned in connection with the presence of the Portuguese, who are said to have been driven out by a rat infestation sent by Saint Auliya.

The site was first recorded during a survey conducted in 1976 by an Italian archaeological mission. The excavations carried out since 2013 by the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission (KPAM) have not only uncovered part of the village but also explored the marine environment of the island.

Traces of settlement uncovered in the eastern part of the site stand directly on bedrock. Judging by the presence of several dozen hearths and ovens, the central part of the hill was reserved for economic activity. In the south-western part of the village, fragments of two houses were discovered. The houses’ inventory included various types of stone anchors, fishhooks, net sinkers and glass bangles; over a hundred fragments of the latter have been found to date.

In the north-eastern part of the settlement, the team found a fragment of a mosque. The building, measuring some 20 x 20 m, was erected on a low escarpment. It consists of a prayer hall and a walled courtyard. The prayer hall is divided by a row of four pillars into two narrow rooms. The entrance to the hall was located in the middle of the north-eastern wall (one of the longer walls) and it led directly to the courtyard. A mihrab niche was situated in the middle of the south-western wall of the building, being the qibla wall. The mihrab was less than a 1 m wide and 1.3 m deep. Next to it, just o.6 m to the north, there was another, smaller niche, that might have once accommodated the mimbar.

The courtyard, measuring 17.5 m by 11.4 m, adjoined the prayer hall on the east. In the northern corner of the courtyard, a stone installation was discovered which enclosed n area of 2 m by approx. 0.8 m. Nearby, immediately under the courtyard wall foundation, the remains of a clay-lined drain were located that served to evacuate water from the courtyard. Probably this was the place for ablutions preceding prayers.

Besides archaeological excavations, underwater research is being conducted along the island’s coast. It has led to the discovery of a few dozen linear and circular stone structures, so-called fish traps. Small clay ovens, very common in Kharaib el-Desht, are also typical of a fishing village. However, their number (over 100) and variety are striking and unparalleled in other late Islamic fishing villages. A significant concentration of these ovens (more than 60) was found in the north-western part of the site where fish processing mainly took place. They were accompanied by few fragments of overfired or sooted pottery as well as a rich bone assemblage, with fish bones predominating. Equipment used for fishing and preliminary fish processing was found both inside the buildings as well as in their direct vicinity. It included, e.g., different kinds of stone anchors, fishing hooks and fishing-net weights made of stone or pottery vessel fragments.

The repertoire of vessels found in the direct vicinity of the fishing installations scarcely differs from the standard furnishings of late Islamic houses. A high percentage of kitchen vessels is, however, noteworthy. The cooking wares included numerous round pots and large straight-walled basins of the Julfar Ware type, as well as handmade, very crude bowls. Various juglets, small bowls, jars and water jugs of the popular ‘Ali Ware/Cream Sandy Ware constituted another major group. The majority of the vessels can be considered tableware, used for serving food. Among them were many kinds of glazed cups and plates with ring bases representing Manganese Purple Underglazed-Painted Ware, Bahla Ware/Khunj Ware, Late Turquoise Glaze Ware, Monochrome Green Glaze and Red-Yellow Ware. The quality of these glazes was rather poor; nevertheless, some vessels showed traces of having been repaired. High-quality imported beakers, plates and decorated porcelain cups (Blue-and-White Porcelain), dating to the 18th century, constituted only a small percentage of pottery finds. Their cheaper imitations made of frit (so-called Blue-and-White Frit) and clay (Blue-and-White Earthenware) were equally rare.

When was the village of Kharaib el-Desht established, who were its inhabitants, what did the fish processing look like and, above all, to whom were its products sold? There are no definite answers as yet. It is, however, certain that fishing was the main economic activity of the villagers who used the favorable geopolitical conditions of the island to make a place for themselves in the contemporary international trade network.

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