Al Jassasiya: The mysterious symbols carved in Qatar's deserts

Experts say the rock carvings at Al Jassasiya are distinctive to the placement.Courtesy Dimitris Sideridis

The space accommodates about 900 carvings. Courtesy Dimitris Sideridis

So, what have been they really for and what do they imply?"It is very difficult to answer," acknowledged Sakal, who additionally doesn't facet with the board-game concept. "We have no direct clues about the motifs used in Al Jassasiya," he mentioned."In my opinion, they might have a ritual meaning and function, which is very old so that it cannot be explained ethnographically."But how outdated? "We really do not know," conceded Sakal, explaining that petroglyphs -- and rock artwork, in common -- are very difficult to this point."There are wild hypotheses about the age, ranging from Neolithic to late Islamic times," he added. "I personally think that not all carvings were made at the same time."A decade in the past, one scientific examine of 9 totally different petroglyphs at Al Jassasiya discovered no proof of them being quite a lot of hundred years outdated, however the researchers concluded that more research are wanted, together with the event of latest strategies particular to limestone carvings.While specialists can't certainly say when the Al Jassasiya petroglyphs have been created, and by whom, all of them agree that probably the most fascinating -- and weird -- carvings on the web site are these of the boats.

Theories range on the age of the petroglyphs.Courtesy Dimitris Sideridis

These creations present necessary details about the varieties of vessels used in the thriving fishing and pearling industries (for hundreds of years, the mainstays of Qatar's financial system), in addition to their varied components.Most of the boats seen from above are often fish-shaped with pointed sterns and rows of oars, carved with a pointed steel instrument. They include a number of particulars, corresponding to crossing ribs and holes possible exhibiting the inserting of masts and thwarts. In some circumstances, a protracted line from the strict depicts a rope ending both in a conventional Arabic anchor (triangular stone anchor with two holes) or a European one (a steel anchor with a protracted shank and two curved arms, first used in the area about seven centuries in the past).

Journey to the afterlife

Mystery prevails over the aim of a number of the carvings. Courtesy Dimitris Sideridis

"On some of the boats the oars are not parallel, as they would have to be when used for rowing, but pointing in different locations," Frances Gillespie and Faisal Abdulla Al-Naimi wrote in "Hidden in the Sands: Uncovering Qatar's Past." "This is how they would have looked when the boats were anchored out on the pearl banks and the oars were left in place for the divers to cling to and rest each time they came up."Experts say they'll solely speculate as to why there may be such a excessive focus of ship carvings at Al Jassasiya, in comparison with different coastal petroglyphic websites in Qatar."Ships held a powerful role in the beliefs of ancient peoples, who saw them as a symbolic means of transit from this world to the next," Gillespie and Al-Naimi famous. "Both Babylonians and ancient Egyptians believed that the dead reached the afterworld upon a ship. Greek myths spoke of the ferryman Charon who carried the souls of the dead across the river Styx to the underworld. It may be that the oldest of the ship carvings are echoes of a folk memory reaching far back into pre-historic times."Whatever the rationale, guests ought to keep in mind to take water with them and put on a hat and sunscreen when wandering among the many carvings to ponder their which means.The fenced web site doesn't have any shaded areas, so one of the best occasions to go to are at dawn and sundown. Al Jassasiya is situated simply south of the favored Azerbaijani Beach, so an tour there can be mixed with a soothing day beside the ocean.