The first urban centre of Qatar, the port of Al Wakrah evokes the city’s pearling tradition. Excavations at the port have uncovered a wealth of archaeological finds that confirm its foundation and stages of development. American and British studies have shown that Al Wakrah was a pearl-fishing and trading centre at a time when Qatar’s economy was almost entirely dependent on the pearl industry. In the years 1920-1925, its harbour housed between two hundred and fifty and three hundred dhows. It was protected by a fort with two round towers built in the early 20th century on the ruins of an earlier fort built by Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani (1871-1930).