Which historic island situated inside the Bay of Al Khor is also known as 'Purple Island' due to its ancient Kassite-era extraction of purple dye from sea snails?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Jazirat Bin Ghannam
- Step 1: Jazirat Bin Ghannam, commonly known in English as Purple Island, is located within the sheltered bay of Al Khor in northeastern Qatar.
- Step 2: Archaeological excavations conducted by French and British teams discovered massive shell middens containing millions of crushed Thais savignyi (murex) marine snails dating back to the Kassite Babylonian period (second millennium BCE).
- Step 3: The site was an industrial production camp for precious tyrian purple dye, traded across ancient Mesopotamia.
Answer
Jazirat Bin Ghannam.
Why not the others: 'Halul Island' is an offshore oil terminal 80 km northeast in deep water; 'Al Safliya Island' is an uninhabited sandbar island directly facing the Doha Corniche; 'Al Aaliya Island' is a small limestone island north of Doha near Lusail.
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