Al-Mašqar

Al-Mashqar was a fortified place associated with Hajar in the oasis of al-Ahsa. Classical Arabic writers remembered it as a centre of eastern Arabia, with a congregational mosque and a market where a fair was held before Islam. Its name also survived in poetry and accounts of fighting between Arab tribes and Persian authority. The hill of al-Qarah rises amid the palm gardens of the oasis, a landmark in the surrounding cultivated plain.