A watchman on land or sea.
"Al-Ubullah was at the mouth of the canal on the Tigris; but entrance into the canal was dangerous because of a large whirlpool. Al-Ubullah also had shipyards. At the mouth of the river which then entered the sea near 'Abbadan, there were treacherous shallows on which ships were often wrecked. To keep ships off these shallows, three wooden scaffolds (khashabat) were erected in the sea, supporting watch towers; beacons were lit on them at night, to serve the purpose of a lighthouse. The towers also served as signal-stations, on which a lookout was kept for pirates from the Persian Gulf and even India."
George F. Hourani, Arab Seafaring (1951)
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