Bahrain

An island in the Persian Gulf that has been identified with the ancient land of Dilmun (Telmun) of about 2000 BC, a prosperous trading center linking Sumeria with the Indus Valley. Written records of the archipelago exist in Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman sources. Burial mounds in the north of Bahrain Island suggest a period of Sumerian influence in the 3rd millennium BC. There are densely packed fields of tumuli in Bahrain and at several places on the adjacent mainland. They are associated with densely packed complexes of cist burials. Excavation has shown the island to be an important link in the sea trade between that region and the Indus civilization. Two important sites in the north of the island belong to the 'Dilmun period': a walled town at Qala'at al-Bahrain and a complex temple building at Barbar. Among the finds of this period are circular steatite stamp 'Persian Gulf' seals, related to Indus Valley seals, but probably made locally.

The island of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf has been identified plausibly with the land of Dilmun, mentioned in Mesopotamian documents of the second half of the 3rd millennium bc. A Danish expedition has investigated sites ranging in date from prehistoric to the 16th century ad. Two important sites in the north of the island belong to the ‘Dilmun period’, when the island was acting as an entrepôt in trade between Mesopotamia and the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley. One site is a walled town covering cl 7 hectares at Qala’at al-Bahrain; the other a complex temple building a few kilometres away at Barbar. Among the finds of this period are circular steatite stamp seals of the type labelled ‘Persian Gulf seals’, related to Indus Valley seals, but probably made locally in the Gulf area.