Temple sheds light on Dilmuns?

Press, 8 May 1985, Page 33

Temple sheds light on Dilmuns?

by Dina Matar of Reuters Bahrain An ancient temple and relics from the early Bronze Age may shed light on the Dilmuns, the prehistoric inhabitants of the Gulf State of Bahrain.

The 4000-year-old temple, several hundred burial chambers from the same period and a second temple from the Hellenistic age have been found in the north-west of Bahrain’s main island.

Archaeologists said most artefacts in the burial chambers had been stolen, making it more difficult to glean information on the mysterious Dilmuns, members of the civilisation lost to man until the last century.

Cuneiform tablets identify the Dilmuns as traders up

to 5000 years ago, but their origin is unclear.

Some 100,000 burial mounds found in the 1950 s suggest they came from Sumeria in present-day Iraq and established an extensive trading network throughout the Gulf and the rest of the Middle East. The Bahraini, Tunisian and Jordanian archaeologists working on the site hope for fresh clues from the Dilmun temple, which dates back to the Barbar two period around 1800 8.C., and a nearby settlement. Hussein Kandil, head of the Jordanian team, said the temple and the settlement were “the most complete and unique structures of their kind discovered so far.” Two other temples dating from the Dilmun era were found two years ago.

Mr Kandil said the settlement, consisting of a main stone road flanked by one and two-room dwellings, contradicted earlier theories that the Dilmuns were nomads who came to Bahrain only to bury their dead.

The temple, built on a land rise 100 metres north of the settlement, has thick plastered walls. Its main entrance opens on a courtyard with two rows of columns. At the opposite end lies an altar.

To the east of the temple is another structure which Mr Kandil said could have served as accommodation for priests and where rounded stone seals typical of the Dilmun era were found.

South of the temple are some of Bahrain’s unique

springs, which still supply the country with much of its drinking water. Earlier finds suggested the Dilmuns were dedicated to one of three principal Sumerian deities, Enki, the water-dwelling god of wisdom.

Archaeologists believe the Hellenistic temple found nearby might have been built by followers of Alexander the Great on one of their forays from the Red Sea to the' Indian Ocean. “The structure needs to be studied before determining why it has been built and by whom,” said Muhammad Najjar, another member of the Jordanian team.

The fifth-century temple, the first such pre-Islamic monument discovered in Bahrain, has a main gallery,

alcoves at the northern and southern ends and a charred stone area suggesting an altar.

The archaeologists are concerned that work on approach roads leading to a SUSI billion causeway to link Bahrain and Saudi Arabia could endanger the discoveries.

"We have been intensifying our work to prove there is something worth keeping before the causeway claims the land,” said Sheikha Haya Al-Khalifa, head of Bahrain’s department of antiquities and national museum.

The 25km causeway, one of the world’s most expensive bridge links, is due to be opened by the end of the year.