Treasure trove of history

Bahrain has from ancient times been a melting pot of cultures.

Not only did it have the distinction of being an important port city, linking Mesopotamia (southern Iraq) with the Indus Valley (India and Pakistan) but it was also, at one point, the capital of the Dilmun civilisation founded during the Bronze Age.

For around 500 years it was home to Babylonian settlers called Kassites and although the Greek emperor Alexander the Great never stopped over on his journey to India, it was governed by his general Nearchus, who is known to have explored the Gulf at least as far south as Bahrain.

Later, during the Islamic period, it was an object of intense international rivalry as is shown by the successive stages of the fortress, called Bahrain Fort, today.

All these secrets are found buried under a 300_600m mound called Qal'at Al Bahrain that lies below the Bahrain Fort in Karbabad and is in the heart of the most fertile area of the island.

The site, designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) as a world heritage site, is an important and distinguished archaeological site with remains dating from 2200 BC until the period when Portuguese, Hormuzi and later by Ottomans until it was abandoned in the 17th century.

It is a reflection of Bahrain through the ages and brings to life the ancient history of the island.

Archaeologists have excavated 25 per cent of that area and have concluded that over five civilisations occupied the very same site, one after the other, and have left artefacts, coins, tools, pottery, and items of day to day use that date over 4,000 years ago.

They have found evidence that the island was invaded and occupied for long periods, by most of the great powers and empires who have left behind their cultural traces in different strata of the mound.

In February this year a museum showcasing the findings of these excavations was opened at the site and serves as an introduction to the Bahrain Fort.

Dr Nadine Boksmati-Fattouh, former director of Qal' at Al Bahrain site museum, said: "The museum is of great importance as it houses the latest information from the excavation. It also removes the misconception that Bahrain was originally a burial ground as they have found over 80,000 preserved burial mounds across the islands."

Built entirely by private funding from the Arcapita Bank, the museum building is a blending of the traditional and the modern.

The building is designed by renowned museum designer, Copenhagen based Wohlert Arkitekter. French archaeologist Dr Pierre Lombard chose the artefacts for display and supervised the design and the banners texts.

An exterior courtyard connects the cafŽ with the exhibition area which also serves as a transition between the harsh outdoors sun and the subdued interior lighting. The exhibition space is designed around a dramatic display, an 8m high and 35m long recreation of the archaeological strata called the Tell Wall, which corresponds to archaeological layers that relates the history and development of the Qal'at Al Bahrain site.

The visitor is led through the different floor levels that illustrate the findings of the site that begins with the earliest Dilmun period exhibition on the lower level and progresses to the Islamic period exhibition on the highest level.

"It tells us that the area was a well developed city and the capital of Dilmun. The Tell Wall reveals the full stratigraphy or layers of the entire excavation. Some of the original materials of the wall have been used here and the same plaster has been recreated," said Dr Nadine.

"This was the mythical land. It was the utopic land desired for its wealth and so-called immortality. It was a well developed city with fortifications and gates. The museum exhibits 90 per cent of the treasures found on the site."

Artifacts that have been displayed include seals used by the ancient people, a recreated traditional boat, a madbasa or date incubator, evidence of snake sacrifice, burial traditions of the different times, weaponry, and examples of early coinage.

Dr Nadine added: "Snakes are associated with fertility, secrets of the underground or sea, rejuvenation and possibly connects with the myth of Gilgamish who went in search of the flower of eternity, which could have either been a pearl or a flower."

There is also on display a pot of 310 silver coins from 2nd century BC. While some of them have the head of Alexander one side and Zeus (God of the Greeks) on the other some have the local God Shamash in place of Zeus. "This shows that these coins were probably produced in the city and is also the evidence of the autonomy and importance given to the city by the Greeks," explain Dr. Nadine.

Primitive Molotov cocktails used to protect the fort, Chinese porcelain, a murex with 407 pearls, India, and Iranian vases and other artifacts all form part of the exhibition in the Islamic period.

The tour concludes with a model of the Bahrain Fort that was initially a simple fortified enclosure built at the beginning of the 14th century.

Under the inspiration of the Princes of Hormuz, a new dynasty from the South of Iran, a fortress was built as a result of the emerging Portuguese threat who attacked in 1521-23, 1529 and later in 1561. The fortress was later adapted to an enlarged fortress designed for military action by the Vizir of Hormuz in 1529 and finally by the Portuguese in 1561.

Archaeologists say that during these 15th and 16th centuries, the fortified site of Qal'at Al Bahrain became a crucial strategic location along the trade routes that lead to India and China.

The architectural history of the main fortress perfectly reflects the complex local rivalries of this period between the Principality of Hormuz, the Portuguese, the Safavid Persians and the Ottoman Turks.

Each stage of its construction or rebuilding is actually closely linked with precise events of this regional history.

Visitors are provided audio guided tours in Arabic, English and French.

Currently because of shortage of staff the museum is only serviced by volunteers who serve as guides and is open only from Sundays to Thursdays from 8am to 2pm.

The cafŽ and gift shop is also expected to be operational soon. The museum also has a lecture hall and rooms for visiting archaeologists.