Bahrain - Hawar Islands Reserve

The Islands are Bahrain's last remaining true wilderness untouched and highly vulnerable they possess a unique natural beauty, a national yet irreplaceable value. Despite the small size of these islands, they carry a lot of attractions for all nature lovers and wildlife adventurers. The migratory waders, the multicoloured coral reefs, the wandering herds of endangered sea cows, peacefully swimming through the shallow calm green waters amoung flourishing sea grass beds represents some fascinating scenes of the islands natural attractions.

Bahrain - Hamad Town Tumuli Moundfield

A typical tumulus has the following features: a mound of earth with limestone fragments of 1 to 4 m in heights, surrounded by a circular wall on average 6 to 10 m in diameter. This wall is generally no longer visible due to the progressive subsidence of the tumulus. The top of the mound often presents a depression which is a sign of pillaging. The tumuli all cover a central rectangular burial chamber, built with rough blocks of limestone, and covered by slabs of the same material. This chamber, usually orientated North South, is built at ground level, or sometimes slightly dug into the substratum. Its dimensions can vary from one to several metres in length with and average width and height of approximately 1 to I - 50 m . It often has one or more lateral alcoves designed to receive the funeral furniture. Not all of the tombs are occupied. This is basically due to the poor conditions of conservation, and any cenotaphs (monuments with no body) are purely accidental. The skeleton is placed on its side, with the head of north, the legs are bent, and the hands are brought close to the face. There is no trace of any coffin-like container, and the body is not covered with earth. There does not seem to have been any discrimination: women , men, and children were all apparently entitled to the same type of tomb. The funeral furniture is a constant element in the funeral ritual. It can consist of everyday or decorative ceramic objects, personal ornaments (jewellery sets, necklaces, seals), copper weapons and cups, stone vessels. A small amount of food in bitumen-coated baskets or ostrich egg shells may also accompany the deceased. Bones of ovicaprids or fish (remains of the funeral meal?) are sometimes part of the offering. Systematic pillaging means that the original offering cannot always be determined, although it can be deduced that it was usually quite extensive, varying in opulence with the architectural quality of the monument itself. In any case, the deceased always received a minimum burial offering. This was usually composed of local objects, although the presence of some imported objects or imitations bears witness to the contacts Dilmun had with Mesopotamia, Iran, the Oman peninsula and the Indus Valley.

Bahrain - Burial Ensembles of Dilmun and Tylos

The burial mound field of Umm-Jidr N26 01 0.62 E50 31 2.31 The burial mound field of Dar Kulayb N26 04 30.94 E50 30 18.91 The burial mound field of Karzakkan N26 07 17.92 E50 29 56.73 The burial mound field of Buri N26 08 24.51 E50 30 11.66 The Burial mound field of Wadi as-Sail N26 07 28.92 E50 31 1.74 The cultural landscape of Ali N26 08 56.44 E50 30 40.91 The burial mound field of Janabiyah N26 10 49.10 E50 28 23.67 The burial complexes of Saar N26 10 47.31 E50 29 27.04 The burial mound field of Shakhurah N26 12 49.29 E50 30 3.25 The grave field of Al Hajar N26 13 0.06 E50 30 53.81 The burial mound field of Jannusan N26 13 39.90 E50 29 29.70 The "Burial Ensembles of Dilmun and Tylos" are a seriaI property formed by eleven sites located on the western part of the island and composing together a chain which extends over 25 km from the centre of the country to its northern coast.

Bahrain - Barbar Temple

Two tells near the village of Barbar covered the largest temple yet found in Bahrain and a smaller neighbouring temple. The Barbar Temple is actually three temples, one succeeding the other on the same site. The two oldest temples are terraced with a central platform above an outer oval platform, an architectural feature comparable with Sumerian temples. The Barbar Temples, built in the third and second millennia BC, are among the most remarkable architectural survivals of the ancient world and are without parallel in the region. Originally discovered and excavated by the successive Danish Expeditions which explored Bahrain's archaeological sites during the 1950's and 60's, the temple site was re-excavated in 1983 by the Department of Antiquities and Museums.