Exploring the ancient wonders of Bahrain – The Week UK

It cant vie with the glitz and glamour of neighbouring Dubai and Qatar, but the tiny island nation of Bahrain has a rich history, and in recent years a clutch of fine museums has sprung up to preserve its heritage.

Hidden away in pockets of traditional architecture amid the urban sprawl, they make for a rewarding few days exploration, says George Kipouros in Wanderlust and, for the curious, there are other more active ways to engage with local culture, from concerts of the local traditional music to lessons in pearl diving, once the islands main industry.

Bahrain means two seas in Arabic, perhaps a reference to the submarine freshwater springs where the worlds best oyster beds are found.

From the fourth to the first millennium BC, Bahrain lay at the heart of a civilisation that experts believe was Dilmun, the trading nation referred to in ancient Mesopotamian texts. Deep in the islands heart lies a huge desert field of burial mounds, which form the worlds largest ancient necropolis.

Many of the treasures found there are displayed in the new National and Qalaat al-Bahrain museums. These include finely carved soapstone seals, and also votive offerings of pearls, and dead snakes, suggesting a ritual that may have been linked to the myth of Gilgamesh, which was a model for the Biblical story of Eden.

In the myth, Dilmun is as a paradise where Gilgamesh finds the flower of immortality in a freshwater sea, only to have it stolen by a serpent. Experts suggest the flower was a pearl: Gilgamesh recovers it like a pearl diver, with stones tied to his feet.

In the old town of Muharraq, a trail called the Pearling Path connects a series of fine 19th-century buildings, including elaborate pearl merchants mansions. Among them are a dozen or so charming small museums, galleries and concert halls overseen by the Sheikh Ebrahim Centre for Culture, which celebrate the islands contemporary arts and traditional culture.

Seepearldiving.bhfor information on pearl-diving trips

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Exploring the ancient wonders of Bahrain - The Week UK