Qalʿat al-Bahrain

Qalʿat al-Bahrain, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, is the most significant archaeological site of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Adjacent to the northern coast of the main island of the archipelago, about 5.5 km west of Manama, the site is a tell of c. 17.5 hectares, crowned by a huge fort from the 15th/16th centuries CE. Despite its somewhat confusing name (“Bahrain Fort”), this is essentially a settlement site. A thick accumulation of urban archaeological layers (over about 8 m) attests to the long history of the site, beginning with the first human settlement c. 2300 BCE and ending with Islamic dwellings and progressive abandonment during the 17th century CE.

Abandoned since the 18th century CE, the site was ‘rediscovered’ in 1954 by an expedition from the Prehistoric Museum of Moesgaard, Denmark. The pioneering excavation works initiated by P.V. Glob and G. Bibby were conducted until 1972 and rapidly illustrated the importance of this tell and its long succession of ‘cities’. Since 1977, a French mission of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), founded by M. Kervan and directed from 1989 to 2022 by P. Lombard, has continued research on the diverse historical phases of the tell. A Danish team led by S. Laursen also resumed excavation works in the earliest levels in 2021.

Favoured by a privileged access channel naturally dug in the coral reef and foreshore, the city of Qalʿat al-Bahrain was the main harbour of the island for several millennia, where ships unloaded products and commodities from the flourishing international trade connecting Bahrain to Mesopotamia, the Arabian mainland, Iran, Oman and the Indus valley. It was also the capital of the land of Dilmun from the very end of the 3rd to the middle of the 1st millennia BCE (Early, Middle and Late Dilmun phases). In the central sector of the site, excavations revealed a group of monumental stone buildings, probably the Palace, the centre of economic organisation of the realm of Dilmun and the residence of its Amorite rulers until ca. 1600 BCE. The Kassite occupants of Bahrain later restored this residence following their conquest of the Sealand Dynasty, which gave them access to Dilmun. A cuneiform archive of more than a hundred documents bears witness to the activities of their local governor, with calendar dates from the first quarter of the 15th century BCE explicitly mentioning the Palace (É-GAL). Another sizeable residential complex was subsequently built at the top of the previous ones and was operational from ca. 800 BCE until the Achaemenid period. Qalʿat al-Bahrain then became one of the island’s most important cities during the Tylos period of Bahrain (Hellenistic and Parthian phases). During the Middle Islamic Period, following a long occupational gap until the 13th century, this strategic site was the scene of intense international rivalry, illustrated by the construction of the successive stages of its fortress. It was initially built by the Hormuzi at the end of the 15th century, and extended several decades later before the Portuguese adjunction of three impressive bastions in the Genoese style in 1562. This remarkable fortress testifies to a long tradition of defensive architecture at Qalʿat al-Bahrain, previously illustrated by the original Bronze Age city wall, which was rebuilt several times, and the coastal fortress from the Tylos and Islamic periods.

Pierre Lombard

References and suggested readings

• Højlund, F. & H.H. Andersen (eds) 1994. Qala’at al-Bahrain. Volume 1. The Northern City Wall and the Islamic Fortress (Jutland Archaeological Society Publications, XXX:1). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
• Højlund, F. & H.H. Andersen 1997. Qala’at al-Bahrain. Volume 2. The Central Monumental Buildings (Jutland Archaeological Society Publications, XXX:2). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
• Højlund, F. 2019. Qala’at al-Bahrain. Volume 3. The Western and Southern City Walls and Other Excavations. Aarhus, Manama: Jutland Archaeological Society, Moesgaard Museum, Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities.
• Kervran, M. 2013. Un siècle obscur de l’histoire de Tylos : 131-240 après J.-C., in C.J. Robin & J. Schiettecatte (eds) Les préludes de l’Islam. Ruptures et continuités des civilisations du Proche-Orient, de l’Afrique orientale, de l’Arabie et de l’Inde à la veille de l’Islam: 271–309 (O&M, 11). Paris: De Boccard.
• Kervran M., F. Hiebert & A. Rougeulle 2005. Qal’at al-Bahrain. A trading and military outpost. 3^rd millennium B.C. – 17^th century A.D. Turnhout: Brepols.
• Lombard Pierre (ed.) 2016. Qal’at al-Bahrain, Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun. The Site Museum. Manama: Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. https://shs.hal.science/hal-01842044v1
• Lombard, P. 2022. Qal’at al-Bahrain, Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun. Manama: Arabian Regional Centre for the World Heritage. https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01856496v1
• Lombard, P. & M. Kervran 1993. Les Niveaux « Hellénistiques » du Tell de Qalʿat al-Bahrain. Données préliminaires, in U. Finkbeiner (ed.) Materialien zur Archäologie der Seleukiden-und Partherzeit im südlichen Babylonien und im Golfgebiet: 127–60. Tübingen: E. Wasmuth.

_{Alternate spellings: Qalaʿat, Qala'at, Qal'at, Qalaat, Qalat, al-Bahrain, al-Bahrein, al-Bahrayn}