The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf

388 Pages·1994·7.61 MB·English

by  Michael Rice

THE ARCHAEOLOGY
OF THE ARABIAN GULF
THE EXPERIENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
Series editor: Andrew Wheatcroft
University of Stirling
Rome and its Empire
Stephen Johnson
The Near East: Archaeology in the ‘Cradle of Civilization’
Charles Keith Maisels
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
THE ARABIAN GULF
c. 5000–323 BC
Michael Rice
London and New York
First published in 1994
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1994 Michael Rice
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rice, Michael
The archaeology of the Arabian Gulf/Michael Rice
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Persian Gulf Region—Antiquities. 2. Persian Gulf Region—
Civilization. I. Title.
DS211.R53 1994
953.6–dc20 93–7006
ISBN 0-415-032687 (Print Edition)
ISBN 0-203-03726-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-20068-3 (Glassbook Format)
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction xi
Preface xv
Acknowledgements xvii
1 THE ARABIAN GULF IN ANTIQUITY 1
2 THE PROGRESS OF GULF ARCHAEOLOGY 24
3 CLIMATE, SEA-LEVELS, MAN AND HIS COMPANIONS 63
4 DILMUN, THE ANCIENT CULTURE OF THE GULF 78
5 THE POLITY OF THE ANCIENT GULF 99
6 THE MYTHS OF SUMER AND DILMUN 127
7 BAHRAIN: THE BLESSED ISLAND 141
8 DILMUN’S NEIGHBOURING LANDS 203
9 THE MERCHANTS OF DILMUN 264
10 GILGAMESH, THE GULF AND THE LAND OF
THE LIVING 300
11 THE ENIGMA OF DILMUN 321
The Chronology of the Arabian Gulf 327
Abbreviations 333
Notes 334
Bibliography 348
Index 358

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Endpaper map The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity
Map 1 The Arabian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Elam, the Indus Valley,
showing the principal archaeological sites mentioned in the
text. 15
2.1 The burial mounds, as sketched by Durand. 33
2.2 An elevation and section of a mound opened by Durand. 37
2.3 The burial mounds, photographed by Prideaux
(from The Archaeological Survey of India, 1908–9). 47
2.4 Prideaux’s map of the Aali grave mounds—the ‘Royal
Tombs’ (from The Archaeological Survey of India, 1908–9). 48
3.1 Pleistocene fluctuations in temperature
(from the Hofuf Museum, Saudi Arabia). 68
3.2 A reconstruction of conditions in eastern Arabia in
Miocene times showing the principal species then extant
(from the Hofuf Museum, Saudi Arabia). 70
3.3 Arid and relatively moist phases in Arabia during the last
6,500 years (from the Hofuf Museum, Saudi Arabia). 71
3.4 (a) Sea-levels in the Arabian Gulf from c. 14,000 BC to
c. 6000 BC (from Nutzel 1976). 74
(b) Bathymetric profile of the Gulf. 74
7.1 (a) The ‘Durand inscription’ written in the cuneiform script
in general use in the eighteenth century BC; 7.1(b) (p.
147) shows the epigraphic form, for the word ‘Dilmun’. 142
Map 2 Principal archaeological sites in Bahrain and adjacent islands. 146
7.2 A plan of the principal temple site at Barbar. The three
temples date from c. 2100 BC to c.1700 BC (from Rice 1983). 157
7.3 (a), (b), (c) Plans of Temples I, II and III. 158–9
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THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ARABIAN GULF
7.4 An isometric drawing of the Barbar temple construction
(drawing D.B.Doe). 160
7.5 The sacred well or ‘Apsu’ at the Barbar temple complex
(author). 162
7.6 The platform on which the second temple at Barbar stood
(Department of Antiquities, Bahrain). 162
7.7 A group of the characteristic seals from Bahrain at the
beginning of the second millennium, recovered from the
sacred well at Barbar (Department of Antiquities, Bahrain). 164
7.8 A pottery sherd bearing the impression of a Dilmun seal
(Bahrain National Museum). 165
7.9 A Dilmun seal (from Failaka island) which shows a bull-
headed lyre and an enigmatic scene which may be of the
sacrifice of a second bull. 166
7.10 A small, evidently sacred building at Diraz East, notable
for the large columns which presumably supported some
substantial upper storey (author). 174
7.11 The occupant of a grave of Umm an-Nar type at Medinet
Hamed; third millennium BC (author). 177
7.12 The ‘Royal Tombs’ at Aali. 180
7.13 Three fine goblets, assembled from fragments recovered
from a grave mound at Aali, late third millennium BC
(Bahrain National Museum). 181
7.14 A copper goblet from a grave at Aali (Bahrain National
Museum). 183
7.15 Burials were densely congregated at Sar. 184
7.16 The area at Sar, excavated by the London-Bahrain
expedition (plan by the London-Bahrain Expedition). 185
7.17 The site of Sar, early second millennium BC. The temple is
in the centre of the complex in the foreground (London-
Bahrain Expedition). 186
7.18 The temple at Sar (author). 187
7.19 The temple site after excavation by the London-Bahrain
Expedition. 189
7.20 A Dilmun seal from Sar, of an unparalleled and very
striking design (London-Bahrain Expedition). 190
7.21 A Dilmun seal from Sar. 190
7.22 A Dilmun seal from Sar. 191
7.23 Sealings recovered from the houses at Sar (London-Bahrain
Expedition). 191
7.24 A fine chlorite circular vessel with a temple-façade design
(Bahrain National Museum). 192
7.25 Baskets coated in bitumen from Sar (Bahrain National
Museum). 192
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
7.26 Chlorite vessels from graves at Sar (Bahrain National Museum).194
7.27 A terracotta horseman from a grave at Sar, from the
Hellenistic period (Bahrain National Museum). 194
7.28 The burials at Al-Hajjar (Bahrain National Museum). 195
7.29 A dog was buried in one of the Al-Hajjar tombs
(Department of Antiquities, Bahrain). 197
7.30 Al-Hajjar was the first site in Bahrain to produce a Dilmun
seal buried with its owner (Department of Antiquities,
Bahrain). 198
7.31 A stamp seal of the Jemdet Nasr period, c. 3000 BC,
originating in Sumer, recovered from one of the Al-Hajjar
graves (Bahrain National Museum. 199
8.1 Failaka, an important settlement in Hellenistic times
(author). 208
8.2 (a) Two of the many stamp seals recovered from Failaka. 210
(b) A group of seals from Failaka island; early second
millennium BC. 211
8.3 A reconstruction of an Ubaid period settlement on the
eastern Arabian coast c. 3800 BC (Hofuf Museum). 218
8.4 A fine limestone statue, with affinities to the Early
Dynastic II style in Sumer, c. 2700 BC (Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnography, Riyadh). 220
8.5 Fragments of richly decorated chlorite vessels and
containers, from Eastern Arabia (Museum of Archaeology
and Ethnography, Riyadh). 222
8.6 A small lapis lazuli figurine, of an old man wrapped in a
cloak (Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Riyadh). 223
8.7 Seals from tombs excavated at Dhahran (Department of
Antiquities and Museums, Riyadh). 225
8.8 Muscovite schist, also known as ‘sunstone’ (Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnography, Riyadh). 225
Map 3 Archaeological sites in the Qatar peninsula. 229
8.9 The circular decorated tomb at Hili, Abu Dhabi, as
restored, third millennium BC (Shirley Kay). 242
8.10 A man riding a donkey and an embracing couple;
the Hili tomb. 244
8.11 Two felines tearing a smaller animal; the Hili tomb. 244
8.12 Two oryx in confrontation, with two figures between and
beneath them, holding hands; the Hili tomb. 245
8.13 A chlorite beaker from Wadi Asimah, third millennium BC
(Shirley Kay). 247
8.14 A communal tomb at Qattara, showing its entrance and reused
Umm an-Nar stonework, second millennium BC (Shirley Kay). 247
ix