Bahrain Fort, Bahrain. Pearl on the Arabian Gulf

Description

Qal’at al-Bahrain is a typical tell: an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata of the roughly 1,000-by-2,000-foot tell testify to continuous human presence from about 2300 B.C. to the 16th century A.D. About 25% of the site has been excavated, revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site, a trading port, over the centuries. On the top of the 40-foot mound there is the impressive Portuguese fort, which gave the whole site its name: qal’a (fort). The site was the capital of the Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilizations of the region. It contains the richest remains inventoried of this civilization, which was hitherto only known from written Sumerian references.

Runtime

14 min 46 sec

Series

Subjects

Geography

Database

Films on Demand

Direct Link