Bahrain

Dilmun Burial Mounds

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0.5

  • Roman Raab

1.0

  • del
  • Els Slots
  • Harry Mitsidis
  • Ivan Rucek
  • Jezza
  • Philipp Peterer
  • Vernon Prieto

1.5

  • Hanming
  • Jeffrey Chai
  • Matthewsharris
  • Randi Thomsen
  • Zach

2.0

  • Christoph
  • CugelVance
  • Frederik Dawson
  • Gernot
  • Jon Opol
  • marcel staron
  • Martina Rúčková
  • Mihai Dascalu
  • Riomussafer
  • Svein Elias
  • Szucs Tamas
  • Vlad Lesnikov

2.5

  • John Smaranda
  • Wojciech Fedoruk
  • Xiquinho Silva

3.0

  • Alexander Barabanov
  • Alexander Lehmann
  • Christravelblog
  • Csaba Nováczky
  • George Gdanski
  • Jean Lecaillon
  • Priyaranjan Mohapatra
  • Solivagant
  • Stanislaw Warwas
  • Valentina

3.5

  • Rvieira
  • Tarquinio_Superbo

4.0

  • Krijn

4.5

  • Tamara Ratz

5.0

  • Rahelka
  • Rodinia
Dilmun Burial Mounds by Els Slots
Dilmun Burial Mounds by Els Slots 3

The Dilmun Burial Mounds represent the architecture and sepulchral traditions of Early Dilmun culture.

Newly gained prosperity led the ancient inhabitants to start using less fertile land for the development of these cemeteries. There are thousands of burial mounds, spread across 21 locations. Each of the mounds - usually meant for one deceased person - is composed of a central stone chamber that is enclosed by a low ring wall and covered by earth and gravel. The graves can vary considerably in size and style and are not all from the same era. People from different social strata were buried this way, and the more elaborate mounds also included alcoves filled with mortuary gifts.

Community Perspective: the mounds and the fields are underwhelming, but the sheer numbers of them do leave a lasting impression. A’Ali seems to be the best place to visit and is also reachable by public transport. The National Museum of Bahrain has good displays of these tumuli.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Dilmun Burial Mounds (ID: 1542)
Country
Bahrain
Status
Inscribed 2019 Site history
History of Dilmun Burial Mounds
2019: Inscribed
Inscribed
2017: Requested by State Party to not be examined
Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • iii
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
Official
All Links
UNESCO.org
Official Website

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Secular structure: Burial
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (17) .
Connections of Dilmun Burial Mounds
History
  • Bronze Age
    "The 21 property components selected for nomination reflect the history of Bahrain throughout the Bronze Age." (Nomination file, p. 64)
  • Historical Food Remains
    "Diverse faunal remains have occasionally been found in the burial mounds. (...) Since the majority of animal remains are limited to eatable species, it can be assumed that it was part of a funeral meal (...)." – "plant and animal remains provide clues on the Dilmunite diet (...)" (Nomination file, p. 83, 148)
Architecture
  • Urban fabric
    "(...) 15 site components consist of 13 single royal mounds and two pairs of royal mounds, all embedded in the urban fabric of A'ali village." (OUV)
  • Dry Stone Construction
    "Early and Late Type Mounds (...) are regularly-built grave chambers (...). Walls are built with a dry-stone technique and covered by capstones slabs." (AB Ev)
Damaged
  • Grave Looting

    "Excavations proved that grave robbers regularly targeted the burial mounds throughout antiquity." – "Some mounds show signs of grave looting. The majority of these intrusions is believed to derive from ancient times and is hence part of the Dilmun Burial Mounds´ extraordinary history." (Nomination file, p. 131, 155)

World Heritage Process
  • Already inscribed still on T List
    Hamad Town Tumuli Moundfield
  • Extension Supported
    "Also recommends that, as already planned by the State Party, an extension of this property to include Umm Jidr and Wadi as-Sail mound fields be submitted in the foreseen timeframe." (Decision 43 COM 8B.12)
Human Activity
  • Writing systems
    "(...) hard evidence for dynastic kingship at A'ali and identification of the tombs of two named kings, using cuneiform inscriptions recovered from one of the mounds (Royal Mound 8)." (AB Ev)
  • Historical Graffiti
    Royal Mound 11: Visitors have left several graffiti inside the burial chamber, some dating back to more than 100 years. These graffiti became a layer of the mound´s history." (Nomination file, p. 117)
Constructions
  • Tumuli
    "Six of the selected site components are burial mound fields consisting of some dozen to several thousand tumuli. Together they comprise about 11,774 burial mounds." (OUV)
  • Cemeteries
    "The ancient inhabitants of Bahrain understood the special geological configuration of the island and used less fertile land for the development of these extraordinary cemeteries." – "The serial property displays the original distribution of Early and Late Type Dilmun Burial Mounds, organized in individual cemeteries." (OUV)
  • Necropolises
    "The latter is best reflected in the extensive necropoleis with their variety of graves, comprising burial mounds of various size, as well as chieftain mounds and the grandest of them all, the so-called royal mounds."(OUV)
  • Ziggurat
    Tombs: The majority of the tombs were constructed as single-storeyed small cylindrical towers while some of the bigger two-storeyed examples were built in a ziggurat-like shape (OUV)
  • Tombs
    The majority of the tombs were constructed as single-storeyed small cylindrical towers while some of the bigger two-storeyed examples were built in a ziggurat-like shape (OUV)
Timeline
Science and Technology
  • Early Archaeology
    "The burial mounds were mentioned by explorers and travellers to Bahrain throughout history. The first recorded excavations were in the late 1880s." (AB Ev)
  • Archaeological potential
    Most of the tumuli have not been excavated
News

No news.

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