Bahrain

Bahrain is an Island located in the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, with Iran 124 miles (200 km) away on the opposite coast.
It was known as ‘Tylos’ to the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Bahrain was famous in the ancient world for its huge oyster beds which produced fabulous pearls.

Bahrain is considered to be the home of the Dilmun Civilisation, which is regarded as one of the oldest known Bronze Age civilisations in the Middle East.
It flourished between 3,000 and 800 BCE, until it was absorbed into the Persian Empire in 600 BCE. A clay tablet dated to 567 BCE states that Dilmun was ruled by the King of Babylon.
They acted as an intermediary in the trade between Mesopotamia and India.
In 2,300 BCE, a clay Cuneiform tablet mentions that Dilmun had its own fleet of ships which brought Tribute in the form of Wood for the King of Lagash.
The Weights and Measures used in Dilmun were identical to those used in India for the trade in Ingots.
Trade towards India carried Bitumen, Silver, Tin, Wood, Olive Oil and Grain.
Trade towards Mesopotamia carried Cotton, Ivory, Gold, Lapis Lazuli, and Pearls.

The Sumerian clay tablets refer to two countries where Copper came from, one called called Dilmun (Bahrain) and the other called Magan, thought to be Oman.
The Sumer Civilisation received all its Copper from this area.

The Sumerians described Dilmun as a Garden of Paradise in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Bahrain was known to the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans as ‘Tylos’.
When Alexander the Great invaded Persia, his Admiral Nearchos took a fleet into the Persian Gulf and visited Bahrain.

Both Nearchos and the Greek Historian Theophrastus (371-287 BCE) commented on the large cotton tree plantations, from which clothes were manufactured in Bahrain.

Bahrain