In a tradition that is still carried on today, boats that set off from the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates have always stopped here to get fresh supplies in sweet water and vegetables. Cuneiform texts reveal that Dilmun was located a two-days sailing distance from Mesopotamia.
Thousands of years ago sailors brought pearls, tortoise shells, coral, palm fronds and coconuts here before sailing off to agan or the Indus Valley.
When the caliphs of Baghdad founded Basra at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Bahraini merchants put out to sea once again and sailed to China, whose routes had been opened by the Omani navigators in the 8th century. Again, Bahrain was used as a port of call, and a large number of Chinese celadons and porcelain have been found here. In the wall of Qal-at Al-Bahrain, archaeologists found a wide variety of Indian, Chinese and Arabian coins with Kufic inscriptions. |
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