Dilmun civilisation
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Dilmun, or Telmun, (
Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...
: , later 𒉌𒌇(𒆠), ni.tukki = DILMUNki; ar, دلمون) was an ancient East Semitic-speaking civilization in Eastern Arabia mentioned from the 3rd millennium BC onwards. Based on contextual evidence, it was located in the Persian Gulf, on a trade route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilisation, close to the sea and to
artesian springs An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...
. Dilmun encompassed Bahrain, Kuwait,Archived a
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and th
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and eastern Saudi Arabia. This area is certainly what is meant by references to "Dilmun" among the lands conquered by King
Sargon II Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is general ...
and his descendants. The great commercial and trading connections between Mesopotamia and Dilmun were strong and profound to the point where Dilmun was a central figure to the Sumerian creation myth.The Arab world: an illustrated history p.4 Dilmun was described in the saga of Enki and Ninhursag as pre-existing in paradisiacal state, where predators do not kill, pain and diseases are absent, and people do not get old. Dilmun was an important trading centre. At the height of its power, it controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. According to some modern theories, the
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ians regarded Dilmun as a sacred place, but that is never stated in any known ancient text. Dilmun was mentioned by the Mesopotamians as a trade partner, a source of copper, and a trade entrepôt. The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the
Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
story.


History

Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium to 800 BC. At the height of its power, Dilmun controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. Dilmun was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium. Dilmun was conquered by the
Middle Assyrian Empire The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I 1363 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC. ...
(1365–1050 BC), and its commercial power began to decline between 1000 BC and 800 BC because piracy flourished in the Persian Gulf. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC) conquered Dilmun, and in the 6th century BC the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and later the
Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
, ruled Dilmun. The Dilmun civilization was the centre of commercial activities linking traditional agriculture of the land—then utterly fertile due to artesian wells that have dried since, and due to a much wetter climate—with maritime trade between diverse regions such as the
Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
and Mesopotamia in its early stage and later between China and the Mediterranean. The Dilmun civilization is mentioned first in
Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...
cuneiform clay tablets dated to the late third millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess
Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official; in addition there are lists of rations of wool issued to people connected with Dilmun. One of the earliest inscriptions mentioning Dilmun is that of king Ur-Nanshe of Lagash (c. 2300 BC) found in a door-socket: "The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as tribute from foreign lands."


Kingdom of Dilmun

From about 2050 BC onward Dilmun seems to had its heyday.
Qal'at al-Bahrain The Qal'at al-Bahrain ( ar, قلعة البحرين; pt, Forte de Barém), also known as the Bahrain Fort or Portuguese Fort, is an archaeological site located in Bahrain. Archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiqui ...
was most likely the capital of Dilmun. From texts found at
Isin Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past. History of archaeological research Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited b ...
it becomes clear that Dilmun became an independent kingdom free from Mesopotamian rule. Royal gifts to Dilmun are mentioned. Contacts with the Amorite state of Mari in the northern Levant are attested. In about this time the largest royal burial mounds were erected.Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː ''The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain'', Aarhus, , pp. 381 From about 1780 BC come several inscriptions on stone vessels naming two kings of Dilmun. King
Yagli-El Yagli-El (Yaglī-ʼel - ''the god has shown himself'' or ''the god revealed'') was a king from Dilmun who was ruling around 1700 BC. Yagli-El is known from four cuneiform inscriptions that were placed on steatite vessels. Three of these vessels wer ...
and his father Rimum. The inscriptions were found in huge tumuli evidently the burial places of these kings. Rimum was already known to archaeology from the
Durand Stone The Durand Stone is an artifact in Bahrain dating back to the Kassite period (1600 BC — 1155  BC). Named after Captain Edward Law Durand who had first identified it, the stone is a 25–30 cm wide and 70–80 cm long black ba ...
, discovered in 1879. From about 1720 BC a decline is visible. Many settlements were no longer used and the building of royal mounts stopped. The Barbar Temple fell into ruins. From about 1650 BC there is recovering period detectable. New royal burial mounts were built and at Qal'at al-Bahrain there is evidence for increased building activity. To this period belongs a further inscription on a seal found at
Failaka Failaka Island ( ar, فيلكا '' / ''; Kuwaiti Arabic: فيلچا ) is a Kuwaiti Island in the Persian Gulf. The island is 20 km off the coast of Kuwait City in the Persian Gulf. The name "Failaka" is thought to be derived from the ancient ...
and preserving a king's name. The short text readsː '' aù-la Panipa, daughter of Sumu-lěl, the servant of Inzak of Akarum''. Sumu-lěl was evidently a third king of Dilmun belonging to about this period. ''Servant of Inzak of Akarum'' was the king's title in Dilmun. The names of these later rulers are Amoritic.


Dilmun under foreign rule

It seems that Dilmun was after 1500 BC under the rule of the Akkadian speaking Mesopotamian Sealand Dynasty. The Sealand-Dynasty king
Ea-gamil The First Sealand dynasty, (URU.KÙKIWhere ŠEŠ-ḪA of King List A and ŠEŠ-KÙ-KI of King List B are read as URU.KÙ.KI) or the 2nd Dynasty of Babylon (although it was independent of Amorite-ruled Babylon), very speculatively c. 1732–1460 B ...
is mentioned in a text found at
Qal'at al-Bahrain The Qal'at al-Bahrain ( ar, قلعة البحرين; pt, Forte de Barém), also known as the Bahrain Fort or Portuguese Fort, is an archaeological site located in Bahrain. Archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiqui ...
. Ea-gamil was the last ruler of the Sealand Dynasty. After his reign Dilmun came under the rule of the Babylonian Kassite dynasty, as they also took over the Sealand Dynasty area. Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II (c. 1370 BC) recovered from
Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...
, during the Kassite dynasty of
Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
. These letters were from a provincial official,
Ilī-ippašra Ilī-ippašra, inscribed DINGIRmeš''-ip- pa- aš-ra'', and meaning "My god(s) became reconciled with me", was a Babylonian who may have been adopted or apprenticed during the reign of Kassite king Kurigalzu I, ending ca. 1375 BC, and rose to beco ...
, in Dilmun to his friend Enlil-kidinni, the governor of Nippur. The names referred to are
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
. These letters and other documents, hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon at that time. Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty in 1595 BC, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun until Assyrian inscriptions dated from 1250 BC to 1050 BC which proclaimed Assyrian kings to be rulers of Dilmun and Meluhha, as well as Lower Sea and Upper Sea. Assyrian inscriptions recorded tribute from Dilmun. There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first millennium BC indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun. One of the early sites discovered in Bahrain suggests that Sennacherib, king of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked northeast Arabia and captured the Bahraini islands. The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by the king of Babylon. The name of Dilmun fell from use after the collapse of Babylon in 538 BC, with the area henceforth identified as Tylos during the Hellenistic period. The "Persian Gulf" types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun, that appear at Lothal in Gujarat, India, and
Failaka Failaka Island ( ar, فيلكا '' / ''; Kuwaiti Arabic: فيلچا ) is a Kuwaiti Island in the Persian Gulf. The island is 20 km off the coast of Kuwait City in the Persian Gulf. The name "Failaka" is thought to be derived from the ancient ...
, as well as in Mesopotamia, are convincing corroboration of the long-distance sea trade. What the commerce consisted of is less known: timber and precious woods, ivory,
lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
, gold, and luxury goods such as carnelian and glazed stone beads, pearls from the Persian Gulf, shell and bone inlays, were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for silver, tin, woolen textiles, olive oil and grains. Copper ingots from Oman and
bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic fowl, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were in fact identical to those used by the Indus, and were not those used in Southern Mesopotamia. In regard to copper mining and smelting, the Umm al-Nar culture and Dalma in the United Arab Emirates, and
Ibri , native_name_lang = ar , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = , image_skyline = Ibri, Oman (2013).jpg , image_caption = Fort Ibri , image_flag = , image_shield ...
in Oman were particularly important. Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, but by the Isin-Larsa Period, Dilmun monopolized the trade. The Bahrain National Museum assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted ca. 2200–1600 BC. Discoveries of ruins under the Persian Gulf may be of Dilmun.


People, language and religion

The population used cuneiform to write in the Akkadian language, and, like the Akkadians,
Assyrians Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...
, Babylonians and
Eblaites Ebla (Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', ar, إبلا, modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center thro ...
of Mesopotamia, spoke an East Semitic language that was either an Akkadian dialect or one close to it, rather than a
Central Semitic Central Semitic languages are one of the three groups of West Semitic languages, alongside Modern South Arabian languages and Ethiopian Semitic languages. Central Semitic can itself be further divided into two groups: Arabic and Northwest Semit ...
language, and its known rulers had East Semitic names. Dilmun's main deity was named Inzak and his spouse was Panipa. However there are no indication of population replacement happening in the region.


Mythology

In the early epic '' Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta'', the main events, which center on Enmerkar's construction of the ziggurats in Uruk and Eridu, are described as taking place at a time "before Dilmun had yet been settled". Dilmun, sometimes described as "the place where the sun rises" and "the Land of the Living", is the scene of some versions of the Sumerian creation myth, and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Utnapishtim ( Ziusudra), was taken by the gods to live forever. Thorkild Jacobsen's translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it ''"Mount Dilmun"'' which he locates as a ''"faraway, half-mythical place"''. Dilmun is also described in the
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
story of
Enki , image = Enki(Ea).jpg , caption = Detail of Enki from the Adda Seal, an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC , deity_of = God of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, seawater, lakewater, fertility, semen, magic, mischief ...
and Ninhursag as the site at which the
Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...
occurred. The later
Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
ian '' Enuma Elish'', speaks of the creation site as the place where the mixture of salt water, personified as Tiamat met and mingled with the fresh water of Abzu. Bahrain in Arabic means "the twin waters", where the fresh water of the Arabian aquifer mingles with the salt waters of the Persian Gulf. The promise of Enki to Ninhursag, the Earth Mother:
For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench the thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives.
Ninlil, the Sumerian goddess of air and south wind had her home in Dilmun. However, it is also speculated that Gilgamesh had to pass through Mount Mashu to reach Dilmun in the '' Epic of Gilgamesh'', which is usually identified with the whole of the parallel Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel.


Location of Dilmun

In 1987, Theresa Howard-Carter proposed that Dilmun of this era might be a still unidentified tell near the Arvand Rud (Shatt al-Arab in Arabic) between modern-day Quanah and Basra in modern-day Iraq. In favor of Howard-Carter's proposal, it has been noted that this area does lie to the east of Sumer ("where the sun rises"), and the riverbank where Dilmun's maidens would have been accosted aligns with the
Shat al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab ( ar, شط العرب, lit=River of the Arabs; fa, اروندرود, Arvand Rud, lit=Swift River) is a river of some in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in ...
which is in the midst of marshes. The "mouth of the rivers" where Dilmun was said to lie is for her the union of the Tigris and Euphrates at Qurnah. A number of scholars have suggested that Dilmun originally designated the eastern province of modern Saudi Arabia, notably linked with the major Dilmunite settlements of Umm an-Nussi and Umm ar-Ramadh in the interior and Tarout on the coast. As of 2022, archaeologists have failed to find a site in existence during the time from 3300 BC (Uruk IV) to 556 BC (Neo-Babylonian Era), when Dilmun appears in texts. According to Hojlund, no settlements exist in the Gulf littoral dating to 3300–2000 BC.


Garden of Eden theory

In 1922,
Eduard Glaser Eduard Glaser (15 March 1855 – 7 May 1908) was an Austrian Arabist and archaeologist. He was one of the first Europeans to explore South Arabia. He collected thousands of inscriptions in Yemen that are today held by the Kunsthistorisches Museu ...
proposed that the Garden of Eden was located in Eastern Arabia within the Dilmun civilization. Scholar
Juris Zarins Juris Zarins (Zariņš) (born 1945, in Germany) is an American-Latvian archaeologist and professor at Missouri State University, who specializes in the Middle East. Biography Zarins is ethnically Latvian, but was born in Germany at the end of ...
also believes that the Garden of Eden was situated in Dilmun at the head of the Persian Gulf (present-day Kuwait), where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run into the sea, from his research on this area using information from many different sources, including Landsat images from space. In this theory, the Bible's Gihon would correspond with the Karun in Iran, and the
Pishon The Pishon ( ''Pîšōn'') is one of four rivers (along with Hiddekel (Tigris), Perath (Euphrates) and Gihon) mentioned in the Biblical Book of Genesis. In that passage, a source river flows out of Eden to water the Garden of Eden and from ther ...
River would correspond to the Wadi Al-Batin river system that once drained the now dry, but once quite fertile central part of the Arabian Peninsula.


Known rulers

Only a few rulers of the Dilmun kingdom are known:Legrain, 1922; Cameron, 1936; The Cambridge History of Iran; Hinz, 1972; The Cambridge Ancient History; Majidzadeh, 1991; Majidzadeh, 1997. # Ziusudra (27th century BC) # Rimun (c. 1780 BC) #
Yagli-El Yagli-El (Yaglī-ʼel - ''the god has shown himself'' or ''the god revealed'') was a king from Dilmun who was ruling around 1700 BC. Yagli-El is known from four cuneiform inscriptions that were placed on steatite vessels. Three of these vessels wer ...
, son of Rimun # Sumu-lěl (c. 1650 BC) # Usiananuri, grandfather of
Uballissu-Marduk Uballissu-Marduk, inscribed ''ú-ba-lí-su-''dAMAR.UTU, meaning “Marduk has kept him alive,” was a Babylonian accountant (''niğkas'') who rose to the rank of administrator (''sanqu'') in the Kassite government of Kurigalzu II, ca. 1332-1308 B ...
(precise dates unknown) #
Ilī-ippašra Ilī-ippašra, inscribed DINGIRmeš''-ip- pa- aš-ra'', and meaning "My god(s) became reconciled with me", was a Babylonian who may have been adopted or apprenticed during the reign of Kassite king Kurigalzu I, ending ca. 1375 BC, and rose to beco ...
(contemporary with
Burnaburiash II Burna-Buriaš II, rendered in cuneiform as ''Bur-na-'' or ''Bur-ra-Bu-ri-ia-aš'' in royal inscriptions and letters, and meaning ''servant'' or ''protégé of the Lord of the lands'' in the Kassite language, where Buriaš (, dbu-ri-ia-aš₂) is a ...
and
Kurigalzu II Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–1308 BC short chronology) was the 22nd king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty that ruled over Babylon. In more than twelve inscriptions, Kurigalzu names Burna-Buriaš II as his father. Kurigalzu II was possibly placed on th ...
) # Operi (c. 710 BC) # Hundaru I (c. 650 BC) # Qena (c. 680–c. 670 BC) # Hundaru II (706–685 BC)


See also

* Bahrain National Museum *
DHL International Aviation ME DHL International Aviation ME (Correct name DHL Aviation EEMEA B.S.C. (C), and sometimes branded as SNAS/DHL) is a cargo airline based in Bahrain. It employs 265 airline professionals to dispatch, fly and maintain a fleet of Boeing 767 freighter ...
, a cargo airline using "Dilmun" as radio call sign * Dilmun Burial Mounds *
Gerrha Gerrha ( grc, Γέρρα, translit=Gérrha) was an ancient and renowned city within Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf. History Prior to Gerrha, the area belonged to the Dilmun civilization, which was conquered by the Assyria ...
* Gilgamesh * History of Bahrain *
History of Kuwait Kuwait is a sovereign state in Western Asia located at the head of the Persian Gulf. The geographical region of Kuwait has been occupied by humans since antiquity, particularly due to its strategic location at the head of the Persian Gulf. In the ...
*
Indus–Mesopotamia relations Indus–Mesopotamia relations are thought to have developed during the second half of 3rd millennium BCE, until they came to a halt with the extinction of the Indus valley civilization after around 1900 BCE. Mesopotamia had already been an interme ...
* Kuwait National Museum * Uruk


References


External links


Indus Valley—Mesopotamian trade passing through DilmunLost ancient civilisation's ruins lie beneath Gulf, says boffinBahrain National Museum's hall of DilmunDilmun Site Al-Khidr, Failaka Island, State of KuwaitGreek inscriptions found on Bahrein (a pdf-file)Dilmun Calendar Theory Backed, Gulf Daily News, 11 July 2006
{{Pre-Islamic Arabia Sumer Bronze Age countries in Asia Ancient Mesopotamia History of Eastern Arabia Archaeological sites in Bahrain Archaeological sites in Kuwait Tiamat