DILMUN

Sumerian name of an ancient independent kingdom that flourished c. 2000 BC, plausibly identified with the island in the Persian Gulf now called al-Bahrain. Dilmun is mentioned as a commercial centre in Sumerian economic texts of the 3rd millennium BC, when it was a transshipment point for goods between Sumer and the Indus Valley. Copper and a variety of other goods, including stone beads, precious stones, pearls, dates, and vegetables, were shipped to Sumer and Babylonia in return for agricultural products. Barbar, the remains of an ancient temple (largely built of limestone) situated on al-Bahrain, and many thousands of burial mounds attest to the island's prominence. Qala'at (fort) al-Bahrain, a large low tell covering about 45 ac (18 ha) on the northern coast of the island, is the largest site and consists of a city dating from about 2800 BC that had seven major building phases including, in its second phase (23001800 BC), city walls; other artifacts found dating to this phase are chert weights of the Indus Valley type, distinctive round steatite stamp seals, and quantities of copper. Related archaeological sites have been found on the northern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and on other offshore islands in the Persian Gulf.