Dilmun

Bahrain, 3000–500 BCE. Draft, not yet reviewed

Dilmun, or Telmun, was an ancient civilization in Eastern Arabia mentioned from the 3rd millennium BC onwards. Dilmun encompassed Bahrain, Kuwait, and eastern Saudi Arabia. Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium BC to 800 BC. 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, ruled.

Seat of power: Qal’at al Bahrain

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• 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, people do not get old, there is no fear or terror, and no death.
• The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story.
• 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.

Picture

Qal'at al-Bahrain was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Image: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

• Dilmun (Wikipedia)
• Dilmun (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.