Page 185 - The Tigris Expedition

The Tigris Expedition
No wonder that the Sumerians who had been to Dilmun thought
there were two seas, one of fresh water below the salt one. Bahrain
also literally means ‘Two Seas’. Jidda island and tiny Umm-al-
Saban were in every respect typical satellites of Bahrain, barely seen
from the highest cliffs. Paradise to Noah and the early Sumerians
was Hell to the modern Bahrainians who were squeezed together
on this same piece of quarried rock. If I had been the Emir I
would have picked Jidda island for myself and sent the prisoners
back to the oil fields on Bahrain. Carlo and Norris seemed to
agree.
Major Smith was visibly flattered at our enthusiasm for what he
could show us, but none of us envied him his little green corner
when he confessed to a little loneliness. For many long years his life
had been that of his own prisoners, except for his fine uniform, and
except for his loneliness. They after all had each other for company.
He seemed to apologise as much to himself as to us when time
forced him to rush us back to the landing place. The tide was in
again. The police boat could come right to the tip of the pier and
take us to the free world before the salt sea withdrew from Jidda
once more.
Major Smith stood alone like a statue at the tip of the pier as long
as we could see him. The emptiness almost seemed measurable both
in time and space. At his back was the rock with the written
message from an Arab who left four centuries ago. All around him
were the empty niches abandoned by Dilmun workmen four
thousand years before.
The Dilmun transporters had certainly loaded their tons of
: burden from Jidda island on to strong, sturdy and shallow vessels,
whether they called them farteh, like the Arabs today, or ma-gur
like the Sumerians in the days when the quarries were worked, and
the big blocks of stone were surely not unloaded on the nearest part
of the Bahrain coast where we stepped ashore from the police boat.
There was no need to drag them overland to the building sites when
the floating vessel with sail or oars and punting poles could bring
the tons of cargo straight to that part of the coast where the stone
was needed. The tidal changes over the shallows seemed a gift from
the ocean god just for this purpose. The vessel came easily in to
Jidda island on the tide and was beached as the water withdrew.
Sitting sturdy on the rock bottom the broad reed-ship would be as
steady to load as a four-wheeled cart ashore. It would be ready to
float seawards with its cargo when the tide next came in, and might
even reach Bahrain to come in with the same flow, ready for

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