Page 18 - DILMUN 9

In Barbar the goblets are only known from burnt bones of sacrificed animals. Towards the
the foundation deposit of the earliest temple. west a 15m. long flight of steps from the central
They are, however, variants of a type of conical platform down across the oval terrace to a
goblet that in Mesopotamia is known from all basin measuring 3x4m. (Fig 4) The steps as well
the Early Sumerian cities, and they are often - as the basin were made of finely cut limestone
as in Barbar - found in temple deposits. In ashlars (Fig 5), and on both sides of the staircase
Mesopotamia they are in time confined to Early there were traces of a double row of wooden
Dynastic I. Of importance for the dating of the pillars. The pillars stood in sockets of limestone,
earliest temple is also a sherd from the transi­ and - like other woodwork in the temple - they
tion between the body and the shoulder of a had been coated with thin copper sheets. Along
the outer side of the oval wall a narrow
staircase led down to the well which was
already in use in the time of the first temple.
Copper models of spearheads and crescent­
shaped shafthole axes were found in the fill of
the central platform togther with beads of
marble, lapis lazuli, and carnelian ; decorted
framents of ivory; and a single narrow sheet of
gold. Furthermore, a copper axe, a copper adze,
and a small rattle of copper with sides pierced
by triangular holes and a lug at either end
Fig. Polychrome Jamdat Nasr sherd from were found.
layer belonging to the first temple. Mesopotamian and Persian parallels to the
copper adze and to the rattle suggest a date
large imported Polychrome Jamdat Nasr jar. for the erection of the second temple around
Jars of this type* painted in black and plum-red, the middle of the third millennium B.C. Support
belong to the latest phase of the Jamdat Nasr for this assumption may perhaps also be drawn
period and the transition to E D I. from the three Mesopotamian oval temples in
Even if it is tentatively assumed that, Khafajah, Ubaid and al-Hiba. to which the
several centuries passed between the manufac­ second Barbar temple is related as for as the
ture of the Jamdat Nasr jar and the depositing architecture is concerned. They were all built
of the sherd at Barbar, it must nevertheless in ED II.
be assumed that the local imitations of Early It seems reasonable in this context to
Dynastic, goblets were produced at a time when mention the fact that in the deposits of the
the type was s.till in use in Mesopotamia. The second was as the third temple a few painted
date for the erection of the first temple at sherds were found. They are similar to the
Barbar can thus hardly be put later than 2,700 pottery that has been found on Umm an-Nar
B.C., possibly a little earlier. and in Hili by the Danish archaeological
With the second temple a considerable expedition in Abu Dhabi. These finds, which
expansion of the plan .took pjace. The central show connections, to southeastern Iran and
platform was retained, but it was now surroun­ Afghanistan, seem to belong .to the middle of
ded by a lower terrace, confined by an oval the third millennium B.C.
wall measuring ca. 70m. in length. On the south The third and most recent temple is
facade of the temple a wide staircase led up bigger and more regularly shaped than the two
to the more than two meter high oval terrace older constructions. In the middle a new
(Fig. 3) From the central platform there was central platform was erected, this time a square
towards the east, via an 8m, long ramp, access one ca. 30m. on ei.ther side, enclosed by a
to a lower, oval courtyard with a circular, raised colossal wall of stone ashlars, which in places
fireplace in the middle. The courtyard was is still preserved in a thickness of 6 meters.
covered with thick layers of ashes containing Along the wall there are remains of ashlar-built
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