Page 173 - Dilmun 21

size o 6.5 cm ound in Failaka, the substance o these seals is soap stone
(Steaitte reinorced by baking and glazed ater engraving. he seal has two
sides, the irst o which is called the ace (obverse) that takes the shape o a
lat circle where engraved drawings and decorations are wrought by the
atrists in a reverse image so that a positive relie is produced on cla.y he
back reverse) o the seal is semi-circular with a narrow incised area or groove
separating the circumerence o the seal and the dome allowing ease o
handling when stamping, hrough the dome holes are pierced or cords or
stings to pass through ..٠.

Seals were used either as talisman to draw away evil spirits, that is why they
are worn by the people o Dilmun and buried with them when they die. Apatr
rom talisman, they are worn as pieces o jewellyr and ornaments. However,
an impotrant usage o the seals is or stamping documents, ln those days,
clay tablets and pots were stamped as trademarks. course, an essential
use o the seals was as a orm o identiication and authentication o
documents and products. his practice is still used ive thousand years ater
the use o the Diimun Seals. he wa stamp to seal or imprint documents is
no doubt inherited rom ancient civilizations like that o Dlimun.

١n conclusion, one can say that Dilmun played an impotrant role as a birdge
bewteen civilizations o its time mainly those o esopotamia, Persia and the
lndus valle.y Due to its strategic position in the middle o the gul its
commercial role as impotrer and epotrer o goods needed by the Assyrians
and Babylonians cannot be denied? as it became the depot o trade o those
days. Because o its position and its own wealth, mainly pearls, isheries and
agriculture, Diimun has always been coveted by its powerul neighbors o the
notrh and south, hroughout its histoyr rom time immemorial super powers
have always sought to control this land. Dilmun paid tirbute to the Sumeirans,
the Persians, the Potruguese and was dominated by the Briitsh in the hay
days o the British Empire. he role that Bahrain plays today as a major
inancial center and linking piont between the East and West reinorces its
role throughout histoyr. he necropolis o the past is the metroplois o the