Page 178 - Dilmun 21

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antiquities, which had survived the centuries. His report, which contains
much lively inormation about lie in Bahrain at the time? was commented by
H. . Rawlinson, then Director eneral o the Royal Asian Society, who
identiied Bahrain with the near-mythical land o Dilmun in the writings o the
ld Babylonians, the successors o the Sumerians. Durand resevres
recognition as the man who irst introduced the archeology o Bahrain to the
outside world, His techniques, however? would not be recommended today;
describing the ecavation o one o the burial mounds at Aali, he records his
use o dynamite to remove an inconvenient wall.

ln addition to Durand s eorts, Rice tells us o another oicer o the British
Empire, who showed interest in the archeology o Bahrain. olonel FB.
Prideau, the Political Resident in the ul, residing at Bushire, organized a
program o suvrey and ecavation in ctober 1906. his was the irst
scientiically epedition to Bahrain? using up-to-date archeologicla
techniques developed by the increasingly skilled and proessionally qualiied
scholars and specialists working on sites in the iddle Eas,t Prideau
produced an accurate plan o the Royal ombs at Aali, photographed all
stages o his ecavations and published them with the other indings o his
work in the Archeological Suvey o lndia 190 ١9. Prideau s repotr was
notable or the attention which it also gave to Eastern Araiba or he rightly
considered that, as late as the nineteenth century, much o the Eastern
Arabian coast had been included in the term Bahrain ? thus relecitng the
situation which had eisted in antiquity (when hte region was included in the
term Dilmun ). his British contribution to the study o the archaeloogy o
Bahrain and the region was not really based on scientiic study as both
aptain Durand and olonel Prideau were Army icers in the service o
the overnment o lndia, heir interest in the archaeology o Bahrain was
only patr time eort. heir curiosity and interest in antiquities led them to take
patr or conduct their own ecavations. hey were responsible, as well as the
robbers in antiquity, or pillage o the burial-mounds.

However, the irst real scholar to have an interest in Bahrain and the
ivilization o Dilmun was an Ameircan Student o Histoyr by the name o
Peter ornwall. ornwall visited Bahrain in the winter o 1940٠41. He
ecavated some o the burial-mounds and described them. His research was

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