Page 179 - Dilmun 21

cemetery, which is, by the way, not restricted to one area but scattered over
a number o areas as you can see in the chart (map o Bahrain with tumuli
sites) as evidence that the island was a land reserved or the dead rom the
neighboring civilizations o Arabia or esopotamia. his idea o unerayr
island, which supposedly ound its echo in Sumerian mythology, may not be
considered a possibility since several settlements have been ound that were
contemporayr with the tombs.

lnterest in the archeology and history o Bahrain that was aroused by
scholars and amateur archeologists could be dated back to the end o the
Nineteenth entury. hese scholars and amateur archeologists came in to
the area as oicers o the British Empire. hey were the pioneers and
orerunners o proessional archeologists. hey attempted to open some o
these mounds and describe them and their contents. European travelers to
the lslands o Bahrain, mainly British, were ascinated with what they saw.
hough they were not proessional or specialized archeologists, their
contributions in the Nineteenth entuyr and the early years o the last centuyr
cannot be ignored at all. Repotrs o hteir ecavations and inding have paved
the way to more serious ecavations decades later in the wentieth entu.yr
he ollowing list provides inormation about major ecavaitons carried out by
these sel-stlyed archeologists:

17 9 E.L. Durand
19 heodore Bent
1900 heodore Bent
190 A. Jouannin
1906 FB. Prideau
1929 Ernst cKay

A contemporayr British authoirty on the archeology o Bahrain (ichael Rice)
evaluates the works o some o these early archeologists when he writes:
he irst published description o the archeological remains on the islands o
Bahrain acme rom a visit made in the winter o 17 9 by aptain E. L.
Durand? 1st Assistant Resident in the ul, an oicer in the seivrce o the
W‫ﻚ‬ceroyo lndia. Durand-s reports, which suvive in wto versions, were
published in 179 and contain descirptions and illustrations o the principal