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ilmun and Melucha', hercby probably stating, at least symbolically, Assyria's
claim to carlier Babylonian or Kassite dcpendencies in the south. his clainn is ١ot
repeated, however, and ihmun is not mentioned in the Mesopotamian sources
until 530 years later, when it reappears in the Assyrian tets during the tine of
Sargon II.

From the last 8th and thc 7th centurices B.C. limited to a period of about sixty
years we now the namcs of three ings of ilmun. ln 709 Sargon II, after having
quelled a revolt by the Sealand dynasty proclaimed sovereignty over Elam,
[Kaduniash, Chaldea, and Bit-lain down to the bordcr of ilun. Faced with this
threat, Uperi, ing of ilmun, sent tribute to Sargon, an act that was repeated a
number oft times during the following years, and in the early 7th century B.C.
tributes from ilmun are recorded several times by Senachrib. he second ing of
ilmun who is mentioned in the Assyrian sources is Oana, who sent tribute to
Assyria in the early years of Esarhaddons reign, i.e. between 680 and 670 B.C.
Finally, Hundaru, ing of ilmun, ismentioned in a number of inscriptions relating
to Assurbanipal. he latest of these inscriptions is a letter from Assurbanipal to
Hundaru written shortly after 650 B.C.

uring the following century ilmun still appears on and off in the Babylonian
records. he last time it is mentioned is in 544 B.C. when Nabonid five years
before Babylon was conquered by Cyrus refers to his representative or governor
in ilmun.

he connections between ilmunlBahrain and Mesopotamia in the late
Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods are reflected also in the substantial
architecture from these periods, excavated at Oal'at al-Bahrain. he so-called
"Assyrian Palace' has been reinterpretated by avid Oates (1986) who has
demonstrated the presence of three monumental buildings, two of which were part
of a temple with ante-rooms and a cellar, and of a palace of Assyrian type wiht
close Mesopotamian parallels from the 9th to the 6th century B.C. Although it is
difficult to establish a precise date for the construction of the palace, it seems to
have been in use at least from the middle of the 7th century B.C., and it may well
have been built already in the late 8th century B.C.

As menitoned above, we have no historical record of ilmun between c. 1240
and 709 B.C., and at the same time it appeared as if no archaeological remains from
Bahrain could be safely dated between the 13th and the 8th century B.C. his

icture has changed, however, by the recent discovery of an "intermediate'
‫ﺥ‬ce at Oal'at al-Bahrain. In sview of its .importance this neiw sequence
described below in more detail.

II. he archaeological evidence
Between 1979 and 1982, atfer the partial excavation of the coastal fortress of

Oal'at al-Bahrain, several stratigraphic soundlngs were conducted both inside of

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