Page 107 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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that the north coast was once again the center of occupation. The settlement
area, however, extended farther to the south than was the case during the Kassite
period.
The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian evidence from burials near Ali was
overlain by Achaemenid through Parthian materials, placed in the originial grave
during the first centuries A.D. Unfortunately, there are very few settlements of
this period recorded on Bahrain. The only demonstrated settlement sites are
Qala'at al-Bahrain and Barbar village site 203. When viewed as a composite, these
settlement sites point to an occupation of the north coast of Bahrain, which
extended as far south as Ali. Although this area did not compare with that of the
late third millennium, it was more extensive than the Kassite settlement and
comparable with the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian occupation. The periods of
Neo-Assyrian through Parthian influence on the island are historically identifiable
as times of mercantile and agricultural activity. The lack of settlement evidence,
however, suggests that these activities were less significant than they were during
the late third millennium. The settlements and tombs assigned to the Neo-Assyrian
through Parthian time range point to continued agricultural use of the island as far
inland as Ali, a distance of 10 km from the north coast.
The land-use patterns of this period can be assumed to have related to
intense agricultural use of the major garden areas of the northern third of Bahrain,
which are perhaps reflected in Aristobulus’ description of Bahrain during the fourth
century B.C. as ’’neither rough nor wooded for the most part; but the sort which
bore garden fruits and all things in due season.” His emphasis was placed on garden
fruits with no indication of extensive agriculture. Thus, Bahrain was apparently a
center of intensive gardening. Given the evidence at hand, Bahrain in the first
millennium B.C. was an island only partially dependent upon agriculture as a
subsistence base. There is no evidence for ancient grain cultivation in the
peripheral areas of the island. The Neo-Assyrian texts, on the other hand, record
that Dilmun sent tools of bronze to assist in the destruction of Babylon in support
of Sennacherib, ca. 705 B.C, a fact that argues for Bahrain as a market center and
point of transshipment of eastern goods. Hence, the dates and fruits attested to by
Aristobulus may have been grown for local consumption.