Dilmun

Dilmun or Tylos is Bahrain ?
A research paper written by a Bahraini researcher and writer but translated into English by a well known Palestinian writer and OM founder. Coming soon on its original location

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نادرون الصحفيون الذين استطاعوا النجاة من سطوة المهنة بطبيعتها اليومية و سرعة عجلتها الخبرية، المجردة من التأمل في غالب الأحوال.

وعندما تصادف صحفياً يتجاوز طموحه البعد اليومي، و يتوفر على موهبة تنزع إلى الكتابة الأدبية، فمن المحتمل أن تحصل على تجربة تخرج عن حدود " الجريدة " العابر، إلى شكل " الكتاب " الزائر.

خالد البسام، جاء إلى الصحافة [في منتصف السبعينات، قبل تخرجه الجامعي] مأخوذاً بالكتابة القصصية، و وكان يكتب قصصاً قصيرة جداً، كمن يدرب موهبته على طيران صعب. لكن سرد الحكاية هو الذي يأسره. قلائل يعرفون عن محاولات خالد البسام القصصية المبكرة، وعندما كنا نشبعه تقريعاً (سميناه نقداً أدبياً) لم يكن يهتم، ربما لأن طموحه يتجاوز أوهامنا، فقد كانت الصحافة تستحوذ عليه في غفلة منا، إلى أن دخل مجالها العملي و اجتاز العديد من التجارب، ليصبح ضمن كوكبة شابة من الصحفيين متنوعي الأساليب، و الذين يمنحون الصحافة في البحرين، في السنوات الأخيرة، نكهة خاصة لم تزل تعلن عن نفسها.. مثل دخان البراكين.

لا أعرف السبب الذي يجعلني أستحضر حكاية النملة و الجبل كلما قرأت لخالد البسام إنجازا من منجزاته الثقافية المتصلة بالتاريخ، و التي تتجاوز حدود الشرط الصحافي السريع. ربما لطبيعة خالد الهادئة، و اعتياده على العمل الدؤوب الصامت، و تصديه لأكثر المجالات الثقافية تطلباً للصبر والسهر. و هذا ما سيميز عمله الذي اتصل في السنوات الأخيرة بما يشبه التأريخ دون أن يزعمه، وما يتجاوز التوثيق دون أن يستهين به.
فقد كان لدي خالد البسام اهتماماً مبكراً بالمعرفة التاريخية لتراث المنطقة الثقافي و الاجتماعي. أقول اهتماماً و أكاد أشعر الآن كم كان عشقاً حقيقياً للاكتشاف يجعله يفرح مثل طفل كلما تمكن من التوصل إلى معلومة عن قضية أو شخصية قديمة. حتى أنه عندما حدثني عن (سيد جمال الليل) للمرة الأولى منذ سنوات، اعتقدت أنه صديق شخصي له.. لولا أنه استدرك ليقول.. " لا.. إنه رجل جاء من اليمن في بداية القرن ليشتهر ببيع العطور و كان متصلاً بالثقافة بشكل ما. "

و راق لخالد أن يوظف ولعه بسرد الحكاية في مجال بكر بالنسبة لواقعنا الثقافي. وراح يطور تجربته في التحقيق الصحافي القائم على البحث والتنقيب من جهة، وعلى المواجهات الشخصية من جهة أخرى، لكي يقدم لنا مشهداً أدبياً لواقعة تاريخية، بأسلوب يجمع بين السلاسة والعمق والحس المعرفي، مما يسعفه في وضع الحدث في سياقه التاريخي، كاشفاً لنا ما سوف يفوت الكتاب التقليدي والقارئ المدعي.
إن موهبة الحفر المعرفي التي يتميز بها خالد البسام هيأت لنا معرفة العديد من الجوانب الخفية في المشهد الاجتماعي لأوائل هذا القرن. ليس عن رجال البحرين فحسب، و لكن عن العرب الذين ساهموا في تأسيس
اللبنات الحديثة لما يمكن أن نطلق عليه النهضة الاجتماعية.
وفي كتابه الأخير (رجال في جزائر اللؤلؤ)، يضع خالد البسام أمامنا رجالاً جاءوا من أقطار عربية مختلفة في الفترة بين نهاية القرن الماضي و بداية القرن العشرين ليسكنوا البحرين.. و يسهموا في مجالات اهتماماتهم، ويصوغون عشقاً للأرض و الناس في هذه المنطقة.
وسوف يتنوع هؤلاء الرجال بشكل ملفت، لكي يتاح لنا [الآن] أن نرى التقهقر الهائل الذي حققته لنا، بامتياز، النظريات الوحدوية على صعيد الواقع.. الذي وقع. و التنوع الذي يشير إليه كتاب خالد البسام يجعلنا نجد (مقبل الذكير) الذي نزح من نجد في الجزيرة العربية لكي يصبح أحد أشهر تجار اللؤلؤ في البحرين، و مشاركاً في بواكير النشاط الثقافي، مؤسساً لجمعية ثقافية و مراسلاً للصحافة الأدبية المصرية آنذاك، و متحمساً لحملات التبرع للشعوب الإسلامية في تركيا و مجاهدي ليبيا. كما نجد الصحفي الفلسطيني (توفيق دجاني) و (حافظ وهبة) المصري الذي صار جزءاً من تاريخ التعليم النظامي الحديث في البحرين. والسوري (عثمان الحوراني) المدرس الذي لم يتردد في مشاركة الوطنيين البحرينيين صراعهم مع سلطات الاستعمار البريطاني. و الكويتي (خالد الفرج) الشاعر الذي جاء من الهند بخبرته الثقافية ليستغرق في الفعاليات الأدبية ومنها توصيل معاناة الشعب في البحرين إلى الصحافة المصرية، و يكتب شعراً يقلق الوجود البريطاني في البلاد. و اللبناني (أمين الريحاني) الرحالة الشهير الذي زار البحرين وكتب عنها الكثير. والكويتي (عبدالعزيز الرشيد) و الفلسطيني نوح أفندي إبراهيم. و العراقي الأرمني (كارنيك جورج ميناسيان).

وسوف نجد في الكتاب أيضاً التفاتة طريفة للساعات القليلة التي قضاها جمال عبدالناصر في مطار البحرين، هندما كان في طريقه عائداً من مؤتمر باندونغ عام 1955. و عن زيارة أنور السادات في نفس السنة للبحرين، عندما حمله جمهور المستقبلين على أكتافهم في يوم ممطر ليتعثروا به ويجد نفسه منكباً على أرض المطار المليئة بماء الأمطار و بقايا الزيت، ويغادر بمشاعر سلبية لم ينسها الذين حضروا الحادث.

خالد البسام، على هيامه بالتوثيق والتأريخ، فانه يفعل ذلك بهدوء كبير، وبعيداً عن الضجيج، و دون أي ادعاء. ربما لأنه يفعل كل ذلك بدافع ذاتي يجعله سعيداً لما يفعل. ففي عمل مثل هذا يشعر خالد أنه يحقق شيئاً يحبه، شيئاً يتصل بالجانب الآخر من المشهد الذي يعتني به التاريخ الرسمي، التقليدي، المتزمت. ذلك التاريخ الذي لا يتوقف عند التفاصيل، في حين أن اجتهادات علمية كثيرة تؤكد يوماً بعد يوم أن ثمة تفاصيل في السياق التاريخي ربما كان لها تأثير خاص لا ينبغي الاستهانة به.

إن التفاصيل التي يستحضرها الكاتب و يعيد بها تركيب المشهد التاريخي الحديث، من شأنها أن تدرب سليقة جيل جديد من الشباب لكي يستعيد الثقة بنفسه، ويشعر أن ما يفعله الآن، و إن كان بمعزل [أو معزولاً] عن السياق الرسمي أو الإعلامي، فانه يشكل لبنة أساسية في بناء المستقبل.
لقد ساهم هذا الكتاب في وضع البحرين في سياقها العربي، مؤكداً أنها لم تكن في يوم من الأيام مجتمعاً مغلقاً أمام العالم، و هي أيضاً لم تكن مقطوعة عن روح النهضة العربية الحديثة بشتى تجلياتها.
في تقديرنا أن خالد البسام في مثل هذا الكتاب إنما يستحضر العناصر والحوادث و الشخصيات التاريخية ويقدمها بحجومها الطبيعية، في واقعها ذاك، دون مبالغات أو تزييف، و هو عندما يحافظ على هذه الميزة سوف ينجو من التطلبات الإعلامية التي يجري نصبها كأشراك أمام مثل هذه الاجتهادات.

نريد بدورنا أن نقول لخالد البسام .. كلنا فداك !!

رفض الكاتب خالد البسام اليوم جائزة وزارة الاعلام في بلده عن الكتاب المتميز موصلا رسالته بهذا الرفض دفاعا عن كل الكتاب الأحرار الذين لا تغريهم جوائز تقررها لجان لم نسمع عنها سوى ..لا شيء من مواهب وتضحيات الكتاب الأحرار

تتقدم أسرة حركة إبداع من أسرة فندق أكاسيا لأجنحة رجال الأعمال بأحر التهاني لمناسبة عيد ميلاد الباحث والكاتب البحريني الأستاذ توفيق الحمد مؤسس مركز الإبداع العلمي الشقيق في البحرين العزيزة ومؤلف العديد من الكتب التي تتناول تاريخ البحرين الرسمي وبخاصة موقع رئيس الوزراء البحريني الشيخ خليفة بن سلمان آل خليفة قيد الإنشاء والذي سوف يتم افتتاحه في الأول من تموز المقبل ،، لأسرة أكاسيا وأسرة مركز الإبداع العلمي أطيب التمنيات من حركة إبداع – الفرع الإقليمي – عمان – الأردن -11 حزيران 2006

Civilization in Bahrain is deeply rooted in ages, in which realities were intermingled with legends and where events were mixed with miracles, where kings were thought to be gods and history was close to nil, or to the zero point….

Through ancient ages, names changed from "Needok Ki" during the Akkadian period to" Dilmun " or "Telmon" during the Sumerian period and changed into "Tylos" in the Phoenician period and so on …until it was called Bahrain in the Persian era and "Awal" in the Islamic one…However, the history of Bahrain continues its everlasting presence whatever the differences, in times and through ages, could be during centuries followed by centuries. The first time the ancient name of Bahrain appeared as "Dilmun" in the ancient historic documents was a synonym for other two names; "Magan" and "Mloukkha".This was found in a document belongs to " The days of the king of Sumer …Ur-Nanesh" about 2550-2500 B.C. which its text reads a declaration by the king that he brought the woods of building from Dilmun to the city of Lagash in Sumer.

This document caused many archeologists to think that Bahrain was called "Magan and Mloukkha" before it was called Dilmun. While in the late Sumerian religious texts, Dilmun was described as "the holy land of gods" and as the residence of the Sumerian god of waters "Enky" and his wife "Ninorsag".The old Sumerian poem of flood confirms that gods built their homes on the land of Dilmun and the greatest Sumerian goddess "Annana" chose Dilmun as an original homeland before she had gone to Ur the capital of Sumer and the most ancient city in history in which she built her temple which was known as" the house of Dilmun".

The famous Gilgamesh Epic points out that the god of water Enky survived from the flood and chose the land of Dilmun to live in with his wife and that he discovered in the bottom of its sea a white flower contains the secret of immortality. The legend extends to say that the god Enky disclosed the secret of eternity to the great legendary Sumerian hero Gilgamesh who instantly turned to Dilmun in order to obtain that flower, but the satanic snake was the first to arrive before he could do so….

This is what legends tell us, but the science of archeology and what the land tells about the original history that civilizations had registered on the land of Bahrain, is another story.

In Barbar temples, Aly graveyards and Um Aljedr, there are many proofs that there was a primary civilization on the land of Bahrain since the sixth century B.C. which called the modern Stone Age that preceded the Bronze age. That means humankind lived in

Bahrain

in the prehistory period which ends with the beginning of the Bronze age. So, mankind did not know writing at that period, though he could have controlled animals and improve the forms of houses and cover them with gypsum, besides using instruments and building temples, manufacturing textiles and pottery. Some of these instruments remained as they are even after the Bronze age which some historians see that it started in the near east and in the Mediterranean about the third century B.C.

Archeology proves that civil mankind lived on the land of Bahrain since the third century B.C. for the archeology in many sites in Bahrain shows that the Bronze age man 3000-2200 B.C. built stone houses and established inhabitant compounds in the form of unfenced villages, while afterward; in the mid Bronze age2200-1700 B.C. we can find many proofs that man in the land of Bahrain knew the fenced villages, the seals , the weights and experienced the trade relations with Indian Hindus and the peoples between the two rivers*Mesopotamia .

In addition to what legends tell about a stable relation that happened to be between Dilmun, the holy land, and the residence of the god Enky from a side and the civilization of the Sumerian Ur on the other side, a study of the Barbar temples confirmed that these temples have the same features the Sumerian temples had, which belong to the old Bronze age 2800 B.C. The same as with the graveyards of Aly and Um Aljedr. So, in the third millennium B.C. a very early and creative civilization existed on the land of Bahrain which was materially and in quality advanced enough to exchange knowledge with other well known civilizations like the Hindus and the Sumerian in Mesopotamia *. In this period; the start of the Bronze Age, there was no difference between gods and kings. The Sumerian archeology shows that there was no kind of palaces, where kings live, during the first and second dynasties, but temples of priests who were the kings who rule the people according to a heaven authority. In about 2700 B.C. the first building, of the first independent palace separated from the temple, appeared in the Sumerian "Keesh" whose priest called "Meebara Jeezy"beard the name of 'Logal' which means the king.

At the same period the name "Logal" – the king – appeared in Dilmun. Some tellings point that the name of that king was " Mloukkha".despite whatever the name of the king was , that period about 2700 B.C. witnessed establishing the first kingdom in Dilmun which was very related to the Sumerians whose civilization was consisted from several kingdoms, cities; Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Oma, Adab Mary, and Keesh. These cities, kingdoms, being in perpetual conflict between each to dominate the others, enabled Dilmun to obtain a complete independence, though it did not possess a military force.

In the 24^th. Century B.C. the Acer Semitic imperialism emerged and extended to the whole area between the two rivers, Syria, and Asia minor, one after another, and gradually to the area of what is called now the Arab Gulf including the kingdom of Dilmun who resisted the domination of the Akkadian empire. But the Akkadian king Sargon triumphed the king of Dilmun and attached this kingdom to his empire. However, the kingdom of Dilmun remained semi-independent from the large Akkadian empire. But in away or another, it remained connected with the Akkadians

during the rise of the Joutian Barbarian empire who could not establish for themselves a coherent kingdom and gave the Sumerians and the Akkadians the opportunity to re-establish kingdoms that inherited many lands not including in their domination the kingdom of Dilmun. So, Dilmun tasted a relatively prosperity and started to strengthen itself as a trade and commercial power and an advanced navy in the area who built commercial relations with the Indians and the Persian newly rising civilization.

From the several scattered and separated Sumerian and Akkadian kingdoms, the king Hamouazy the great, established the first Babylonian Empire after he could have subdued them one after the other. He established Babylon to be the capital. In the reign of Hammorabi, Dilmun remained obtaining its independence despite its close commercial relationship with the capital of the Babylon who in return guaranteed the protection of Dilmun against any outsiders' attacks. Such a situation remained and extended until the reign of king Bal-Ostor or the king Baltzar as mentioned in the old testimony, whose reign witnessed the collapse of Babylon empire and its end when the Persians raised as a new powerful kingdom whose large and powerful military forces occupied the lands of Babylon empire in 539 B.C. and started to dominate the east in a start of a new era of civilization in which the birth of Jesus occurred and Christianity started to spread all over the world.

The above mentioned is a brief glance to some extent on the climate of legends and the stories of history in Dilmun the old, the holy land of god, where the lion doesn't eat the lamb, the raven does not caw and where women do not get old, Dilmun is the land of fresh water, and the principle of Sumerian gods' formation, the land of wheat and grain and the port of the whole world.

Throughout the period of the third millennium B.C. many great kings and legendary gods ruled Dilmun, in which the relations between kings and gods couldn't be separated and the differences between palaces and temples could not be specified, and the same also between historical realities and legends which were intermingled but formed at last the autobiography of Dilmun the kingdom. This is the distinguished story of Dilmun while the story of its kings is still another one.

Kings of Dilmun were identified with its gods, and the god in it was a king sometimes and the king was sometimes a priest .The king in Dilmun became a servant for the god and his rule was authorized by his almighty the god, .besides the king's secular authority. So his name was connected with several other names during the period B.C. which some of them ruled Dilmun or lived in or passed by it like king Gilgamesh who the famous legendary hero who arrived it searching for the secrecy of eternity during the start of the ruling families in the land between the two rivers.

Although the legend tells us that Gilgamesh was the ruler of Uruk but when he arrived Dilmun he lived in it for a period of time about 3200 B.C., so he practiced his royal authority in Dilmun for a short period of time.

Indeed Dilmun the kingdom passed throughout this time (32300-300 B.C.) in three stages which had been divided by historians; from Dilmun the first, the second and then the third. So king Gilgamesh was one of the first kings that practiced a secular and religious authority at the same time in Dilmun the kingdom, and he was the most prominent king in the first stage in Dilmun the first. King Mloukkha is also one of the kings who ruled in this period whose name was related to Dilmun the first. Another king also called Jathbi Lageem whose name was mentioned in a famous clay found near the fence of the city of Dilmun about 300 B.C.

One more of the kings of this stage was the son of king Jathbi Lageem called Jeesi Tambo who held power directly after his father according to what texts confirm, though some other hints tell that there was a third king who ruled in the interval between the father and the son called Ilamilkom whose name was mentioned in the above mentioned clay.

Dilmun the second, had its own kings who ruled it at the second stage like Ayanaser who was according to archeology famous for his commercial relations with other kingdoms; the Sumerian and the Acadian south the two rivers. king Rimom whose name was curved on Deyorand historical stone was also one of the kings of Dilmun the second. His name was connected with the Lord of gods Anzak the guardian of Dilmun. He was very rich and built himself palaces and temples for the god Anzak the guardian of Dilmun. Then he was followed by King Ajaroum and king Osia Nanoura and king Ily Ibasra and all these ruled Dilmun the second in the period 1600-1200 B.C. in spite of some historical hints that had been discovered which tell that some of these kings were deputies to great kings of the country between two rivers.

The third stage witnessed the appearance of kings’ names like Hondraw whose state was coincidental with the Assyrian great emergence of power and domination, though Dilmun kingdom kept completely independent in his reign and kept connected with the Assyrian kingdom cordial relations as well the intimate relation between its king and the great Assyrian king Ashor Banibaal who were sincere friends to each other exactly as his ancestors had done before like king Obiry the king of Ashor and king Vana who was contemporary to the king of Ashor Sinhareeb ;700 B.C.

Dilmun kingdom experienced a distinguished rise in civilization during the reigns of these kings and other kings whom their names were not mentioned in the archeological and historical discoveries. It enjoyed an advanced rank and position in the international relations and exchanged its cultures and the items of its civilization with other neighboring great civilizations.

Although most of these kings were powerful , rich in a royal way, and kept their kingdom independent and strengthened its position and values, some of them were subdued to the domination of the empires between the two rivers and paid the fees for these empires in order to avoid problems with them. Anyhow, what is clear, is that Dilmun lived long periods of prosperity and civilization during the old history and took part in the development of humanity. It played the role of the commercial mediator between several great kingdoms and empires for a long time in history. The archeological and historical discoveries about this stage in history point out that Dilmun's knowledge and discoveries were contributed to other civilizations, like the industry of circular seals, potteries, building ships, copper manufacturing, pearls' findings, underground nets of irrigation tunnels, besides, Dilmun's contributions to enrich humanitarian thinking, social and religious sciences and ideas in the field of education, and at last life after death.

One of the original clay letters that had been discovered about Nafar city in the valley in between the two rivers demonstrates clearly what Dilmun was characterized with by its social peace and civilization centre, since the clay shows a letter from Ily Ibasra the king of Dilmun to king Ilya of the land between the two rivers calling for peace in between kingdoms and states of that time. The letter states that:

This is what your brother Ily Ibasra the king of Dilmun said, so gods bless you and keep you healthy and calm, you and your guards Anzak and meeskilak, though they seem not to speak but the language of violence, plunder and loot, while about harmony they do not speak. God obliged me to call them for concord but they did not respond.

The society of old Dilmun was based on the primary form of society at that time; gathering the members of a family and other families in a specific place somewhere on a land with harmony between them on accepting a system that governs their life.

The main reference for this system was their relation with gods and priests who serve gods with other religion mediators. Therefore it is normal to imagine that rulers in these primitive societies were the mediators and parsons who control the relations between the people and gods. The houses of these religion rulers were the temples which were established for the gods surrounded by peoples who are nearer to these temples according to their richness, social degree or status and ranks in society. This picture of the primitive societies goes completely in harmony with the same decided picture in Dilmun kingdom or in other kingdoms in the country between the two rivers.

Gradually these priests began to lose some of their religion's authority in favor for the noble big masters and rich people who got the secular power in their hands. Sometimes priests themselves favored their concerns of secular authority rather than the religion or the spiritual authority and preferred to practice the role of the ruling king to the role of the priest.. so the separation happened between the two authorities and every one of them took a different course and direction, though related to each other relatively but differentiate according to the power and strength of the man in power in each. That is the expression "Local" appeared, which means; the great man, the synonym of the king in order to mean the master who owns the secular authority.

Old primary Sumerian legends confirmed the intermingled king god in Dilmun through the god Anzak the son of the god Enki the god of wisdom and pure water in the Sumerian civilization. Although the god Enki himself and his wife lived in Dilmun,for a period of time, for being the land of pure water where the sea of drinkable water lies beneath the sea of salt water, God Enki did not rule Dilmun,as legends tell, but he sent his son god Anzak to be the guard god of Dilmun and its king.So god Anzak was the first king of Dilmun the kingdom according to the legend.

Then, the king separated from the god after the flood as mentioned in Gilgamesh Epic. Royality came down from heaven to earth, so the god chooses a human servant for himself who is his big parson or priest, whom he called a king or master of people as mentioned in Cuneiform texts in which the Dilmun king's name "Rimom" was mentioned as a servant for the god Anzak, and so until the separation took place between the king with his secular authority and the priest with his religion authority.

From several seals of Dilmun , related to this stage of time, which had been discovered we can see that the king puts a crown on his head mostly distinguished by two horns of an ox, like most great kings that were shown in statues, as well Macedonian Alexander and Cyrus the Persian and others. Those kings were living in luxurious palaces in which drinkable pure water is available and include halls and rooms besides the gallery hall were the king sits to follow up the peoples' affairs surrounded by notables, ministers and priests. This image is repeated many times on several circular seals which belong to that stage. Concerning the relation between the king and the people, many diggings and carves demonstrate that it was direct, since these excavations show the king while meeting some of his citizens he was surrounded by his retinue, but keeping on hierarchy in responsibilities which starts with the ordinary employees and officers up to high ranked officers and notables of the retinue, reaching the ministers, then the king. Moreover the excavations show types and patterns of registration and records that had been used by the guards who stand on the gates of the city, kingdom, to calculate the incoming people and the outgoing, collecting taxes and fees from merchants, besides what confirm that these main gates were including utilities, facilities and public services for popular people and animals.

The diggings discoveries show clearly that the Dilmun society was a rich one, co-operative, rich in its merchants, industries, and crafts where the industry of pottery, bronze tools, jewelry, weapons, baskets, ship building, tissues, house furniture, agriculture equipments and seals industries flourished. Tombs and old graveyards demonstrate that the Dilmun society was divided into distinguished classes as the graves and graveyards show verities of precise divisions whereas graveyards of women differ from those dedicated for men and children had special graveyards, as well as slaves and strangers who had their private ones.

Also, the Dilmun seals conveyed live images about the drinking gatherings, night parties and listening to music which were held in the city and some of them were attended by the king and high ranked notables of the retinue in which food and drinks were introduced in luxurious plates and dishes that some of them were decorated with jewelries. The kings of those stages were famous for being unfair, arrogant and fierce with their citizens, though, the kings of Dilmun were different for several historical sayings confirm the contrary about them; being distinguished from other kings of those stages. Kings of Dilmun were humanitarian and noble, peaceful and loving to their citizens. They were concerned in spreading peace and justice among the people and the other kingdoms also as we had mentioned before when we spoke about the letter of the king of Dilmun Ely Ebasra to the Ashorian Elya Nafr. Further more the excavation texts demonstrate that Dilmun kings were careful to send national presents to some kings that they have good relation with them. The wonderful thing that these presents were from the national products of the kingdom like deluxe seals, copper kitchen tools, pearls and jewelry made in Dilmun. The kings of Dilmun used to send some of their engineers and skilfull builders to their friends the kings of Mesopotamia and other kingdoms to help them in building their palaces, water nets, graves and cemeteries.

Historic discoveries demonstrate that in the political systems most of Dilmun kings ruled according to two authorities; the secular, according to the king's power, tribe, and the religion authority, considering the king is sent from heaven. The rule was hereditary since most of these kings the excavations mentions their names and the names of their fathers the kings. Royal families were often distinguished in their wealth and their luxurious lives. The historic excavations show what kind of furniture these families used to use and what valuable instrument they were using which were embellished with jewelry and precious stones. King's councilors were high ranked notable men , head of families and tribes who play the role of mediators between the ordinary people and the king, besides consisting the retinue of the king, in addition to the (council of old men) which its members possess great experiences in life and trade, mature and wise so that they can introduce their opinions to the king and mediate between him and his citizens, and to perform the tasks that the king asks them to do; like embassies abroad and ambassadors to other kings all over the world. Then comes the priests and parsons and the servants of gods who sometimes possess religious authorities that perhaps equal to the king's authority. To all the previous mentioned in the political system we can add the diviners who worked in the royal palaces and in the temples and do their private works to the king and to the ordinary citizens. Treating and curing people were included in these diviners and fortune-tellers' work whom the carves confirmed that they were using precise, somehow advanced, medical instruments.

Generally, several historical feats assure that the political and relation systems of Dilmun were advanced and pioneering. Moreover its experiences and political systems were transformed to other great kingdoms which more old and powerful than Dilmun. In most of its ages Dilmun was distinguished for its cordial relationship with neighboring kingdoms, especially the kingdom of Mesopotamia, with whose kings there were exchanged messages, letters, embassies and presents as well as with the kings of Sind in

India

Even the sons of Dilmun kings were sometimes learning in private schools which were dedicated to the royal families in Mesopotamia, and that indicates that Dilmun exchanged educational delegations with those kingdoms.

Dilmun civilization prospered in the third millennium B.C. in parallel with Sumer civilization in its best times in Mesopotamia. While Sumer legends aknowledge that the original homeland of some Sumerian gods is Dilmun, the historian Herodotus mentioned that the origin of Sumerian people is Dilmun and the first ancestors and grandfathers of them lived and learned in Dilmun how to dig and plant the land and cultivate the its crops, beside learning how to write and make the pottery.

When establishing the first city-kingdom of Dilmun it was connected gradually with stable relations with the grandsons of the people who left Dilmun to live in Mesopotamia. These relations were objected mostly to what degree was Dilmun powerful and to what extent its ambition to dominate Mesopotamia. The relation between the kings of Dilmun and the kings of Mesopotamia were stable for most of the time and decided by good neighborhood and the communicative thinking and trade, besides the relations of friendship between the kings. These relations remained like this until the reign of Sargon the first the Akkadian king 2200B.C.

The carves and cuneiform writings and historic narrations demonstrate that this king was distinguished by his non stopping ambitions of extension. At the same time Dilmun was distinguished by its trends to keep its prosperous independent identity.

Therefore Sargon the first the Akkadian launched a big military campaign against Dilmun and subdued it to his great empire taking the tributes and taxes from its kings

However, although Dilmun surrendered to Sargon I the Akkadian king, it worked at the same time in order to achieve its trade and economic prosperity, and continued improving its commercial relations with other kingdoms like Magan ; which is called Oman nowadays, and Milokha; which is India now and other nearby kingdoms. As a result to these commercial relations, Dilmun's civilization affected the course of these kingdoms' civilizations and peoples clearly. It imported much knowledge, sciences, crafts and arts to these kingdoms. Consequently Dilmun became the paradise of peace for trade and merchants who resort to it from many countries whether to live in or to benefit from its experiences. Historians confirm that Dilmun at that time monopolized the trade of copper, woods, in addition to dates and pearls which gave Dilmun the kingdom more causes for much prosperity in many fields like improvement in housing and buildings. Dilmun invented several trade systems related to the styles of importing and exporting goods and obtaining taxes and fees in addition to weight, seals and public trade storing systems besides other creations that other civilizations and peoples took from the civilization of Dilmun.

The fact is that Dilmun the famous kingdom was subjected to the same circumstances under which the dominating kingdoms that Dilmun was surrendering to, passed through. So when Mesopotamia was attacked and invaded by the barbaric sometime and getting weak in another, these circumstances that the Sumerian, Assyrian, and Akkadians went through, were reflected sometimes on Dilmun.

Dilmun was subjected to some barbarian invasions, the same as the Mesopotamian Sumer, Assyria, and Akkadi. It is mentioned in history that the Mesopotamian kingdoms were subjected to barbarian invasion by the Kishians who came from Asia minor between 1600-1200 B.C. and then continued their march to Dilmun which they destroyed and corrupted killing too many of its people until the Assyrians were able to be liberated from them forcing the invaders to get out of Mesopotamia and Dilmun. The local people in Dilmun resisted the invaders until they got them out of their country and assimilated part of them who preferred to remain, live in and belong to Dilmun .Afterwards, the happy kingdom got engaged with Mesopotamian kingdoms and empires like Assyria, Babylon who were friends and good neighbors to Dilmun ,nevertheless of the kind of relationship that sometimes prevails between the super and the inferior kingdoms. Anyhow, the worst that Dilmun experienced was in its relation with the Persians.

The Persians are from the Indo-European origin who came from north Gaucaz in the first millennium B.C. The first time that their name appeared as a people was in the reign of the Assyrian /Babylonian king Meshlamansar III (858-824 B.C.)

The first wave of invasion was known as the Medians who established a powerful kingdom in the eighth century which its capital was Akpatan, known as Hamadan nowadays. From those people the second wave had been formed and was known as the Persians who located themselves in the seventh century B.C. south east Susa where a small kingdom by Achaemenes the grandfather of the Achaemenes, who divided his kingdom into two parts for his two sons; Cyrus, and Aryaramni . At the same time the Merian king Syakzar appeared, and who decided to unite all the Persian kingdoms in 584 B.C. and succeeded in that after he had been related by marriage to the Achaemenes king Qambiz.

However, the emergence of the great Persian empire was delayed until 559 B.C. when Big Cyrus II succeeded in that ending the reign of the Medians and unifying all the Persian tribes under his banner, then he went ahead to spread his domination all over the world. He reached the beaches of the Aeagan sea and the red sea but Dilmun kingdom did not yield to the Persian empire until the reign of the emperor Darius the great who widened the Persian empire until it reached the country of the Hindus and joined Dilmun kingdom to his huge empire. Since then the peaceful Dilmun kingdom experienced the fist reign of occupation and foreign domination. This period of yielding prevailed and was solidified during the Sassanids rule of

Persia

Several ethnic dynasties ruled Persia throughout history; ------, Medes, Persian Achaemenes, and ------- who established their civilization on what they had inherited from the Achaemenes (Hakhamanish) until the reign of the Sassanids in whose reign the Persian civilization collapsed by the Muslims.

Since the Achaemenes Cyrus the great solidified the huge Persian empire, Dilmun kingdom or (Tylos) as it was called in the reign of the Assyrians' civilization and the Lydia's, remained subjected to the realm of the Persian kings and their domination.But, everynow and then it obtained semi-independence from the Persian empire according to the strength or weakness of the ruling dynasty in Persia. Under the realm of the Sassanids' state Dilmun stopped to be a recognized kingdom.

The Sassanids came to power in 208 B.C. in

Persia

. Their grandfather Derham Sasan was a priest in the temple of Ana khita the godess in Estakhr. He was inherited by his son Babak who took on his own besides his religious responsibilities the secular ones which were inherited from his wife's father Amir Estakhr. So both the religious and secular authorities were gathered in his hand, he started to establish the first rule of this family.But his son Ardashir who made the local princes surrender for his power and who destroyed the Achaemenes was considered the real founder of the Sassanids empire which its rule extended up to four centuries until the seventh century, when riots and disorder prevailed this huge empire and its last king Yazdegerd III was killed by the Arab Muslims in Nahawand battle in 651 .Persia and other Emirates and kingdoms that had been in its realm, including Dilmun, became after then under the Arab Muslims domination. In that stage Dilmun was called Bahrain as mentioned in some historians' references.

During the Sassanids State founding and rise Bahrain experienced the reign of Gerhaaieen who are from Keldanian origin, the were named like this because they belonged to the city of Gerhaa which they established in Bahrain and which was called according to the Terranian language Tylos. But the trade competition ended the period of Gerhaaieen control of Bahrain or Tylos by the Arab tribes who unified and formed an ally called Tanokh who attacked the Gerhaaieen under the leadership of Malek Bin Fahm Alkadaei whose rule stabled in Bahrain which was called by the name Awal, the name refers to an idol whom was worshipped by Tanokh tribes exactly as the naming of Muharraq which is related to Muharraq the idol that had been worshipped by Baker Bin Wael tribe to which Almunther Bin Sawi Al Tameemi , the last ruler of Bahrain (Awal) whom the Sassanids king appointed, belonged;

It is worth mentioning that Tanokh tribes which established its rule in Bahrain (Awal) were looking forward to extend its realm to Mesopotamia according to their power and authorities. So their attacks against Mesopotamia did not stop and there they established Almanathera state which allied with the Sassanids but then surrendered to them the same as what happened with Bahrain (Awal).

Dead Sea Scrolls, collection of about 600 Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts discovered in a group of caves near Khirbat Qumrān in Jordan, at the northwestern end of the Dead Sea. The leather and papyrus scrolls, which survive in varying states of preservation, came to light in a series of archaeological finds that began in 1947. The manuscripts have been attributed to members of a previously unknown Jewish brotherhood. The scrolls include manuals of discipline, hymnbooks, biblical commentaries, and apocalyptic writings; two of the oldest known copies of the Book of Isaiah, almost wholly intact; and fragments of every book in the Old Testament except that of Esther. Among the latter is a fanciful paraphrase of the Book of Genesis. Also found were texts, in the original languages, of several books of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. These texts—none of which was included in the Hebrew canon of the Bible—are Tobit, Sirach, Jubilees, portions of Enoch, and the Testament of Levi, hitherto known only in early Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Ethiopic versions.

Qumrān Ruins Qumrān in

Jordan

was an ancient Jewish settlement around 135 bc in what was then called Palestine.FPG International, LLC/S. Kanno

Dead Sea Scrolls In 1947 Jum’a, a shepherd of the Ta’amireh tribe of the nomadic Bedouins, discovered ancient scrolls rolled up in leather and cloth in a cave to the northwest of the Dead Sea in the Qumrān Valley. A remarkable archaeological find, the scrolls formed the first part of a collection of Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts that were discovered in quick succession after Jum’a’s original find. These ancient texts, which include the Book of Isaiah in its entirety and fragments from all other books of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther, turned out to be more than 1000 years older than any other known Hebrew texts.Liaison Agency/Douglas Burrows

The seven principal scrolls were discovered by Bedouins and were purchased partly by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and partly by the Syrian monastery of Saint Mark in Jerusalem. The scrolls in the possession of the Syrian monastery were later purchased by the government of Israel.

The initial discovery of the scrolls was followed by scientific exploration of the neighboring caves under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the Dominican École Biblique et Archéologique of Jerusalem, and the Palestine Archaeological Museum (now the Rockefeller Museum). These explorations, and further purchases from the Bedouins, yielded tens of thousands of additional fragments, as well as a record of buried temple treasures punched out in Hebrew characters on strips of copper.

The manuscripts appear to have belonged to the library of the community, which was located in what is now Khirbat Qumrān, near the place of the scrolls' discovery. Paleographic evidence indicates that most of the documents were written at various dates between about 200 bc and ad68 (see Paleography). Archaeological evidence further supports the latter date, since excavations at the site establish that it was sacked in ad68. The community may have been plundered by the army of Roman general Vespasian, which was dispatched in February of ad67 to suppress a Jewish rebellion that had begun the year before. Presumably, then, the documents were hidden at some time between ad66 and 68.

The Qumrān brotherhood is portrayed in the manuals of discipline as an idealized House of Israel, designed to prepare the way for the imminent coming of the kingdom of God and the day of judgment. The brotherhood was constituted along communistic lines and in imitation of the organization of Israel under Moses. Members underwent a two- or three-year probation and were ranked in ascending degrees of purity. Promotions and demotions were put to a vote at an annual review. The spiritual direction was vested in 3 priests, aided by 12 lay presbyters (elders), and each of several so-called chapters was administered by an overseer whose position resembled that of a bishop. The overseers were subject in turn to the archbishop, or prince, of the entire order. Study of the Torah, the first section of the Hebrew Bible, was obligatory, and it was claimed that the correct interpretation of it had been handed down by a series of spiritual monitors, known as correct expositors, or teachers of righteousness. The members of the community expected their own era to end with the appearance of a new expositor and prophet (Deuteronomy 18:18). Prophetic details of a final war between the so-called sons of light and the sons of darkness are contained in one of the scrolls.

Similarities between the beliefs and practices described in the scrolls and those credited to the Essenes by Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo Judaeus and by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus have suggested to many scholars that the Qumrān brotherhood is related to that sect. Further evidence for this identification may be found in the works of the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who reported that in his day the Essenes lived in the Khirbat Qumrān area. Other scholars, however, stress the dissimilarities between the Qumrān brotherhood and the Essenes, which suggest a general affinity rather than absolute identity.

Allusions have been found in the scrolls to figures and events of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods of Jewish history (3rd to 1st centuries bc). For example, a commentary on the Book of Nahum mentions a figure named Demetrius and seems to refer to an incident in 88 bc recorded by Josephus. It involved Demetrius III, king of Syria, and Alexander Jannaeus, the Hasmonaean (Maccabean) king. Similarly, repeated allusions to a persecuted teacher of righteousness have variously been thought to refer to such religious figures as the last legitimate Jewish high priest, Onias III, who was deposed in 175 bc; the Maccabean leaders Mattathias, the high priest, and his son the military leader Judas Maccabeus; and Menahem, leader of the Zealots in ad 66. Attempts have also been made to trace allusions, specifically those mentioning a “wicked priest” and “man of lies,” to certain notorious figures such as the sacrilegious Jewish high priest Menelaus; Antiochus IV, king of Syria; the Maccabean leader John Hyrcanus; and Alexander Jannaeus. All these identifications are tentative, however, and scholarly opinions on the subject vary dramatically. See also Maccabees (family).

The various biblical manuscripts found among the scrolls offer a text several centuries older than that of the traditional Masora, and they occasionally corroborate readings preserved in the Greek Septuagint and other ancient versions. They are consequently an invaluable aid in establishing the original text of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Many ideas found in the Dead Sea Scrolls recur in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament and in the earlier parts of the Talmud. In addition, many parallels with Iranian concepts provide evidence of the extent to which Jewish thought was indebted to that source during the intertestamental period (2nd and 1st centuries bc).

The many similarities between the thought and idiom of the scrolls and of the New Testament are of special interest. Both emphasize the imminence of the kingdom of God, the need for immediate repentance, and the expected discomfiture of Belial, the Evil One. Similar references occur in both to baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the faithful are similarly characterized as “the elect” and the “children of light”; for biblical references, see, for example, Titus 1:1, 1 Peter 1:2, and Ephesians 5:8. These parallels are more striking because the Qumrān brotherhood was active at the same time and in the same area as John the Baptist, whose ideas were subsequently reflected in the teachings of Jesus.

As they were discovered, the manuscripts were put under the control of the Israeli Antiquities Authority by the government of

Israel

. The longer and more complete scrolls have been published by the American School of Oriental Research, the Hebrew University, and the Jordanian Service of Antiquities. The majority of the material is in tiny, brittle fragments, however, and the pace of publication has been exceedingly slow. In September 1991, scholars at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, announced that they had used a published concordance to create a computer-generated text of one of the unreleased scrolls. The same month, officials at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, granted unrestricted access to the library's complete set of photographs of the scrolls, and subsequently the scholars of the Israeli Antiquities Authority likewise consented to allow unrestricted access to all unpublished material. Most of the scrolls reside in the Shrine of the Book and in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, and in the Museum of the Department of Antiquities in Amman.

A very fascinating place to visit is the Bahrain National Museum, where visitors will get to see collections of artefacts from the Stone Age, Dilmun, Tylos and Islamic Periods. The reason the museum has the objects is to preserve, intensify, and distribute knowledge of the history of

Bahrain

. Within the discoveries are pieces of stone and flint tools from the Stone Age, earthenware and stoneware from the Dilmun Period and colourful pottery, lead and copper coins from the Tylos and Islamic Periods.

Have you been to

Bahrain

and know about some more great highlights worth a mention? Add details for other visitors to read about.

Bahraini Newspapers

Bahrain is the site of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, known as Dilmun. Founded during the Bronze Age (3500 B.C.), Dilmun, one of the great trading powers of the ancient world, lasted for more than 2,000 years. Dilmun thrived because of its location along the trade routes linking Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq) with the Indus Valley (now part of India and Pakistan). The Dilmun empire eventually declined, and about 600 B.C., the territory became part of the Babylonian empire.

From the 4th century B.C. until the 7th century A.D., when the inhabitants accepted the personal invitation of the prophet Mohammed to convert to Islam, the islands were known by their Greek name,Tylos. Little is known about this period, but Tylos was renowned for its seawater pearls.

Bahrain had a series of Islamic rulers during the Middle Ages. In the 1560s, the Portuguese colonized Bahrain. The Arab inhabitants drove them out in 1602, when the Portuguese governor ordered the execution of the brother of one of the island's most important traders. The islands then became part of the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Al-Khalifa family took control of the islands. Descendants of this family still rule Bahrain.

Beginning in 1820, Britain gained control over Bahrain and other Gulf countries by treaties that were designed to protect its sea route to India. The treaties initially declared that Britain would not interfere in local affairs. However, by the end of the 19th century, when the Ottoman Turks, French, Russians and Germans threatened British domination of the Gulf, Britain became more involved in Bahrain's politics and economy

In 1923, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalita came to power. Hamad began a program of modernization and reform, with the help of a British advisor called Charles Belgrave. In 1932, large-scale drilling and processing of oil began in Bahrain. Schools, hospitals and an airport were built. In 1935, Bahrain became the main British naval base in the region.

In 1968, the British announced that they would withdraw from the Gulf in 1971. When they withdrew, Bahrain declared its independence. In 1981, Bahrain joined Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia to form the Gulf Cooperation Council, a union which has led to closer economic and defence ties. Today, Bahrain is ruled by Emir Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa

Tim Mackintosh-Smith, who has made the Yemeni capital his home during the past seventeen years, first encountered Ibn Battutah in the Greater Yemen bookshop in Sana'a.
"I wasn't looking for him: it was a chance encounter - better, as the saying goes, than a thousand appointments". This chance encounter prompted a journey which followed in Battutah's footsteps.
Ibn Battutah, the greatest traveller of the pre-mechanical age, set out in 1325 from his native Tangier on the pilgrimage to Mecca. By the time he returned twenty-nine years later, he had visited most of the known world, travelling three times the distance Marco Polo allegedly covered. Spiritual backpacker, tireless social climber, temporary hermit and failed ambassador, he braved brigands and his own prejudices. The outcome was a monumental book on The Wonders of Wandering and the Marvels of Metropolises - in short, The Travels.
Captivated by this inquisitive, indefatigable man, Tim Mackintosh-Smith, in the tradition of earlier Arab authors, set out to write a dhyal to his book - a 'tail', or continuation of the original train of writing. Travels with a Tangerine follows the first stage of the Moroccan's eccentric journey, from Tangier to Constantinople. Destinations include an Assasin castle in Syria, the Kuria Muria Islands in the Arabian Sea and some of the greatest cities of medieval Islam. Mackintosh-Smith travels both in Ibn Battutah's footsteps and in the footnotes of his text, rooting out memorabilia of the man and his age - buffalo-milk puddings, a crimean minaret, dancing dervishes and the scions of defunct
dynasties.
In the hotel Ibn Battutah in Tangier, Mackintosh-Smith was confronted with a photo of Battutah in the telephone longue and protested that it is photograph.

"Yes. A very old photograph".
"And he is smoking a water-pipe".
"Ah, IB knew that water-pipes are healthier than cigarettes".
"But tobacco came from America and photography was only invented a hundred and fifty years ago".
"IB", said the receptionist, with unanswerable finality, " was a very great traveller".
Not having done too well with the photograph, Mackintosh-Smith wondered if the hotel's restaurant did a pizza IB: the dough would be made from Luristan acorn flour: Dalmietta buffalo cheese would take the place of mozarella: it would be topped by flakes of South Arabian dried shark and coarse-ground Malabar pepper and presented on a platter of Omani banana leaves. But the chef had not risen to the challenge!.
After his initial disappointments, Mackintosh-Smith made it to Ibn Battutah's tomb: the interior walls were painted pink and decorated with a silver arabesque frieze. Qur'ans rested on the shelves, and around the walls hung strings of giant prayer beads. The tomb itself was covered in an embroidered black pall sheathed in transparent plastic, like upholstery of a brand-new car".
Ibn Battutah was part of a long tradition of Maghrebi travel writers who probably read Ibn Jubayr before leaving Tangier at the age of 21. Mackintosh-Smith speculates that one passage would probably have stuck in his mind: "If you are a son of this Maghreb of ours and wish for success, then head for the land of the east. Forsake your homeland in pursuit of knowledge... The door to the east lies open: O you who strive after learning, enter it with a glad greeting! Seize the chance of freedom from the cares of the world before family and children ensnare you, before the day comes when you gnash your teeth in regret for the time that is gone".
Egypt, Alexandria, to be exact, was the next stop. "Six hundred and seventy-one years, five months and three days after IB, I walked along Lotetree Gate Street, by which travellers from the Maghreb entered Alexandria", Mackintosh-Smith recalls. "She is a unique pearl of growing opalescence, a secluded maiden, arrayed in her bridal adornments, glorious in her surpassing beauty".
IB, or more likely his editor, was nothing is not flattering. Alexandria was, even then, of a certain age. Now she is a very old lady, indeed, an empress exiled to a tenement who hardly dares to recall the days when Mark Anthony came to dinner".
In Cairo it was the time of the Mawlid, or festival of al-Husayn, commemorating the Prophet's grandson, killed in 681 at Kerbala, in Iraq. The body of the greatest Islamic martyr stayed where it was: his head, however, worked its way westward with long stopovers in Damascus and Ascalon, until it arrived in Cairo.
There are also philosophical discussions including those about a certain king of the Caucasus mentioned by the geographer Ibn Rustah. He prayed on Fridays with the Muslims, on Saturdays with the Jews and on Sundays with the Christians. "Since each religion claims that it is the only true one and that the others are invalid", the king explained, "I have decided to hedge my bets". The farmer laughed. "I suppose it's alright if you' re a king and don't have to work. But what about the rest of us.
We can't afford to spend half the week praying".

After debating the merits of orthodox religions Mackintosh-Smith moves to the world of the supernatural and in Dofar visits Khawr Ruri, the spooky lagoon where witches park their hyenas. He then leaves the Arabophone world and moves on to Turkey. "Mediterranean Turkey was doubly foreign. I seemed to have entered one where they spoke an entirely different cultural language - a sort of Euro-Teutonic. Most of the tourists in Alanya were Germans but even some Turkish visitors affected rimless spectacles and gemutlich lapdogs. Sauerkraut was served with everything; every other building seemed to be a disco. One night club, the Whiskey Go Go, offered 'Sex on the
Beach'. To be fair, it was not an activity but a pop group; but it seemed to sum up the ineffable crassitude of the place. Where was the Alanya of IB? Gone."
Feeling lost, linguistically, culturally and temporally an encounter with Israelis who were born to Yemeni parents was most welcome. It took place in a hotel restaurant when Mackintosh-Smith used the Arabic of Sana'a (Ya Izzay!) to summon the waiter and two men on the next table turned and stared at him as if he was the risen Lazarus.
The Israelis had been born in Tel Aviv to Yemeni parents: Yirham's came from a town towards Aden, Reuben's from a village near Sana'a.
"When my great-grandmother died", said Yirham, " she was a hundred and five. And her last words were, "I want to go back to Yemen."
"We're always saying that", Reuben added. "Life isn't easy. We Orientals don't get on with the Shiknaz, the Ashkenazis. And Tel Aviv is all rush. A hundred times worse than London. Yemen, we remember something unhurried. All that sitting around, telling stories, chewing qat. Reuben excused himself. He returned with a damp towel. "Israeli qat", he announced.
The next stop was Crimea and a determination to find IB's church. The only possible candidate was the eleventh-century St John the Baptist, where Battutah found " on one of the walls the figure of an Arab man wearing a turban, girt with a sword, and carrying a spear in his hand".
Constantinople was the last stop. Another interesting character, Jamal, with a passion for kung fu, appeared. He explained how he was in prison in Algeria and tortured because he was a Muslim, with a beard. Now he was a Muslim without a beard.
"If I get to Belgrade, I'll cross from there to Italy and from Italy to France, inshaallah. I've got a diploma in animal health and I want to carry on studying, get a degree".
"He had successfully repackaged himself", Mackintosh-Smith observed. "That, I suppose, was what it was all about: repackaging. You have a beard, you get tortured: you have an Algerian passport, you only get a return [ticket to a European country]. Rules of the ancients!".
There are no ghosts in Islam: but sometimes, as the great Islamic scholar al-Jaziz said, "a book can huant you like a shadow" - even 650 years after it was written. Mackintosh-Smith was a victim of this haunting and has made a significant contribution to travel literature: Travels a Tangerine not only describes but seeks to understand and interpret

A lot of Yemeni immigrant singers have contributed to the spread and popularity of Yemeni songs outside the country.
While under the yoke of colonization and the tyrannical regime of Imamates, Yemenis sailed in pursuit of a better life. They reached the Gulf, Africa and India. It was no wonder that Yemenis flocked to India, as it was the country of beauty, arts, music, etc. A good number of poets, singers and musicians came here seeking more knowledge and fame.
Yahia Omar, a poet who lived in the 19th century, was among those who settled and married in India. Robert S., a British orientalist, wrote about Yahia Omar that he lived in Hiderabad and he could speak Urdu. This may be clear in his use of Urdu words in some of his poems. A great number of his songs were recorded by different local and foreign records companies. Others were published by some orientalists and scholars.
The names of cities, seaports and traditions that occur in his poems indicate that the poet spent part of his life in the Gulf countries. However, most of his poetry was written while he was in India. Mohammed b. Fares (1895 - 1947), a Bahraini singer who was known as the father of the Gulf voices, helped popularize his songs in the Gulf, in general, and Bahrain in particular.
Bamatraf, a renowned Yemeni historian, mentioned another towering example of Yemeni musician immigrants, Abdullah Mohammed Al-Faraj, who was born and died in Kuwait (1251-1319 Hijirah). He was brought up in India where he loved music and mastered it. He composed for many Kuwaiti and Bahraini singers. After he returned to Kuwait, he studied some of the song patterns there and in the Gulf which led to new developments in Gulf music. Most of the new tunes he composed were somewhat influenced by the Indian music. This can be clearly shown in 'Malik Al-Gharam' and some other songs that are still popular in the Gulf.
The Bahraini researcher Mubarek Al-Amari wrote that Al-Faraj combined the Gulf tunes with the Indian and Adani ones to produce unique melodies that he called Kuwaiti style. He also created new scales and tunes that he borrowed from Indian music.
The musical heritage depends greatly on how musicians and singers can protect it, otherwise, none of the nations will have artistic heritage. It is the connections among singers and poets, and their travels, that helped Yemeni music and poetry have its influence on many artistic aspects of the Gulf countries.