Archaeology
-
Saar from the air
The temple and surrounding buildings
-
Saar house
A typical two-roomed house
-
Oven
A clay oven (tannur) for baking bread
-
Jar support
Three clay cones to support round-bottomed cooking pots
-
Shallow basin
Basins and troughs were a common feature in the houses
-
Storage jar
Jar with plaster lid set into floor
-
Roof plaster
Plaster with reed impressions from the roof
-
The Saar water supply
A stone-lined well dug into bedrock
-
Pottery jars
Large jars for storing foodstuffs
-
Dilmun seal
A god sits on a stool and drinks through a straw
-
Dilmun seal
Figure grasping two horned animals
-
Cylinder seal
Men are feasting and dancing
-
Clay sealing
Impression of seal with animals
-
Clay token
Impressed on both sides
-
Stone lid
Carved steatite lid
-
Spearhead
Spearhead made from imported copper
-
Metal hoe
Beautifully preserved copper hoe
-
Fish hook
One of many copper fish hooks found at Saar
-
Copper tweezers
Perhaps for cosmetic use
Up until 1990 our understanding of Dilmun at this early time was limited to robbed tombs and apparently isolated religious sites. It lacked information on how the island’s people interacted with their environment and their neighbours, how they harnessed the resources to which they had access, what they ate, how their society worked — in short, how they actually lived. The Expedition discovered over eighty buildings and their contents: houses with intact ovens, basins and hearths, and a well preserved temple. The results transformed our knowledge of daily life on Bahrain 4,000 years ago.