View source for Dilmun

{{Short description|Ancient Arabian civilization}}
{{For|the star|WASP-121}}
{{infobox ancient site
| location = [[Eastern Arabia]]
| region = Northern Governorate
| image = Moyen_Orient_3mil_aC.svg
| image_size = 350px
| caption = Location of foreign lands for the Mesopotamians, including [[Elam]], [[Magan (civilization)|Magan]], Dilmun, [[Marhashi]] and [[Meluhha]]
| type = Ancient
| part_of = Eastern Arabia
| built = {{Circa|late 4th millennium BC}}<ref name="hoj"/>
| abandoned = {{Circa|538 BC}}<ref name="Larson"/>
| epochs = [[Bronze Age]]
| cultures = 
}}

'''Dilmun''', or '''Telmun''',<ref>The former is the reconstructed [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] pronunciation; the latter is the reconstructed [[Semitic languages|Semitic]].</ref> ([[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]: [[File:Dilmun (early Sumerian pictograph).jpg|15px]],<ref name="auto1">[[Transliteration]]: {{cite web |title=CDLI-Found Texts |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P222359 |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}</ref><ref name="auto">Similar text: {{cite web |title=CDLI-Found Texts |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P222363 |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}</ref> later 𒉌𒌇(𒆠), NI.TUK<sup>ki</sup> = dilmun<sup>ki</sup>; {{langx|ar|دلمون}}) was an ancient [[East Semitic]]–speaking [[civilization]] in [[Eastern Arabia]] mentioned from the [[3rd millennium BC]] onwards, covering the transition from [[Prehistoric Arabia]] into the historic period.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22596270|title=Bahrain digs unveil one of oldest civilizations|publisher=[[BBC]]|work=BBC News|date=2013-05-21|last1=Smith|first1=Sylvia}}</ref><ref name="uns">{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1192 |title=Qal'at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |access-date=17 August 2011}}</ref> Based on contextual evidence, it was located in the [[Persian Gulf]], on a [[trade route]] between [[Mesopotamia]] and the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], close to the sea and to [[Artesian well|artesian springs]].<ref name="hoj">{{cite journal|author=Jesper Eidema, Flemming Højlund  |date=1993 |title=Trade or diplomacy? Assyria and Dilmun in the eighteenth century BC|journal=World Archaeology |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=441–448 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1993.9980218}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=2BevKadehakC |page=8 }} |title=Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbors|author=Harriet E. W. Crawford|author-link=Harriet Crawford|year=1998|page=9}}</ref> Dilmun encompassed [[Bahrain]],<ref>{{cite web|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=fhMTRcUm9WsC |page=7 }} |title=The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer|work=[[Jean-Jacques Glassner]]|year=1990|page=7}}</ref> [[Kuwait]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sa'ad and Sae'ed Area in Failaka Island |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5800/ |access-date= |website=whc.unesco.org}}</ref><ref name=ak>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/g-wzw-SeJic Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140601050803/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-wzw-SeJic&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-wzw-SeJic&t=171|title=Kuwait's archaeological sites reflect human history & civilizations (2:50 – 3:02)|work=Ministry of Interior News|date=2 November 2013 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=umm>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41223078|last1=Calvet|first1=Yves|title=Failaka and the Northern Part of Dilmun|year=1989|volume=19|journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies|pages=5–11|jstor=41223078}}</ref><ref name="archa">{{cite web|work=Cardiff University|title=The Archaeology of Kuwait|url=http://orca.cf.ac.uk/41961/7/Almutari%20PhD.pdf|pages=5–427}}</ref> and eastern [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=EwBuAAAAMAAJ |page=32 }} |title=Prehistory and Protohistory of the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain|work=M. A. Nayeem|year=1990|page=32}}</ref>

The great commercial and trading connections between Mesopotamia and Dilmun were strong and profound to the point where Dilmun was a central figure to the [[Eridu Genesis|Sumerian creation myth]].<ref name="ReferenceA">The Arab world: an illustrated history p.4</ref> Dilmun was described in the saga of [[Enki]] and [[Ninhursag]] as pre-existing in paradisiacal state, where predators do not kill, pain and diseases are absent, and people do not get old.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Dilmun was an important trading centre. At the height of its power, it controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes.<ref name="hoj"/> According to some modern theories, the [[Sumer]]ians regarded Dilmun as a sacred place,<ref>{{cite book|last=Rice|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Rice (Egyptologist)|title=Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000–2000 BC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fC6DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA230|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-49263-3}}, page 230</ref> but that is never stated in any known ancient text. Dilmun was mentioned by the Mesopotamians as a trade partner, a source of [[copper]], and a trade [[entrepôt]].

The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the [[Garden of Eden]] story.<ref name="ed">{{cite book|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=jwddi0p4jQkC |page=10 }} |title=Getting Back Into the Garden of Eden|author=Edward Conklin|page=10}}</ref><ref name="University of Pennsylvania Press">{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition|date=1961|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|isbn=978-0-8122-1047-7|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/|access-date=21 May 2017|pages=54–59}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/145 145–150]|quote=In fact, there is some reason to believe that the very idea of a paradise, a garden of the gods, originated with the Sumerians.}}</ref>

==History==
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 450
| caption_align     = center
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| header            = Dilmun on the relief of Ur-Nanshe
| image1            = Relief Ur-Nanshe Louvre AO2344.jpg
| caption1          = Votive relief of [[Ur-Nanshe]], king of [[Lagash]]: one of the inscriptions reads, "boats from the (distant) land of Dilmun carried the wood (for him)",<ref name="Pouysségur">[http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/perforated-relief-king-ur-nanshe Louvre] Pouysségur, Patrick , ed. "Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe." Louvre Museum. Louvre Museum. Web. 13 Mar 2013.</ref> which is the oldest known written record of Dilmun and importation of goods into [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name="urnanshe">[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=ur-nanshe CDLI Wiki] University of Oxford, 14 Jan 2010. Web. 13 Mar 2013.</ref><ref name="JF44">{{cite book |last1=Finegan |first1=Jack |title=Archaeological History Of The Ancient Middle East |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-72638-5 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d72ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR44 |language=en}}</ref>
| image2            = Boats from the land of Dilmun carried the wood, on a relief of Ur-Nanshe.jpg
| caption2          = "Boats from the land of Dilmun carried the wood"<br>𒈣[[File:Dilmun (early Sumerian pictograph, horizontal).jpg|20px]]𒆳𒋫𒄘𒄑𒈬-𒅅<br><small>ma2 dilmun kur-ta gu2 gesz mu-gal2</small><br> on the relief of Ur-Nanshe.<ref name="Pouysségur"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/> Limestone, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh (ancient city of Girsu).
| footer            = 
}}
[[File:Receipt for garnments sent by boat to Dilmun BM 130462.jpg|thumb|upright|Receipt for garments sent by boat to Dilmun in the 1st year of [[Ibbi-Sin]]'s rule, {{Circa|2028 BC}}. British Museum BM 130462.<ref>{{cite web |title=tablet |url=https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=327231&page=171&partId=1&peoA=92773-3-12&people=92773 |website=British Museum}}</ref><ref>Transcription: {{cite web |title=CDLI-Archival View |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/archival_view.php?ObjectID=P137833 |website=cdli.ucla.edu}}</ref>]]
Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium BC to 800&nbsp;BC.<ref name="hoj"/> At the height of its power, Dilmun controlled the [[Persian Gulf]] trading routes.<ref name="hoj"/> It was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium BC.<ref>{{cite web|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=2BevKadehakC |page=152 }} |title=Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours|work=Harriet E. W. Crawford|year=1998|page=152}}</ref> Conquered by the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]] (1365–1050 BC), its commercial power began to decline between 1000&nbsp;BC and 800&nbsp;BC because [[piracy]] flourished in the Persian Gulf. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–605 BC) conquered Dilmun, and in the 6th century BC the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], and later the [[Achaemenid Empire]], ruled.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The Dilmun civilization was the centre of commercial activities linking traditional agriculture of the land—then quite fertile due to [[Artesian well|artesian wells]] that have since dried, and due to a much wetter climate—with maritime trade between diverse regions such as the [[Indus Valley]] and [[Mesopotamia]] in its early stage and later between [[China]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].<ref name="uns"/> The Dilmun civilization is mentioned first in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] [[cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|clay tablets]] dated to the late third millennium BC, found in the temple of the goddess [[Inanna]], in the city of [[Uruk]]. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of [[Axe|axe]] and one specific official; in addition there are lists of rations of [[Wool|wool]] issued to people connected with Dilmun.<ref name="Crawford">{{cite book |title=Dilmun and its Gulf neighbours |last=Crawford |first=Harriet E. W. |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-58348-0 |pages=5 }}</ref>

One of the earliest [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]] mentioning Dilmun is that of king [[Ur-Nanshe]] of [[Lagash]] ({{Circa|2300 BC}}) found in a door-socket: "The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as tribute from foreign lands."<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=iY9xp4pLp88C |page=308 }} |title=The Sumerians: their history, culture, and character |page=308 |author=Samuel Noah Kramer |year=1963 }}</ref>
Some texts mention that Ur exported wool to Dilmun, and these texts indicate that merchants returned from Dilmun to Ur with abundant profits. Other texts mention commercial agreements and contracts between Dilmun and Ur, which shows that the connection between them was close. The merchants of Ur would send ships to Dilmun loaded with crops from Mesopotamia and foreign markets such as Persia, the Levant, and Asia Minor, and sell them to Dilmun merchants who, in turn, would export them to other places in India, Africa, or to the Arabian Peninsula. Among the things they would return with from Bahrain were metals such as copper, whose prices were high in Ur, wood, perfumes, and expensive things such as pearls, which were sold at high prices in the markets of Ur, so the merchants would reap a huge profit.<ref>Jawad Ali, Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-Arab Qabl al-Islam, Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut 1968, Vol. 2, Ancient History of the Arabian Peninsula, pp. 215, 216.</ref>

=== Kingdom of Dilmun ===
[[File:Coper head of bull Dilmun1.jpg|thumb|250px|Bull's head, made of copper in the early period of Dilmun ({{Circa|2000 BC}}), discovered by Danish archeologists under Barbar Temple, [[Bahrain]]]]
From around 2050&nbsp;BC onward, Dilmun seems to have been at its peak. [[Qal'at al-Bahrain]] was most likely the capital of Dilmun. From texts found at [[Isin]], it is believed Dilmun became an independent kingdom, free from Mesopotamian rule; royal gifts to Dilmun are mentioned. Contacts with the [[Amorite]] state of [[Mari, Syria|Mari]], in the northern [[Levant]], are attested. Around this time, the largest royal [[Tumulus|burial mounds]] were erected.<ref name="Steffen Terp Laursen 2017">Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː ''The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain'', Aarhus, {{ISBN|978-87-93423-16-9}}, pp. 381</ref> From about 1780&nbsp;BC came several [[Akkadian language|Akkadian-language]] inscriptions on stone vessels naming two kings of Dilmun, King [[Yagli-El]] (an [[Amorites|Amoritic]] name) and his father, [[Rimum]]. The inscriptions were found in huge tumuli, evidently the burial places of these kings. Rimum was already known to archaeology from the [[Durand Stone]], discovered in 1879.<ref>Steffen Terp Laursen: ''Kings of Dilmun identified by name''; [https://www.academia.edu/37252465/Kings_of_Dilmun_identified_by_name] [http://culture.gov.bh/en/mediacenter/news_center/2016/November2016/Name,13962,en.html Kings of Dilmun identified by name and announced in a press conference held by BACA]</ref>

A decline is visible from around 1720&nbsp;BC. Many settlements were no longer used, and the building of royal mounds ceased. The [[Barbar Temple]] fell into ruins.<ref>Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː ''The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain'', Aarhus, {{ISBN|978-87-93423-16-9}}, pp. 388–390</ref> A 'recovering' period is noted from around 1650&nbsp;BC. New royal burial mounds were built; at Qal'at al-Bahrain, there is evidence for increased building activity.<ref name="Steffen Terp Laursen 2017"/> A seal from this period found at [[Failaka]] preserved a king's name. The short text reads, ''[La]'ù-la Panipa, daughter of [[Sumu-lěl]], the servant of [[Inzak]] of [[Agarum (toponym)|Akarum]]''. Sumu-lěl was evidently another king of Dilmun (the third king whose name we know) from around this period. ''Servant of Inzak of Akarum'' was the king's title in Dilmun. The names of these later rulers are [[Amorites|Amoritic]].<ref>Gianni Marchesiː ''Inscriptions from the Royal Mounds of A'alo (Bahrain) and related Texts'', inː Steffen Terp Laursenː ''The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain'', Aarhus 2017, {{ISBN|978-87-93423-16-9}}, pp. 428–430</ref>

=== Dilmun under foreign rule ===
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2025}}[[File:BE XVII 88.jpg|thumb|250px|Correspondence between [[Ilī-ippašra]], the governor of Dilmun, and [[Enlil-kidinni]], the governor of [[Nippur]],{{Circa|1350 BC}}]]
From at least 1500&nbsp;BC, Dilmun was likely under the rule of the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]-speaking Mesopotamian [[First Sealand dynasty|Sealand dynasty]]. The Sealand dynasty King [[Ea-gamil]] is mentioned in a text found at Qal'at al-Bahrain. Ea-gamil was the last ruler of the Sealand dynasty. After his reign, Dilmun came under the rule of [[Babylon|the Babylonian]] [[Kassites|Kassite]] dynasty, as they took over the land of the Sealand dynasty.<ref>Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː ''The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain'', Aarhus, {{ISBN|978-87-93423-16-9}}, pp. 390</ref> Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of [[Burna-Buriash II]] ({{Circa|1370 BC}}), recovered from [[Nippur]] during the [[Kassite dynasty]] of Babylon. These letters were from a provincial official named [[Ilī-ippašra]], in Dilmun, to his friend, Enlil-kidinni, the governor of Nippur. The names referred to are [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. These letters, and other documents, suggest an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon at that time. Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty, in 1595&nbsp;BC, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun until [[Assyria]]n inscriptions (dated from 1250 BC to 1050&nbsp;BC) proclaimed Assyrian kings to be rulers of Dilmun and [[Meluhha]], as well as Lower Sea and Upper Sea. Assyrian inscriptions recorded tribute from Dilmun.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first millennium BC, indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun.<ref name="Larson">{{cite book|title=Life and land use on the Bahrain Islands: The geoarcheology of an ancient society|last=Larson|first=Curtis E.|year=1983|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-46905-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lifelanduseon00curt/page/50 50–51]|url=https://archive.org/details/lifelanduseon00curt/page/50}}</ref> One of the early sites discovered in Bahrain suggests that [[Sennacherib]], King of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked northeast Arabia and captured the Bahraini islands.<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh">{{cite book|title=Security and Territoriality in the Arabian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography|last=Mojtahed-Zadeh |first=Pirouz |year=1999 |publisher=Curzon |location=Richmond, Surrey |isbn=978-0-7007-1098-0}}</ref>  The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]; Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567&nbsp;BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by the King of Babylon. The name of Dilmun fell from use after the [[fall of Babylon|collapse of Babylon]], in 538&nbsp;BC, with the area henceforth identified as [[Tylos]] during the [[Hellenistic period]].<ref name="Larson"/>

The "Persian Gulf" types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun—that appear at [[Lothal]], [[Gujarat]], [[India]], and [[Failaka]] (as well as in Mesopotamia)—are evidence of long-distance sea trade. What the commerce consisted of is less known; timber and precious woods, [[ivory]], [[lapis lazuli]], [[gold]], and luxury goods (such as [[carnelian]] and glazed stone beads), [[pearl]]s from the Persian Gulf, shell and bone inlays were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia, in-exchange for [[silver]], [[tin]], woolen [[Textile|textiles]], [[olive oil]] and grains.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

[[Copper]] ingots from [[Oman]] and [[bitumen]] (which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia) may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic [[Poultry|fowl]], major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were, identical to those used by the Indus, and were not those used in Southern Mesopotamia.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

In regards to [[Copper extraction|copper mining]] and [[Smelting|smelting]], the [[Umm al-Nar culture]] and [[Dalma (island)|Dalma]] ([[United Arab Emirates]]) and [[Ibri]] (Oman) were particularly important.<ref>{{cite web|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=fC6DAgAAQBAJ |page=229 }} |title=Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000–2000 BC|work=Michael Rice|year=1991|page=229}}</ref>

Some [[Meluhha|Meluhhan]] vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports but, by the [[Isin-Larsa period|Isin-Larsa Period]], Dilmun monopolized the trade. The [[Bahrain National Museum]] assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted {{Circa|2200–1600 BC}}. Discoveries of ruins under the Persian Gulf may be of Dilmun.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.com/2010/12/09/ancient_dilmun_garden_eden_gulf_lost_civilisation/|title=Lost ancient civilisation's ruins lie beneath Gulf, says boffin|first=Lewis|last=Page|website=www.theregister.com}}</ref>

==People and language==
{{Infobox language
| name             = Dilmunite
| states           = Dilmun
| region           = [[Bahrain]], [[Kuwait]] and eastern [[Saudi Arabia]]
| ethnicity        = 
| era              = First half of the second millennium BC<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtzWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA242|title=The Indian Ocean In Antiquity|editor=Julian Reade|author=Jean Jacques Glassner|chapter=Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha|page=242|isbn=9781136155314|date=2013-10-28|access-date=2024-12-24|publisher=Routledge|quote=In short, the anthroponyms and the remnants of the language show that at the beginning of the second millennium the people of Dilmun was a Semitic one.}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam1             = [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]
| fam2             = [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| fam3             = [[East Semitic languages|East Semitic]]?
| iso3             = none
| glotto           = none
| script           = [[Cuneiform]]
}}

The population used [[cuneiform]] to write in the Akkadian language,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYyTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT217|title=Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture|author=William H. Stiebing Jr|page= 217|year= 2016|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781315511153}}</ref> and, like the [[Akkadians]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Babylonians]] and [[Eblaites]] of [[Mesopotamia]], are thought to have spoken an East Semitic language that was either an Akkadian dialect or one close to it, rather than a [[Central Semitic]] language, and most of its known rulers had East Semitic names.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtzWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA242|title= The Indian Ocean In Antiquity|editor=Julian Reade|author= Jean Jacques Glassner|chapter= Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha|page= 242|isbn= 9781136155314|date= 2013-10-28|publisher= Routledge}}</ref><ref name="Gordon4">{{cite book|author= Serge Cleuziou|editor= G. Afanas'ev |editor2=S. Cleuziou |editor3=R. Lukacs |editor4=M. Tosi |title=The prehistory of Asia and Oceania, Forlí: Colloquia of the XIII International congress of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences|volume= 16|chapter= The emergence of oasis towns in eastern and southern Arabia|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pIiAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher= ABACO Edizioni, Forlì|isbn=978-88-86-71206-4|pages=157}}</ref> Dilmun's main deity was named [[Inzak]] and his spouse was Panipa.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtzWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA239|title= The Indian Ocean In Antiquity|editor=Julian Reade|author= Jean Jacques Glassner|chapter= Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha|page= 239|isbn= 9781136155314|date= 2013-10-28|publisher= Routledge}}</ref> However, there is no indication of population replacement having happened in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2019 |title=KAPA Stranded mRNA-Seq Kit（KK8420）: de novo RNA-seq (stranded mRNA-Seq) from total RNA derived from invertebrates（stranded mRNA-Seq） |journal=Bio-Protocol |volume=9 |issue=17 |doi=10.21769/bioprotoc.1010557 |s2cid=239256795 |issn=2331-8325|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Mythology==
[[File:Dilmun stamp seal with hunters and goats, rectangular pen, ca early 2nd millennium BC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Dilmun stamp seal with hunters and goats, rectangular pen, {{Circa|early 2nd millennium BC}}]]
In the early epic ''[[Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta]]'', the main events, which center on [[Enmerkar]]'s construction of the [[ziggurat]]s in [[Uruk]] and [[Eridu]], are described as taking place at a time "before Dilmun had yet been settled".{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Dilmun, sometimes described as "the place where the sun rises" and "the Land of the Living", is the scene of some versions of the [[Eridu Genesis]], and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, [[Utnapishtim]] ([[Ziusudra]]), was taken by the gods to live forever. [[Thorkild Jacobsen]]'s translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it "Mount Dilmun" which he locates as a "faraway, half-mythical place".<ref name="Jacobsen1997">{{cite book |author=Thorkild Jacobsen|title=The Harps that once: Sumerian poetry in translation |page=150 |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=L-BI0h41yCEC |}} |access-date=2 July 2011|date=23 September 1997|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-07278-5}}</ref>

Dilmun is also described in the [[Epic poetry|epic]] story of [[Enki]] and [[Ninhursag]] as the site at which the [[Creation myth|Creation]] occurred.<ref name="University of Pennsylvania Press"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/145 145–150]}}</ref> The later [[Babylon]]ian ''[[Enuma Elish]]'', speaks of the creation site as the place where the mixture of salt water, personified as [[Tiamat]] met and mingled with the fresh water of [[Abzu]]. Bahrain in Arabic means "the twin waters", where the fresh water of the [[Geography of Saudi Arabia#Water resources|Arabian aquifer]] mingles with the salt waters of the [[Persian Gulf]]. The promise of Enki to Ninhursag, the Earth Mother:
<blockquote>For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench the thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives.</blockquote>
[[Ninlil]], the Sumerian goddess of air and south wind had her home in Dilmun.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

However, it is also speculated that [[Gilgamesh]] had to pass through Mount [[Mashu]] to reach Dilmun in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', which is usually identified with the whole of the parallel [[Mount Lebanon|Lebanon]] and [[Anti-Lebanon mountains|Anti-Lebanon]] ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel.<ref>{{cite book|author1=P. T. H. Unwin|author2=Tim Unwin|title=Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=U6XRp6gY8ucC |page=80 }} |access-date=31 May 2011|date=18 June 1996|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-14416-2|pages=80–}}</ref>

==Location of Dilmun==
[[File:Dilmun period (3200-320 BC) burial chambers at Saar, Bahrain.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Ruins of a settlement, believed to be from the Dilmun civilization, in [[Sar, Bahrain]]]]
[[File:AncientTombsOfBahrain.svg|thumb|300px|Location of burial mounds in Bahrain]]
In 1987, [[Archaeology|archaeologist]] [[Theresa Howard Carter|Theresa Howard-Carter]] proposed that Dilmun of this era might be a still unidentified tell near the Arvand Rud ([[Shatt al-Arab]] in Arabic) between modern-day Qurnah and [[Basra]] in modern-day [[Iraq]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Theresa |last=Howard-Carter |title=Dilmun: At Sea or Not at Sea? A Review Article |journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies |volume=39 |issue=1 |year=1987 |pages=54–117 |jstor=1359986 |doi=10.2307/1359986 |s2cid=163963264 }}</ref> In favor of Howard-Carter's proposal, it has been noted that this area does lie to the east of Sumer ("where the sun rises"), and the riverbank where Dilmun's maidens would have been accosted aligns with the Shatt al-Arab which is in the midst of marshes. The "mouth of the rivers" where Dilmun was said to lie is for her the union of the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers at [[Al-Qurnah|al-Qurnah]]. A number of scholars have suggested that Dilmun originally designated the eastern province of modern [[Saudi Arabia]], notably linked with the major Dilmunite settlements of Umm an-Nussi and Umm ar-Ramadh in the interior and [[Tarout Island|Tarout]] on the coast.<ref>Roads of Arabia p.180</ref>

===Garden of Eden theory===
Scholar [[Juris Zarins]] believes that the Garden of Eden was situated in Dilmun at the head of the Persian Gulf (present-day [[Kuwait]]), where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run into the sea, from his research on this area using information from many different sources, including [[Landsat program|Landsat]] images from space. In this theory, the Bible's [[Gihon]] would correspond with the [[Karun]] in Iran, and the [[Pishon]] River would correspond to the [[Wadi al-Batin]] river system that once drained the now dry, but once quite fertile central part of the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hamblin |first=Dora Jane |date=May 1987 |title=Has the Garden of Eden been located at last? |url=http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf |journal=Smithsonian Magazine |volume=18 |issue=2 |access-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109135715/http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf |archive-date=9 January 2014 }}</ref>

==Known rulers==
Only a few rulers of the Dilmun kingdom are known:<ref>Legrain, 1922; Cameron, 1936; The Cambridge History of Iran; Hinz, 1972; The Cambridge Ancient History; Majidzadeh, 1991; Majidzadeh, 1997.</ref>
# [[Ziusudra]] (27th century BC)
# Rimun ({{Circa|1780 BC}})
# [[Yagli-El]], son of Rimun 
# Sumu-lěl ({{Circa|1650 BC|lk=no}})
# Usiananuri, grandfather of [[Uballissu-Marduk]] (precise dates unknown)
# [[Ilī-ippašra]] (contemporary with [[Burnaburiash II]] and [[Kurigalzu II]])
# Operi ({{Circa|710 BC|lk=no}})
# Hundaru I ({{Circa|650 BC|lk=no}})
# Qena ({{Circa|680 BC|670 BC|lk=no}})
# Hundaru II (706–685 BC)

==See also==
* [[Bahrain National Museum]]
* [[DHL International Aviation ME]], a cargo airline using "Dilmun" as radio call sign
* [[Dilmun Burial Mounds]]
* [[Gerrha]]
* [[Gilgamesh]]
* [[History of Bahrain]]
* [[History of Kuwait]]
* [[Indus–Mesopotamia relations]]
* [[Kuwait National Museum]]
* [[Odeh Spring]]
* [[Uruk]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060206105038/http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati/html/artefacts.htm Indus Valley—Mesopotamian trade passing through Dilmun]
*[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/09/ancient_dilmun_garden_eden_gulf_lost_civilisation/ Lost ancient civilisation's ruins lie beneath Gulf, says boffin]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090602001118/http://www.moci.gov.bh/en/CultureNationalHeritage/BahrainNationalMuseum/HallsAndExhibitions/DilmunHall/ Bahrain National Museum's hall of Dilmun]
*[http://www.kuwaitarchaeology.org Dilmun Site Al-Khidr, Failaka Island, State of Kuwait]
*[https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00077458/document Greek inscriptions found on Bahrein (a pdf-file)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071004225228/http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=148930&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29113 Dilmun Calendar Theory Backed, Gulf Daily News, 11 July 2006]

{{Saudi Arabia topics}}{{Bahrain topics}}{{Kuwait topics}}{{Pre-Islamic Arabia}}

[[Category:Sumer]]
[[Category:Bronze Age countries in Asia]]
[[Category:Ancient Mesopotamia]]
[[Category:History of Eastern Arabia]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Bahrain]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Kuwait]]
[[Category:Dilmun| ]]