By Peter Barta and Lucia Benediková

The main focus of the Kuwaiti-Slovak Archaeological Mission (KSAM) activity is the Bronze Age site of Al-Khidr on the Failaka Island. In the early 2nd millennium BC Failaka belonged to the Dilmun culture spread throughout the west coast of Arabian Gulf (east Saudi Arabia up to Kuwait and the adjacent islands). With its centre on the Island of Bahrain (The City of Qala’at al-Bahrain), Dilmun is thought to have played a significant role in the sea trade between the south Mesopotamian city states, the Arabian Peninsula and civilization of the Indus valley (Mohenjo-Daro) from the late 3rd until the first half of the 2nd millennium BC.

Al-Khidr is an inconspicuous, low settlement mound in the northwest of Failaka that has been known to yield the red-ridged Dilmun pottery for at least past 50 years ([1], p. 195 – 212). The mound stretches along the west shore of the shallow Al-Khidr Bay, which offers still waters in almost northernmost outpost of the island swept by Shamal, the principal wind of Failaka. This natural harbour is in several works suggested to have served as a port in the past (e.g. [2]) and as such is known also among the elders of the island.

The investigations of the Dilmun settlement at Al-Khidr have been carried out since 2004.  Beyond archaeology, the works include environmental archaeology and palaeoenvironmental studies (archaeobotany and phytolith study, archaeozoology, physical anthropology), geophysics, mapping and GIS.

The main research tasks are:

• to find out extent, development and spatial organization of the settlement
• to chronometrically date the settlement
• to produce the evidence on palaeoenvironment and resources of the settlement
• to trace distinctive features of the settlement and its inhabitants
• to elucidate the role of the site (bearing in mind its geographical setting by the Al-Khidr Bay) within the Dilmun world at Failaka and beyond (The Gulf)

References

[1] Bibby, G. 1969: Looking for Dilmun. Alfred Knopf, New York.

[2] Patitucci, S. – Uggeri, G. 1984: Failakah. Insediamenti Islamici. Ricerche e Scavi nel Kuwait. "L'Erma" di Bretschneider. Venice.