World Heritage Identification Number: 1542
World Heritage since: 2019
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Archaeological Sites
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇧🇭 Bahrain
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Arab States
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Dilmun Burial Mounds: A Unique Necropolis Spanning Over Two Millennia
The Dilmun Burial Mounds, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, offer a fascinating glimpse into the ancient civilization that thrived on the island of Bahrain between 2200 and 1750 BCE. This extensive necropolis spans across 21 archaeological sites located primarily in the western part of the island.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The Dilmun Burial Mounds, built between 2200 and 1750 BCE, span over 21 archaeological sites in the western part of the island. Six of these sites are burial mound fields consisting of a few dozen to several thousand tumuli. In all there are about 11,774 burial mounds, originally in the form of cylindrical low towers. The other 15 sites include 17 royal mounds, constructed as two-storey sepulchral towers. The burial mounds are evidence of the Early Dilmun civilization, around the 2nd millennium BCE, during which Bahrain became a trade hub whose prosperity enabled the inhabitants to develop an elaborate burial tradition applicable to the entire population. These tombs illustrate globally unique characteristics, not only in terms of their number, density and scale, but also in terms of details such as burial chambers equipped with alcoves.Encyclopedia Record: Dilmun Burial Mounds
The Dilmun Burial Mounds are a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising necropolis areas on the main island of Bahrain dating back to the Dilmun and the Umm al-Nar culture.Additional Site Details
Area: 168.45 hectares
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 26.1497222222 , 50.5127777778
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Storrs-Fox, Edwin Aubrey, Public domain
