Dilmun (sometimes transliterated
Telmun) is a land mentioned by
Mesopotamian Civilizations as a trade partner,
source of raw material, copper, and
entrepot of the
Mesopotamia and the
Indus Valley Civilization trade
route.
Although the exact location of Dilmun is
unclear, it might be associated with the islands of Bahrain
, Eastern
Province
, Qatar
, Oman
and nearby
Iranian
coast in the Persian Gulf
.
History
Dilmun
appears first in Sumerian
cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BC,
found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the
city of Uruk
. The
adjective
Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe
and one specific official; in addition there are lists of rations
of wool issued to people connected with Dilmun.
Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of
Burnaburiash (c.
1370 BC) recovered
from Nippur
, during the
Kassite dynasty of Babylon
.
These letters were from a provincial official in Dilmun to his
superiors in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are
Akkadian.
These letters and other documents, hint at
administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon
at that
time. Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty,
Mesopotamian documents are silent on Dilmun except Assyrian
inscriptions dated to 1250 BC which proclaimed the Assyrian king to
be king of Dilmun and
Meluhha, as well as
Lower Sea and Upper Sea. Assyrian inscriptions recorded tribute
from Dilmun. There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first
millennium BC indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun. One of
the early sites discovered in Bahrain suggests that
Sennacherib, king of Assyria (707–681 BC),
attacked northeast Arabia and captured the Bahrainian islands. The
final mention of Dilmun came during the
Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Neo-Babylonian
administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was
controlled by Babylon king. The name of Dilmun fell from use after
the collapse of Neo-Babylon in 538 BC
There is both literary and archaeological evidence of trade between
Ancient Mesopotamia and the
Indus Valley civilization
(probably correctly identified with the land called
Meluhha in
Akkadian).
Impressions of clay seals from the Indus
Valley city of Harappa
were
evidently used to seal bundles of merchandise, as clay seal
impressions with cord or sack marks on the reverse side
testify. A number of these Indus Valley seals have
turned up at Ur
and other
Mesopotamian sites. The "Persian Gulf" types of circular, stamped
(rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun, that appear at
Lothal
in Gujarat
, India, and
Failaka
, as well as
in Mesopotamia, are convincing corroboration of the long-distance
sea trade. What the commerce consisted of is less sure:
timber and precious woods,
ivory,
lapis lazuli,
gold, and
luxury goods such as
carnelian and glazed
stone beads,
pearls from the Persian Gulf,
shell and bone inlays, were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in
exchange for
silver,
tin,
woolen textiles, olive oil and grains.
Copper
ingots from Oman and
bitumen which occurred
naturally in Mesopotamia may have been exchanged for cotton
textiles and domestic fowl, major products of the Indus region that
are not native to Mesopotamia—all these have been instanced. The
importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and
measures used at Dilmun were in fact identical to those used by the
Indus, and were not those used in Southern Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official
inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and
archaeological finds.
Literary references to Meluhhan trade date
from the Akkadian
, the Third Dynasty
of Ur, and Isin
-Larsa
Periods
(c. 2350–1800 BC), but the trade probably started in the
Early Dynastic Period (c. 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have
sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, but by the Isin-Larsa
Period, Dilmun monopolized the trade.
The Bahrain
National Museum
assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted ca. 2200-1600
BC.
Dilmun and mythology
Dilmun, sometimes described as "the place where the sun rises" and
"the Land of the Living", is the scene of some versions of the
Sumerian creation myth, and the place where the deified Sumerian
hero of the flood,
Utnapishtim (
Ziusudra), was taken by the gods to live
forever.
Dilmun is also described in the
epic
story of
Enki and
Ninhursag as the site at which the
Creation occurred.
Ninlil, the Sumerian goddess of air and south wind
had her home in Dilmun. It is also featured in the
Epic of Gilgamesh, and has been speculated
to be the true location of the
Garden of
Eden.
However,
in the early epic "Enmerkar and the Lord of
Aratta", the main events, which center on Enmerkar's construction of the ziggurats in Uruk
and Eridu
, are
described as taking place in a world "before Dilmun had yet been
settled".
To date (2008) archaeology has failed to find a site in existence
from 3300 B.C.(Uruk IV) to 556 B.C.(Neo-Babylonian Era) when Dilmun
(Telmun) appears in texts. Despite the scholarly consensus that
Dilmun encompasses three locations: (1) the eastern littoral of
Arabia from the vicinity of modern Kuwait to Bahrain; (2) the
island of Bahrain; (3) the island of Failaka east of Kuwait, the
earliest known site is Qal'at al-Bahrain which is dated no earlier
than circa 2200 B.C. according to Flemming Hojlund. Failaka was
settled after 2000 B.C. following a drop in sea level according to
Daniel Potts and Harriet Crawford. No settlements exist in the
Arabian littoral 3300-2000 B.C. according to Hojlund. Thus, despite
Dilmun's appearance in ancient texts dating from 3300-2300 B.C.
archaeologists have failed to find a site for Dilmun dating to this
period. Hymns regarding the Sumerian god Enki of Eridu in Sumer
speak of his assaulting and deflowering Dilmun's maidens as they
stand by a river bank, he reaching out of nearby marsh to clasp
them to his bosom. Neither Bahrain, Failaka, or the eastern
littoral of Arabia possess marshes and a river upon whose bank
Dilmun's maidens were assaulted by Enki.Dilmun is said to lay "in
the east where the sun rises," a situation that does not apply to
the eastern Arabian littoral, Failaka or Bahrain, all of which lay
south of Sumer and Eridu instead of to the east of Sumer.
Howard-Carter (1987) realizing that these three locations possess
no archaeological evidence of a settlement dating 3300-2300 B.C.,
has proposed that Dilmun of this era might be a still unidentified
tell near the Shat al-Arab between modern-day Qurnah and Basra in
modern day Iraq. In favor of Howard-Carter's proposal she noted
that this area does lie to the east of Sumer ("where the sun
rises") and the riverbank Dilmun's maidens were accosted at by Enki
(he reaching out of marsh) would align with the Shat 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 at
Qurnah.
References
See also
External links