UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Bahrain
Bahrain has 2 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List (2 cultural), the first inscribed in 2005 (Qal’at al Bahrain). The map below plots every one of them alongside the rest of the List, and each site is written up in full further down the page.
- World Heritage Sites
- 2
- Cultural
- 2
- Natural and Mixed
- 0
- First Inscribed
- 2005
Map of World Heritage Sites in Bahrain
CulturalNaturalMixedIn DangerLarge dots are in Bahrain. Click a dot to read about the site.
Qal’at al Bahrain
Bahrain · 26.2336° N, 50.5206° E · 1 km² · 6 km from Manama
The Qal'at al-Bahrain (also Qala'at al-Bahrain) (Arabic: قلعة البحرين; Portuguese: Forte de Barém), also known as the Bahrain Fort or Portuguese Fort, is an archaeological site located in Bahrain. Archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiquities from an artificial mound of 12 m (39 ft) height containing seven stratified layers, created by various occupants from 2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Kassites, Greeks, Portuguese and Persians, making it the oldest fortification in the Persian Gulf region. It was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Qal'at al-Bahrain (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Why Qal’at al Bahrain Is Listed
- (ii)
- An important interchange of human values.
- (iii)
- A unique testimony to a cultural tradition or civilisation.
- (iv)
- An outstanding example of a type of building or landscape.
More about Qal’at al Bahrain
UNESCO's Description
Qal’at al-Bahrain is a typical tell – an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata of the 300 × 600 m tell testify to continuous human presence from about 2300 BC to the 16th century AD. About 25% of the site has been excavated, revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site, a trading port, over the centuries. On the top of the 12 m mound there is the impressive Portuguese fort, which gave the whole site its name, qal’a (fort). The site was the capital of the Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilizations of the region. It contains the richest remains inventoried of this civilization, which was hitherto only known from written Sumerian references.
From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
History and explorations
The archaeological findings unearthed in the fort reveal much about the history of the country. The area is thought to have been occupied for about 5000 years and contains a valuable insight into the Copper and Bronze Ages of Bahrain.
The first Bahrain Fort was built around three thousand years ago, on the northeastern peak of Bahrain Island. The present fort dates from the sixth century AD. The capital of the Dilmun civilization, Dilmun was, according to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the "land of immortality", the ancestral place of Sumerians and a meeting point of gods.
The site, 17.5 hectares in area, has been termed as Bahrain's "most important site in antiquity".
Description
Qal`at al-Bahrain is a typical tell – an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata spreads over a 180,000 sq ft (16,723 m2) area, which encompasses the tell. This testifies to a continuous human presence from about 2300 BC to the 16th century AD. About 25% of the site has been excavated revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site as a trading port over the centuries. On the top of the 12-metre-high (39 ft) mound, there is the impressive Qalʿat al-Burtughal (Portuguese fort), which gave the whole site its name, qalʿa, meaning "fort".
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Qal'at al-Bahrain (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Dilmun Burial Mounds
Bahrain · 26.1497° N, 50.5128° E · 2 km² · 12 km from Manama
The Dilmun Burial Mounds (Arabic: مدافن دلمون, romanized: Madāfin Dilmūn) 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.
Bahrain has been known since ancient times as an island with a very large number of burials, the (originally) quite a number of square kilometres of mounds were said to be one of the largest cemeteries in the ancient world. The cemeteries are concentrated in the north of the island, on the hard stony areas slightly above the arable farming soils – the south of the island is mainly sandy and desert-like. Recent studies have shown that an estimated 350,000 ancient grave mounds could have been solely produced by the local population over a number of thousands of years. The graves are not all of the same era, or of exactly the same styles, and can vary considerably in size in different areas of the moundfield.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Dilmun Burial Mounds (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Why Dilmun Burial Mounds Is Listed
- (iii)
- A unique testimony to a cultural tradition or civilisation.
- (iv)
- An outstanding example of a type of building or landscape.
More about Dilmun Burial Mounds
UNESCO's Description
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.
From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
World Heritage in Bahrain: Quick Answers
- How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in Bahrain?
- Bahrain has 2 World Heritage Sites: 2 cultural.
- What was the first World Heritage Site in Bahrain?
- Qal’at al Bahrain, inscribed in 2005. The most recent is Dilmun Burial Mounds, inscribed in 2019.
- Are any World Heritage Sites in Bahrain in danger?
- None of the World Heritage Sites in Bahrain is on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.