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'NOTES ON THE ISLANDS OF BAHRAIN AND ANTIQUITIES BY CAPTAIN E. L. DURAND, 1 ASSISTANT RESIDENT, PERSIAN GULF.' [‎27r] (16/32)

The record is made up of 1 file (14 folios). It was created in Aug 1879. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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9
stone, a large mass that bore signs of siaping. One square cut hole, as if
for the jamb of a large door, was obvious, as also two channels square cut on
* i give here a very rough diagram the same face. I regret that I took at the time
rom memory^ scant notice of this,* it is only deductively, after
seeing other mounds and going over half the island,
that I have teen led to attach importance to these
particular mounds, and from the fact, firstly, of
their size, and, secondly, of their position in line
facing the se£, and from the further fact also that
there are no mounds of lesser proportions near
them.
63. Leaving these, however, and retracing our steps to the Bilad-i-Kadim,
I would start again from thence.
64. Again, we pass through date groves, and find ourselves almost imme
diately on a broad road entirely devoid oi a single blade of grass, and appearing
to be raised an inch or two above the surrounding soil, which bears a few scattered
shrubs. This, I am sure, for part of its length was at one time a made road,
whether paved or not, probably not. [t seems to have been laid down with
some sort of clay, as it becomes as hard as stone in the dry, and like ice in the
wet weather. It has a pink tinge in places, and of course may be only earth
impregnated with saltpetre which has gained its present apparent character
of a once made road, by the constant passage of traffic; there is not, however,
enough of this latter at the present day between " Ali" and Manameh to beat
out a sheep track.
65. This village of " Ali," where tie road lands us in a small tumbled-down
village, inhabited by Shiahs, is built of and over old habitations, aad immediately
outside' of it there is a most singular group of mounds, to which I would draw
attention. Of these I append a rough clalk sketch. They number about 25 to
30, some larger, some smaller, but all being of a size to ensure notice. I had
no'means of measuring them, but roughly the biggest are from 40 to 50 feet
hio-h and from 40 to 50 yards through their broadest base; they are somewhat
furrowed by the weather, not much so, retaining a strong family likeness to
one another, particularly in the squareness of their tops, which are often
indented; are bare and close together, which facts (in spite of the enormous
blocks of'shaped sandstone cropping out near and on the top of some and the
e-allerv in one of them, also near the summit) made me doubt the correctness
of mv first coniecture that they must be temples, and which would have urged
their classification as tombs. Still as they were the only distmctly shaped
rnminds of their size that I had examined (at close quarters), whilst from
immediately behind them stretched chain upon chain and group upon group
oTTesser tumuli, which can be nothing tut graves I clung to the hope that
thisTarse group might be something more. I had written some weeks ago in
fn these « This large series of mounds packed together, and of regular
shanes cannot be the ruins of houses, as asserted by the Arabs tombs
rounded shap^, cannot tbe more probable, I think, from
simply they mus^be,^ ^ ^ ^ of ^ f the
" ' j . Aii Moreover I never saw more than a few blocks of stone
parent group ^ A '. ^oreover^ 1 neve^ ^ ^ ^ of a ^
on any smgie one o of like mater i a i ) having found
£.2 »S.: d. J over which th., indWld-, b^."
66 Since writing tbe above, I have ascertained the truth of this self-
evident surmise. , ,
nOne only puzzle remains. If these miles upon miles of crowded heaps
are tombs, where did the inhabitants In e ?
The first ans, ^ r ^ i jj' built hh®^ ho^e of the hrc^ches

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Letter No. 164 from Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross, Her British Majesty's Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , to Alfred Comyn Lyall, Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, 1 May 1879, enclosing notes on the islands of Bahrain and Antiquities, written by Edward Law Durand, and commenting that some of the antiquities described had not been documented before and were of interest to the British Museum who were funding further research and excavation.

The notes are broken down into the following headings:

Bahrain

  • Descriptive: describing the physical geography of the islands and their surrounding waters, the longitude and latitude and navigable access by sea;
  • Trade: describing the pearl and date trades, and ways in which trade and harbour access might be improved;
  • Interior of the Islands: describing geographical features inland;
  • Water: describing the locations of fresh springs across the island and also the availability of salt;
  • Trees and Plants; describing the flora and fauna of the islands;
  • Animals: tame animals including horses, donkeys, camels and cows
  • Wild animals: including gazelle, mongoose and hares.

Antiquities

  • Antiquarian: giving an account of the earliest known history of the islands, including their rulership by the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Arabs and Portuguese, before describing the antiquities to be found on the islands.

The notes describe the antiquities visited by Captain Durand during trips to Bahrain, including all the mosques on the islands; an old stone water well found in a date grove near Bilad-i-Kadim [Bilad al Qadeem]; a number of mounds at Ali [Aali] which were determined to be temples or tombs, which Durand speculates may have been the great Phoenician cemetery of Gerrha and which he spent several days exploring and excavating.

The notes include illustrations (folios 29, 30, 33 and 35) to accompany the report, which were lithographed A lithograph is an image reproduced from a printing plate whose image areas attract ink and non-image areas repel it. from originals supplied by the Foreign Department of the Government of India.

The notes also included two maps which have since been removed and are kept in the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Maps Collection (IOR/W/L/PS/18/B95).

Extent and format
1 file (14 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 25, and terminates at folio 38, since it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. These numbers are written in pencil, but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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'NOTES ON THE ISLANDS OF BAHRAIN AND ANTIQUITIES BY CAPTAIN E. L. DURAND, 1 ASSISTANT RESIDENT, PERSIAN GULF.' [‎27r] (16/32), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B95, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023576719.0x000012> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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