Qala'at Al-Bahrain: Central Monumental Buildings v. 2

Qala'at al-Bahrain is a tell in Bahrain. Excavations in 1953-1978 have focused on the area around the city wall and in the centre of the settlement. The oldest building remains can be dated to the late third millennium BC, and around 2000 BC when monumental architecture developed. Large-scale storage structures built of limestone ashlars form part of a palace complex; these have no exact parallels or prototypes in Bahrain or elsewhere. In volume 2, finds from the excavation are described in detail, with particular emphasis on the palace. Constructed in the Early Dilmun era (ca2000BC), re-occupied in the Middle Dilmun era (ca1500BC) and integrated into a Late Dilmun palace (ca600BC), this structure survived for well over a thousand years.