Bahra 1 is an archaeological site in the
Subiya region on the coast of
Kuwait Bay (
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
) associated with the
Ubaid culture. It is one of the earliest Ubaid culture settlements in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
region, about 5500–4900 BC.
History of research
Bahra 1 was discovered by Dr. Sultan al Duweish from the NCCAL. Archaeological work on the site is conducted since 2009 by the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission (KPAM) from the
Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, in cooperation with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters of the State of Kuwait. Prof. Piotr Bieliński (PCMA UW) directs the excavations together with Dr. Hamid al Mutairi (NCCAL, since 2014), previously with Dr. Sultan al Duweish (NCCAL, until 2013).
Archaeological discoveries
Stone foundations of walls predominate among the remains of several different kinds of structures that were discovered on the site. A few building phases were distinguished, which proves the settlement was permanent. The research in Bahra 1 contributed new data on the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
in the Persian Gulf and the interaction of this region with
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
in the Ubaid period.
It is the oldest permanent settlement directly south of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
. The material culture of the settlement is strongly connected with the Mesopotamian Ubaid Culture. About half of the pottery fragments found at the site is of the Ubaid Ware variety that was imported from Mesopotamia. This assemblage comprises both richly decorated luxury vessels and plain utilitarian ware. Also an array of ceramic small objects from the site, some of them perhaps personal adornments, such as flanged discs and ceramic studs, as well as cupped cones, are typical for that period in Mesopotamia and are considered to be objects of a symbolic meaning for the Ubaid culture. The other half of the pottery assemblage from Bahra 1 belonged to the Coarse Red,
[Anna Smogorzewska (2019)]
Ceramic form and function in the Neolithic Gulf. A view from Bahra 1. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
/ref> a pottery type associated with the Arabian Neolithic. A unique find was a fragment of a copper object, which could point to contacts with the Oman Peninsula where sources of this metal were located.
In 2018, an architectural complex different from the others known from this site was studied. It seems it might have had a cultic character, uniting local tradition with concepts derived from the Ubaid culture, which would make it the oldest cult building not only in Kuwait but in the whole Persian Gulf region.
See also
* Agarum
Agarum (also transliterated as Agaru or Akarum, cuneiform: ''a-kà-rum'' or ''a-ga-rum'') is a bronze-age Near Eastern proper name, probably a toponym for a region or island in the Eastern Arabia and Persian Gulf. Agarum has been generally ident ...
* H3 (Kuwait)
References
Bibliography
* Robert Carter, The Mesopotamian frontier of the Arabian Neolithic: A cultural borderland of the sixth–fifth millennia BC, Arabian archaeology and epigraphy 2019.
*Anna Smogorzewska, Ceramic form and function in the Neolithic Gulf. A view from Bahra 1, Arabian archaeology and epigraphy 2019.
*Anna Smogorzewska
''Local and imported pottery in the Neolithic Gulf: a new perspective from the site of Bahra 1 in Kuwait'', “Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean”, 25, 2017, pp. 595–617, DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0010.2362
* Piotr Bieliński, Excavations in Units 3, 6, 10, 11, 14 and the north part of House 2 (in:) M. Białowarczuk, A. Reiche, A. Smogorzewska, A. Szymczak, ''Bahra 1. Excavations in 2014 and 2015. Preliminary Report on the Sixth and Seventh Seasons of Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Investigations'', Kuwait–Warsaw: NCCAL–PCMA, 2016, p. 29.
* Agnieszka Szymczak & Piotr Bieliński (eds.), ''As-Sabbija, Autumn 2012. Report on the Eighth Season of Joint Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Investigations in Kuwait: Bahra 1, Ubaid Culture Related Settlement (4th Season)'', 2013, Warsaw.
* Marcin Białowarczuk
Ground and pecked stone industry of Bahra 1, an Ubaid-related settlement in Northern Kuwait. ''Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean'', 22, 2013, 569–585
* Andrew Lawler
Uncovering Civilization's Roots, Science, vol. 335, Issue 6070, 2012, p. 790, DOI: 10.1126/science.335.6070.790
{{stack, {{Portal, Kuwait
Ubaid period
Archaeological sites in Kuwait