Bahrain National Museum

About

The Bahrain National Museum (Arabic: , romanized: Matḥaf al-Baḥrayn al-Waṭanī) is the largest public museum in Bahrain and is the oldest national museum in the Persian Gulf. It is situated in Manama, adjacent to the National Theatre of Bahrain. Opened on 15 December 1988 by the Emir of Bahrain Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the $30 million museum complex covers 27,800 sq meters and is the country's most popular tourist attraction. It is widely considered to be the region's first modern museum. In 1957, the first exhibition of archaeological artifacts in Bahrain occurred at the Hidaya Boys School in collaboration with the Danish Archaeological Expedition sent to the Bahrain Fort. The temporary exhibition lasted for a few days but drew significant interest in archaeology from the Bahraini community. In 1967, a cultural agreement was signed between UNESCO and the Bahraini government which helped pave the way for the construction of a national museum. A national museum was first opened at Government House in Manama on 4 March 1970 by the head of state council at the time, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. The modern museum was designed by Danish architects Krohn & Hartvig Rasmussen and officially opened in December 1988. It was constructed on an artificial peninsula overlooking the neighbouring island of Muharraq. The museum is made of two buildings spanning a floor space of 20,000 square meters. The complex contains six permanent exhibitions, an educational hall, a gift shop and a cafeteria, in addition to administrative offices, laboratories and warehouses for the Conservation of holdings and parking. The museum celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013 by renovating the Hall of Dilmun Graves, and hosting an international conference on museum development. The museum possess a collection of Bahrain's ancient archaeological artifacts acquired since 1988, and covering around 5000 years of Bahrain's history. The complex includes three halls devoted to archaeology and the ancient civilisation of the Dilmun, while two other halls depict the culture and lifestyle of Bahrain's recent pre-industrial past. In 1993, a further hall was opened, the Natural History Hall, focusing on the natural environment of Bahrain. This hall features specimens of Bahrain's flora and fauna. The exhibit focuses on artifacts and the history of the Dilmun civilization from 5000 BC to 400 BC, including its widespread trading network with Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. On display are Dilmunite stamp seals, artifacts from Barbar temple and Saar Temple, and Dilmunite pottery. A notable exhibit is the Durand Stone, a long black basalt sculpture dating back to the Babylonian era. Another feature is a tableau which depicts a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh (in which reference to Bahrain is made as the paradise of Dilmun). The exhibit focuses on burial practices of the Dilmun civilization and features an actual burial mound which was transported from its site A'ali and reassembled within the museum. The hall was closed for renovation in 2013 and re-opened to the public on 26 June 2018. Re-designed by French architect Didier Blin, the revamped hall features newly installed multimedia as well as findings from the most recent archaeological excavations. In 2019, the Dilmun Burial Mounds of Bahrain were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.