ABSTRACT
The Middle East in this period was dominated by two great centres of power, namely Mesopotamia and Egypt, with the area between and around them consisting of an ever-changing array of kingdoms, city-states, tribal confederations and the like. During this time we only hear about the eastern shores of Arabia and the islands nestling close by, which benefited from proximity to and contact with the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia in Iraq, Elam in southwest Iran and Meluhha in the Indus valley (Map 2). The northern section (modern Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the adjacent coast of Saudi Arabia), known as the land of Dilmun, achieved particular prominence. The geographical position of its capital on Bahrain, as well as its abundant underground water supplies and easy anchorages for ships, made it an ideal staging post in long-distance trade and through it were channelled all manner of commodities, many of an exotic character. For this reason the land of Dilmun is often portrayed in a legendary light in Mesopotamian literature. The creation myth known as ‘Enki and Ninhursag’ links Dilmun to the origins of the world. It is there that the gods settled Ziusudra, the Sumerian Noah, to live for eternity after the flood had destroyed mankind. It is extolled as being ‘pure’ and ‘pristine’, where:
the lion did not slay, the wolf was not carrying off lambs. . . . No eye-diseases said there: ‘I am the eye disease’. No headache said there: ‘I am the headache’. No old woman belonging to it said there: ‘I am an old woman’; no old man belonging to it said there: ‘I am an old man’.
