New perspectives on Muharraq Town, Bahrain: insights from the early Islamic period and from 1600 to 1950
Keywords:
historical archaeology, pearl fishing, wealth, identities, cosmopolitanismAbstract
This report presents a selection of findings from two excavation seasons at Muharraq Town, Bahrain. The site MUH-3, situated within the pearl-fishing settlement of Muharraq, has yielded material from two occupational phases: the earlier dating between the sixth and eighth centuries AD and the later from 1600 to 1950. Firstly, the evidence for activity at late Islamic MUH-3 before 1800 is considered. This is significant as no archaeological evidence for a settlement at late Islamic Muharraq Town pre-1800 has been recovered prior to these excavations. The late Islamic period in the Arabian Gulf has been neglected within wider discourses of historical archaeology, despite being a formative era in the development of the modern Gulf nations. As such, one aim of the work at MUH-3 was to address this issue through investigation of commerce and personal identities within MUH-3 material culture. Findings include settlement activity, wealth, and indicators of industrial activity at or near the site during the period 1600–1800.
The second focal period here is the sixth–eighth century AD, where recovered material provides insights into the religious identities of the population. This material adds to the growing corpus of evidence for a Christian population on Muharraq Island related to the ecclesiastical region of Bēt Qaṭrāyē. The faunal remains from this phase can be compared to the late Islamic assemblage, highlighting the comparatively cosmopolitan nature of the later population. The late Islamic faunal remains also reflect a settlement employing a range of subsistence strategies to provide for a larger and growing population during the economic boom of pearl fishing (eighteenth–twentieth century). Although these are select findings, they show the potential of this assemblage to inform on past personal identities, which can be used to enhance Gulf heritage efforts in future work and further publications.
References
Alraouf A.A. 2014. The rehabilitation of the Muharraq historical center, Bahrain: A critical narrative. Pages 173–188 in K. Exell & T. Rico (eds), Cultural heritage in the Arabian Peninsula, discourses and practices. London: Routledge.
Araya A.T. 2023. The Red Sea/East Africa and the Gulf. An archaeological and historical investigation of the African diaspora in Bahrain during the Islamic period (7th–20th century AD). PhD thesis, University of Exeter. [Unpublished].
Babalola A.B. 2022. Glass beads in West Africa. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology: 1–33.
Al Baharna H.M. 2020. The consequences of Britain’s exclusive treaties: A Gulf view. Pages 15–37 in B.R. Pridham (ed.), The Arab Gulf and the West. London: Routledge.
Banerjee A., Bortolaso G. & Dindorf W. 2008. Distinction between African and Asian ivory. Elfenbein und Artenschutz 37: 37–50.
British Museum. Safavid Shahi Coin Hoard, late 17th century AD, silver, registration no. OR.7292. London: British Museum. Available from www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_OR-7292-1 (accessed 02/02/2025).
Carter R. 2005. The history and prehistory of pearling in the Persian Gulf. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 48/2:139–209.
Carter R. 2012. Sea of pearls: Seven thousand years of the industry that shaped the Gulf. Cowes: Arabian Publishing Ltd.
Carter R. 2018. Pearl fishing and globalisation: From the Neolithic to the twentieth century CE. Pages 239–261 in A.J. Fromherz (ed.), The Gulf in world history: Arabia at the global crossroads. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Carter R. 2019. Pearl fishing, migration and globalization in the Persian Gulf, eighteenth to twentieth centuries. Pages 232–262 in P. Machado, S. Mullins & J. Christensen (eds), Pearls, people and power: Pearling and Indian Ocean Worlds. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Carter R. 2024. Pearl fishing in Bahrain: New evidence from the archaeological collections and archives. Arabian Humanities. International Journal of Archaeology and Social Sciences in the Arabian Peninsula/Revue internationale d’archéologie et de sciences sociales sur la péninsule Arabique 19. doi.org/10.4000/1243p
Carter R. & Naranjo-Santana J. 2010. ‘Amara excavations 2009. Excavations of an early 20th century warehouse in Muharraq, Bahrain. Oxford Brookes Archaeology and Heritage for Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain (accessed via copy held in Bahrain National Museum). [Unpublished circulated report].
Carter R. & Naranjo-Santana J. 2011. Muharraq excavations 2010. Oxford Brookes Archaeology and Heritage for Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain (accessed via copy held in Bahrain National Museum). [Unpublished circulated report].
Carter R., Morley M. & Morse C. 2011. Bu Maher Fort, Muharraq. Oxford Brookes Archaeology and Heritage for Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain (accessed via copy held in Bahrain National Museum). [Unpublished circulated report].
Carter R.A., Zhao B., Lane K. & Velde C. 2020. The rise and ruin of a medieval port town: A reconsideration of the development of Julfar. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 31/2: 501–523.
Chervenko M. 1997. Ivory, genuine, fake, & confusing. Antique Collector’s Production News 6/4: 37–42.
Dayaratne R. 2019. Sea as a form-giver of human settlements: Shifting relations in barastis, fishing huts and the ocean villas of Bahrain. Sea 6/4: 17–29.
Fuccaro N. 2010. Pearl towns and early oil cities: Migration and integration in the Arab coast of the Persian Gulf. Pages 111–128 in U. Freitag, M. Fuhrmann, N. Lafi & F. Riedler (eds), The city in the Ottoman Empire. London: Routledge.
Gaastra J. 2022. Muharraq: fauna from the 2019 and 2021 excavations. Report produced for the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities from the University of Exeter, UK. [Unpublished report].
Hajjari E., Oudbashi O. & Hemati Azandaryani E. 2021. Technical studies on the mechanisms of corrosion and state of conservation of two hoards of Persian copper coins (folus) from the Safavid period in Iran. Journal of the Institute of Conservation 44/2: 86–98.
Hellyer P. 1992. Local coin hoards. Tribulus 2/1: 25.
Insoll T., Carter R., Almahari S. & MacLean R. 2021. Excavations at Samahij, Bahrain, and the implications for Christianity, Islamisation and settlement in Bahrain. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 32: 395–421.
Iwaszczuk U., Pieńkowska A., Wouters W., Gręzak A. & Mierzejewska M. 2021. Fishing at the Late Islamic settlement in Kharā’ib al Dasht, Failaka Island, Kuwait. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 13: 1–29.
Jervis I. 2023. Laser ablation strontium isotope analysis of pigs’ teeth from Samahij and Muharraq Town, Bahrain and the implications for pig husbandry. BSc thesis, University of Exeter. [Unpublished].
Jha D.K., Kshetry N.T., Pokharel B.R., Lal S.K. & Panday R. 2017. Identification and differentiation of the Asian elephant ivory by using Schreger lines. Journal of Institute of Science and Technology, Kathmandu, Nepal 22/1: 99–103.
Johns J. 2019. Ornamentations around the symbol of the cross: A comparative overview. Explore Research Journal 10/1: 45–52.
Lic A. 2017. Christian stucco decoration in southern Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf region, sixth to ninth centuries. PhD thesis, University of Oxford. Available at https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:23636a63-9682-4a2a-b27b-49f2f3df59ac
Lorimer J.G. 1915. Appendix E. Fisheries of the Persian Gulf. Pages 2308–2318 in Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia. Vol. I Part II. Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers Limited.
Lowick N.M. 1985. Islamic coins and weights. Pages 95–98 in J. Hansman (ed.), Julfar, an Arabian port: Its settlement and Far Eastern ceramics trade from the 14th to the 18th centuries. London: The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
MacIvor Lt. I. Appendix A to Part III: Notes on sea-fishing in the Persian Gulf. Pages 54–76 in Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf political residency for the year 1880–1881. Available at https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023549645.0x000005
Milwright M. 2010. Crafts and industry. Pages 143–158 in M. Milwright, An introduction to Islamic archaeology. (New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Al Murikhi S.S. 2014. The influence of Christianity among the Arab tribes in the Gulf area during the sixth and seventh centuries AD. Pages 249–267 in M. Kozah, A. Abu-Hasayn, S.S. Al Murikhi & H. Al Thani (eds), The Syriac writers of Qatar in the seventh century. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.
Otte J.P. & Priestman S.M. 2022. European trade ceramics on the Arabian Peninsula 1800–1960. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 33/1: 248–293.
Pfeiffer-Taş Ş. & Schindel N. 2013. The Beçin coin hoard and Ottoman monetary history in the late 16th/early 17th century. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 56/4–5: 653–671.
Price M.D. 2020. Evolution of a taboo: Pigs and people in the ancient Near East. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rehren T.H.H., Cholakova A. & Zivanovic M. 2012. The making of black glass in Late Roman Doclea, Montenegro/Izrada crnog stakla u kasno-rimskoj Dokleji, Crna Gora. New Antique Doclea/Nova Antička Duklja 3: 75–90.
Richter T., Wordsworth P. & Walmsley A. 2011. Pearl fishers, townsfolk, Bedouin, and shaykhs: Economic and social relations in Islamic al Zubārah. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 41: 317–332.
Russ H. & Petersen A.D. 2013. Fish and fishing during the late Islamic period at Rubayqa, northern Qatar: Preliminary results (poster). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 43: 277–283.
Serjeant R.B. 1968. Fisher-folk and fish-traps in al Baḥrain. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 31/3: 486–514.
Shepherd C.R. & Nijman V. 2008. Elephant and ivory trade in Myanmar. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia: TRAFFIC.
Smith C.B. & Littleton J. 2022. Multi-species analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from Qalʿat al Baḥrayn. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 51: 35–54.
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1574–1595 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1216. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1216 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1603–1617 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1228. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1228 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1603–1617 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1239. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1239 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1618–1622 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1240. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1240 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1623–1640 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1246. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1246 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1623–1640 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1251. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1251 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1623–1640 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1252. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1252 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1623–1640 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1253. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1253 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Spurlock Museum, Illinois. Ottoman Akche (1730–1732 AD), silver, identification no. 1971.15.1000. Available from www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.1000 (accessed 07/02/2025).
Uerpmann M. 2017. Faunal remains from the Islamic fort at Luluyyah (Sharjah, UAE). Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 28/1: 2–10.
Varisco D.M. 2022. Seasonal knowledge and the almanac tradition in the Arab Gulf. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Walker B.J., Insoll T. & Fenwick C. 2020. Editors’ introduction. Pages 1–16 in B.J. Walker, T. Insoll & C. Fenwick (eds), The Oxford handbook of Islamic archaeology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Yarwood J.R. 1988. Al Muharraq: Architecture, urbanism and society in an historic Arabic town. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield. Available at etheses.whiterose.ac.uk
Yeomans L. 2016. Preliminary report on fish remains from the 18th- and 19th-century pearl fishing and trading settlement of Al Zubārah, Qatar. Environmental Archaeology 21/4: 381–388.
Zahlan R.S. 2016. The making of the modern gulf states: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. London: Routledge.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Archaeopress Publishing, Oxford, UK
