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Dilmun, or Telmun,The former is the reconstructed Sumerian pronunciation; the latter is the reconstructed Semitic. (Sumerian: ,Transliteration: Similar text: later 𒉌𒌇(𒆠), NI.TUKki = dilmunki; ) was an ancient East Semitic–speaking civilization in Eastern Arabia mentioned from the 3rd millennium BC onwards. Based on contextual evidence, it was located in the Persian Gulf, on a trade route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilisation, close to the sea and to Artesian well. Dilmun encompassed Bahrain, Kuwait,Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: and eastern Saudi Arabia.
The great commercial and trading connections between Mesopotamia and Dilmun were strong and profound to the point where Dilmun was a central figure to the Eridu Genesis.The Arab world: an illustrated history p.4 Dilmun was described in the saga of Enki and Ninhursag as pre-existing in paradisiacal state, where predators do not kill, pain and diseases are absent, and people do not get old.
Dilmun was an important trading centre. At the height of its power, it controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. According to some modern theories, the regarded Dilmun as a sacred place,, page 230 but that is never stated in any known ancient text. Dilmun was mentioned by the Mesopotamians as a trade partner, a source of copper, and a trade entrepôt.
The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story.
The Dilmun civilization was the centre of commercial activities linking traditional agriculture of the land—then quite fertile due to Artesian well that have since dried, and due to a much wetter climate—with maritime trade between diverse regions such as the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia in its early stage and later between China and the Mediterranean. The Dilmun civilization is mentioned first in Sumerian cuneiform Clay tablet dated to the late third millennium BC, found in the temple of the goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of Axe and one specific official; in addition there are lists of rations of Wool issued to people connected with Dilmun.
One of the earliest Epigraphy mentioning Dilmun is that of king Ur-Nanshe of Lagash () found in a door-socket: "The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as tribute from foreign lands." Some texts mention that Ur exported wool to Dilmun, and these texts indicate that merchants returned from Dilmun to Ur with abundant profits. Other texts mention commercial agreements and contracts between Dilmun and Ur, which shows that the connection between them was close. The merchants of Ur would send ships to Dilmun loaded with crops from Mesopotamia and foreign markets such as Persia, the Levant, and Asia Minor, and sell them to Dilmun merchants who, in turn, would export them to other places in India, Africa, or to the Arabian Peninsula. Among the things they would return with from Bahrain were metals such as copper, whose prices were high in Ur, wood, perfumes, and expensive things such as pearls, which were sold at high prices in the markets of Ur, so the merchants would reap a huge profit.Jawad Ali, Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-Arab Qabl al-Islam, Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut 1968, Vol. 2, Ancient History of the Arabian Peninsula, pp. 215, 216.
A decline is visible from around 1720 BC. Many settlements were no longer used, and the building of royal mounds ceased. The Barbar Temple fell into ruins.Steffen Terp Laursen (2017)ː The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain, Aarhus, , pp. 388–390 A 'recovering' period is noted from around 1650 BC. New royal burial mounds were built; at Qal'at al-Bahrain, there is evidence for increased building activity. A seal from this period found at Failaka preserved a king's name. The short text reads, La'ù-la Panipa, daughter of Sumu-lěl, the servant of Inzak of Akarum. Sumu-lěl was evidently another king of Dilmun (the third king whose name we know) from around this period. Servant of Inzak of Akarum was the king's title in Dilmun. The names of these later rulers are Amorites.Gianni Marchesiː Inscriptions from the Royal Mounds of A'alo (Bahrain) and related Texts, inː Steffen Terp Laursenː The Royal Mounds of A'ali in Bahrain, Aarhus 2017, , pp. 428–430
There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first millennium BC, indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun. One of the early sites discovered in Bahrain suggests that Sennacherib, King of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked northeast Arabia and captured the Bahraini islands. The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the Neo-Babylonian Empire; Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by the King of Babylon. The name of Dilmun fell from use after the collapse of Babylon, in 538 BC, with the area henceforth identified as Tylos during the Hellenistic period.
The "Persian Gulf" types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun—that appear at Lothal, Gujarat, India, and Failaka (as well as in Mesopotamia)—are evidence of long-distance sea trade. What the commerce consisted of is less known; timber and precious woods, ivory, lapis lazuli, gold, and luxury goods (such as carnelian and glazed stone beads), from the Persian Gulf, shell and bone inlays were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia, in-exchange for silver, tin, woolen Textile, olive oil and grains.
Copper ingots from Oman and bitumen (which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia) may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic Poultry, major products of the Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were, identical to those used by the Indus, and were not those used in Southern Mesopotamia.
In regards to copper mining and Smelting, the Umm al-Nar culture and Dalma (United Arab Emirates) and Ibri (Oman) were particularly important.
Some Meluhha vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports but, by the Isin-Larsa Period, Dilmun monopolized the trade. The Bahrain National Museum assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted . Discoveries of ruins under the Persian Gulf may be of Dilmun.
Dilmun, sometimes described as "the place where the sun rises" and "the Land of the Living", is the scene of some versions of the Eridu Genesis, and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Utnapishtim (Ziusudra), was taken by the gods to live forever. Thorkild Jacobsen's translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it "Mount Dilmun" which he locates as a "faraway, half-mythical place".
Dilmun is also described in the Epic poetry story of Enki and Ninhursag as the site at which the Creation myth occurred. The later Enuma Elish, speaks of the creation site as the place where the mixture of salt water, personified as Tiamat met and mingled with the fresh water of Abzu. Bahrain in Arabic means "the twin waters", where the fresh water of the Arabian aquifer mingles with the salt waters of the Persian Gulf. The promise of Enki to Ninhursag, the Earth Mother:
For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench the thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives.Ninlil, the Sumerian goddess of air and south wind had her home in Dilmun.
However, it is also speculated that Gilgamesh had to pass through Mount Mashu to reach Dilmun in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is usually identified with the whole of the parallel Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel. (1996). 9780415144162, Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415144162
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