52 August 2015 www.bahrainthismonth.com Interview The mission was launched in the Kingdom in 1977 by Dr Monik Kervran and Dr Pierre first worked with the team as a student in 1979 returning as mission director in 1989. The French Archaeological Mission in Bahrain is mainly a joint venture between the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But the team, which is based in Lyon, France, has strong links with the University of Lyon, the French National Center for Scientific Research (Dr Pierre’s own institution) and the Louvre Museum in Paris. The team comprises five archaeologists (including two students) and one architectdraftsman, all of them present during each digging season. In addition, there are experts covering various research fields including philology and epigraphy (notably for ancient Akkadian or Greek languages, as ancient texts or inscriptions are always expected at Qal’at al-Bahrain), Chinese ceramics (particularly abundant in Bahrain) and different environmental sciences. “I especially want to emphasize here the crucial importance of the environmental approach in our research,” says Dr Pierre. “By their presence alongside the archaeologists, the specialists of archaeobotany, archaeozoology and geomorphology, greatly help to reconstruct the daily life of the ancient populations we are studying, their diet habits and the landscapes changes around them.” Archaeologists working in the ancient Near East always hope to find written documents to confirm their historical interpretations. Several years ago, the French team discovered the archives of the Middle Dilmun Palace of Qal’at al-Bahrain, with about 100 cuneiform clay tablets, written in Akkadian and illustrating the daily administrative life of this institution around BC1450. Says Dr Pierre : ‘’Last spring, we discovered a new text, almost complete, which, after study by our epigraphists, appeared to be from a completely different phase, the Achaemenid period, about BC505. The text even bore the date of its production! Curiously, it is a legal contract concerning a loan of dates between two individuals, prepared in the most regular way, with a due date, the names of the witnesses of the transaction... It is very moving to find, almost intact, such a concrete witness to the daily life of the ancient Bahrainis ! ‘’ For the future, he expects to work on the project for around one more year before concentrating on publication of the findings, which he hopes will bring more awareness of he site. He says : ‘’One of my main personal targets, being an archaeologist in Bahrain, is to act for the dissemination of our scientific results to the wider public. I am quite proud of the conception, some years ago, of the Qal’al al-Bahrain Site Museum, a wonderful project where the collaboration between the architect and the archaeologist was absolutely perfect.’’ Digging for Treasure LIZ O’REILLY BTM speaks to Dr Pierre Lombard, leader of the French Archaelogical Mission which recently made a significant discovery at Qal’at Al Bahrain.
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