BTM December 2011 77 The pristinely restored Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House, located in central Muharraq, is an excellent model of traditional local architecture from the nineteenth century. Home of the longest serving ruler of the country, Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa from 1869 to 1932, the structure is characterised by a still functional traditional wind tower and massively thick walls designed to keep its inhabitants cool. Small wooden doors and intricate archways open to courtyards and to the many rooms regally decorated with wall carvings. Situated in the Diplomatic district, Beit Al Qur’an offers insight into Bahrain’s religious heritage through a distinguished collection of the Qur’an from around the world. The outside of the building is intricately engraved with Quranic verses and a distinctive minaret decorates Beit Al Qur’an or the Qur’an House. Inside is an impressive cultural museum showcasing a rare and notable collection of the Qur’an and other Islamic manuscripts. The entrance hall is marked with high ceilings and a small mosque with a remarkable circular stained glass ceiling. The museum also features a lecture hall, a library as well as the Kanoo School for Quranic Studies. The most recent initiative to promote Bahrain’s cultural heritage is the Bahrain National Charter Monument located in Sakhir. Built in honour of the 2001 National Action Charter where the majority of voters pledged support for the King, the museum focuses on past and present achievements of the country. The names of the 220,000 voters are carved on the exterior of the museum. Inside the state-of-the-art circular style museum is an interactive experience exploring recent history and culture. Although unveiled by His Majesty in 2010, the museum is not yet open to the general public. Beyond museums; preserving history In addition to the great archaeological digs of the 1960s, Bahrain has gone to great lengths in recent years to restore its cultural relics from the forts, temples, mosques and protecting the burial mounds. In 2005, the Bahrain Fort on the northern shore near Karranah became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and stands as the island’s most significant archaeological finding for the amount of history it covers. The fort was built in the 14th century by the Portuguese; however archaeologists found layers of continuous human occupation of the site from the Dilmun, Tylos and Islamic civilisations from around 2300 BC up to the Portuguese occupation. The recent addition of a museum enlightens visitors about the fort and its history. The Arad Fort located in Muharraq is a 15th-century fort, built in Islamic style was a strategic defensive fortress. Extensive restorations in the 1980s used traditional materials such as coral stones, lime, gypsum and date palm trunks to maintain the authenticity of the original structure. What we see today is an impressive model of how to bring the past into the present as the fort is often used as the backdrop for many of the island’s cultural events. Perched on a cliff overlooking east Riffa, the 19th century Shaikh Salman Bin Ahmed Al Fateh Fort is an architectural splendour representing Islamic military and local building methods of the area at the time. Compared to other local forts, the Riffa Fort was wholly built by local Bahrainis using local materials such as desert stone, lime, gypsum, clay, palm trunks and mangrove poles. Wooden chamber doors are intricately carved while typical local-style benches decorate the three main courtyards. Although built for military purposes as the battlements reveal, after securing the island the fort was primarily used as a residence for the royal family. In the late 1980s, restoration work began on the fort until late 1993 when the fort opened to the public. Burial mounds Ancient burial mounds dating from the Dilmun period are believed to be the largest prehistoric cemetery in the world and have provided invaluable historical insight from the artefacts found in and around the graves. Over 17,000 burial mounds have been discovered although many have been destroyed over the years. The burial mounds are found in many villages around the island from Saar and Shakura to Janabaiya and Hamad Town. Those dotted throughout Al A’ali village in particular are excellent examples of preserved mounds and also include royal burial mounds. Al Khamis Mosque in the northern area of Manama is one of the oldest mosques in the Gulf region believed to have been built over 1,300 years ago during the Ummayad caliphate. Inscriptions found at the site indicate the foundation was laid in the 11th century. Standing gracefully with its characteristic 25-metre high twin minarets, the mosque is believed to have been rebuilt twice over the 14th and 15th centuries with only one wall remaining of the earliest mosque. Another noteworthy historical mosque on the island is the Siyadi Mosque in Muharraq built in the 19th century. The mosque’s unique minaret towers over the restored Siyadi House from the same period and home of former pearl merchant Ahmed Bin Qassem Siyadi. The Barbar Temple in Barbar Village, like the Bahrain Fort, provides an interesting insight into ancient civilisation in Bahrain. Excavations by Danish archaeologists during the 1960s revealed three temples built on top of one another at varying intervals in time with the first temple believed to have been built around 2000 BC. The artefacts found at the site such as the seals from the Dilmun period are housed in the Bahrain National Museum. Ancient temples have also been found in Saar and Diraz. Historic mosques Al Khamis Mosque
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