Madinat Hamad 2 Burial Mounds Field - Karzakkan
- Category
- Archeology & Heritage
- Area
- KARZAKKAN
This is one of the components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Dilmun Burial Mounds”. The Madinat Hamad 2 Burial Mound Field, also referred to as Karzakkan Burial Mound Field, is the second largest mound cemetery in Bahrain. The 4,262 burial mounds represent the cemetery of an individual settlement that is assumed to have once existed there. The western part of the cemetery, which partially exists today, displays transitional mounds of a proto-cemetery dating to 2050-2000 BCE.
The great majority of tumuli are of Late Type and date to a time from circa 2050 to 1700 BCE. The density of mounds presented in this necropolis is extraordinarily high. Many of the mounds are gathered along the wadi banks providing a very scenic panorama. In fact, the Madinat Hamad 2 cemetery might be the property that best exemplifies the original landscape setting of the Dilmun burial mounds. Several wadis cross the mound field; two of them are of major size and still carry water from time to time and, as a result, plenty of vegetation.
The diameter of the Madinat Hamad 2 mounds varies between 3 m and 15 m, although the average size is 6 m to 8 m. Several of the mounds have been excavated, presenting typical Late Type architecture. The mounds typically consist of a ring wall and a grave chamber covered with capstones. The burial chambers are equipped with one, two, or four alcoves forming either an L-, T-, or H-shape.
A much older grave was discovered at the site in 1986 and appeared to be the oldest one found in Bahrain. The presence of two ‘Jemdat Nasr’ style ceramic vessels in this unique grave so far makes it a unique testimony of occupation on Bahrain Island in the late fourth to mid-third millennium BCE.
