Tour of Bahrain

> The luxurious Ritz-Carlton in the Seef District of Bahrain is the hotel where I have stayed the greatest number of nights, from 2003 to 2006, among all the hotels I have stayed at around the world.  I estimated it to be about six months in total. <

Today was an outing with the gents, the members of my client project team:  Charles, Per, Dale and Herdie.  We took a ride with Ghadeer Tours, with Abdulla, as our tour guide, an articulate, handsome Arab man.

An Iraqi Woman

A woman, Nelly, married to an Ericsson businessman was with us. She is an Iraqi, of Assyrian descent, and now lives with her husband in Sweden. She speaks English, Arabic, Swedish, and Assyrian. Her brother lives in northern Baghdad, and she was worried and angry at the war. Thankfully, it was an area that was not heavily bombed by the Americas. She has not had direct communication with him (because of damaged communication infrastructure), but understands from her nephew, her brother’s son who lives in Sweden as well, and from relatives in Canada that her brother is OK. The UN sanctions against Iraq apparently impoverished many Iraqis, and her brother in particular has had difficulty finding a job. Because of this impoverishment, she said, “This stealing, I understand.” She does acknowledge, though, the loss of historical artifacts is a shame.

When Abdulla mentioned that Bahrainis wondered if the area around the Tree of Life was the Biblical “Garden of Eden,” she quickly retorted that it was in Iraq. There is a tree where the Euphrates River meets the Tigris River, and this is the “Garden of Eden.”

Al Jasra Handicraft Center

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One man was a painter, musician and craftsman. He made his own musical instruments, with influences, he said, from Arabia and Africa. Tamboora is a string instrument. Manjor is a percussion type made of goat’s nails, tied together in strings that hang on cloth, then worn like an apron around the waist, and shaken.

Another man builds boats. Here at the Handicraft Center, he builds models of boats or ships (dhows). Those made of teak are more expensive and heavier, and those of mahogany are lighter. Herdie bought a mahogany one as a gift for his grandson.

A woman in a basket weaving shop sat inconspicuously on the floor, wearing her abaya fully, and working on a basket.

Heading toward the Desert

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Jebel Al Dukhan (“Mountain of Smoke”) is the highest area in Bahrain above sea level, about 135 meters. Abdulla referred to it as our Himalayas.

Not far from there is the site where Frank Holmes, a New Zealander, first struck oil in the Gulf Region: June 1st 1932. When I visited this site last year, it had a few pieces of trash in this little oil well. Now, sadly, it had more… soft drink bottles, cigarette boxes, etc.

We headed to the Tree of Life, that oh, so, venerable tree, that also was not well taken care of. Last year, there were people milling about. There was graffiti on the tree. Someone had a tent, and may have sold rugs. Across the desert area were people racing their cars. It was a shame! It is a mesquite that has outlived other trees in its species (typically 100 years) by about 300 years. Its bark looks like the wrinkled leathery skin of old men, and it is this very texture and its age that afford it its venerability. Now, it looks like there was some attempt to wash out the graffiti, and there was not as much trash around it.

We passed the homes of the royal family: King Hamad; his uncle, Shaikh Khalifa, the Prime Minister; his son, Shaikh Salman, the Crown Prince. These three men are often pictured in Bahrain venues, including the Ritz-Carlton, with King Hamad father, Shaikh Khalifa’s brother, Shaikh Isa, also pictured, in this order from left to right: Shaikh Salman, Shaikh Khalifa, King Hamad, and Shaikh Isa.

Bahrain produces about 250K barrels of oil a day, and about 300 million cubic feet of gas. Yokojawa designed some of its gas wells, and constructed by Schlumberger.

Grand Mosque (Al Fatih)

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With my comrades, I finally had a chance to visit this Mosque, after wanting so for the past year. It was very good to have Abdulla with us, because he not only gave us guidance about the mosque, but also served as our liaison with various Arab staff there. We took off our shoes. Per who was wearing shorts had to wear a jabeel (sp?), a thobe of sorts with short sleeves and extending in length to the ankles. Nelly had to wear a black garment, which I suppose is an abaya, and a scarf to cover her head. Abdulla explained that virtually every part of a woman is considered “sexy” and thus must be covered. Men also have to cover parts of their bodies, but they can wear slacks that run at least to the knees, so lengthy walking shorts would be fine. Well, apparently they have fewer parts of their bodies that are sexy.

The Mosque has materials that came from different parts of the world:

• Marble from Italy
• Carpeting donated from Scotland
• Chandeliers from France
• Teak doors from India

Muslims must pray five times a day:

• Fajr.  Early morning, when the light first appears on the horizon, apparently as early as 3 AM.
• Dhuhr.  Noon, when the sun is vertical (straight up).
• Asr.  Afternoon, when the object and its shadow are equal.
• Maghrib.  Evening, first few minutes after sunset.
• Isha.  Night, when there is no longer any red in the sky.

It is important for Muslims to have regular connections to God everyday. God understands that for most of the day, they can focus on their work, their daily lives, etc. But for these five prayers, they need to say passages from the Qur’an to connect to God. Now, I know from some of the managers we worked with, that the morning and afternoon prayers can be combined with the noon one. Abdulla said Muslims must get up and pray that morning time, yes, even as early as 3 AM. But, just as some orthodox Jews find opportunities for flexibility on the Sabbath, some Muslims may similarly do so with prayer times.

Bahrain National Museum

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Muslim astronomers divide the year into six seasons: early autumn, late autumn, winter, spring, early summer, and late summer. The Islamic year is a lunar year of 12 months, with each one having 29 or 30 days, totaling about 354 days (about 11 days shorter than the solar year). It repeats itself every 31 years. This calendar began in 622 AD, during the flight of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) to Madina. Thus, the moon determines the years and months, and the sun determines the hours, seasons, and hence prayer times.

Here are the historical eras of Bahrain:

• Stone Age (5000 BC – 3200 BC).
• Formative Dilmun (3200 BC – 2200 BC). Long distance trading began, with ships sailing from one port to another.
• Early Dilmun (2200 BC – 1600 BC).
• Middle Dilmun (1600 BC – 1000 BC). Nomadic tribesman from the Iranian highlands, Kassites, took rulership of Dilmun and apparently made it into one of their provinces. These rulers, Kings of Babylon, built city walls and massive stone storehouses. Now, I believe the region that was Mesopotamia is now called Iraq and Iran.
• Late Dilmun (1000 BC – 330 BC). Independent kings ruled Bahrain, perhaps Arabic.
• Tylos (330 BC – 622 AD). Greek influence pervaded the Gulf Region, as Alexander the Great “passed like a comet,” smashing the Persian Empire in the lands north of Bahrain. Apparently he never invaded Bahrain, but had plans to do so before he died. Bahrain, at this time, was known for its prosperity and connections with the Islamic culture. But the name Dilmun probably involved into Thilwun, then was Hellenized to Tylos.
• Early Islam (622 AD). In 629 AD, the Prophet Mohammed had a letter sent to the ruler of Bahrain, Al Munthir bin Sawa Al Tamimi, to accept Islam: “There is no God, save Allah…” He said to forgive those who have sinned, as long as they convert to Islam.
• Middle Islam. Trade was active in East India and China. During this time, various rulers from Iran, Oman, and Portugal had sovereignty over Bahrain, with the Portuguese for about 100 years.

Some information on the culture and industry:  Pearl diving was big in the first part of the 20th century. Divers would dive from June to October, had themselves tethered with ropes to their ship, and went down 7 – 20 meters to get to the “sweet water springs.” They were under water for 1 – 2 minutes. At one point, there were up to 2500 ships for pearl diving.

Pearls were measured according to brilliance and clarity, with the following in descending order of quality:

• Jiwan
• Yaka
• Qolo
• Badleh 

Both men and women were involved in weaving. They would import cotton, gold, and silver threads.
Bahrain is called a country of two seas: fresh and salt. It is also a country called “Land of a Million Date Palm Trees.” These trees were a treasure trove of uses:

• Dates for food
• Trunks and branches for houses and boats
• Leaves for mats, fans, and baskets
• Fibers for ropes

“The Children go to the Sea.” 

On the 9th day of the Dhu’l Hija, the pilgrims pray at Arafat. In the meantime, children go to the sea, singing Hiya Biya, and throw baskets of green sprouts and cereals (hiya) to the sea. For toys, they families make them, for instances, dolls from bird bones and clothed with available fabrics.

> Notes
Ron Villejo, PhD

December 2012 <