Bahrain’s Burial Mounds join UNESCO World Heritage List
The Burial Mounds will join the Pearling Sites, which were listed in 2012 and Qal’at-al-Bahrain, listed in 2005, to be the third in the World Heritage List.
Head of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, said the tombs were, "living proof of Bahrain's distinguished cultural heritage," according to the kingdom's official BNA news agency.
The Dilmun Burial Mounds were built between 2050 and 1750 BC, among more than 21 archaeological sites in the western part of the island, according to UNESCO.
The tombs were among several nominations put forward on July 6th as the World Heritage Committee met in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku for its 43rd session.
UNESCO said the burial mounds were evidence of the early Dilmun civilisation, "during which Bahrain became a trade hub whose prosperity enabled the inhabitants to develop an elaborate burial tradition applicable to the entire population."
