A team of British archaeologists led by Professor Robert Carter has found that Bahrain’s Al Sayyah Island was made by man about 1,200 years ago, reported The Daily Tribune from Bahrain.
Previously, researchers believed that the island appeared naturally as a result of some natural phenomenon, but the authors of the new work found that Al-Sayyah may be one of the oldest examples of the practice of creating artificial islands.
Archaeologists have determined that in order to build the island, people first created a cistern, in other words, a reservoir to collect fresh water that comes out of the seabed. It was a source of fresh water that people wanted to preserve. Next, they built a circular wall all around to create a small island. It is a little less than 20 m wide. People built another curved wall and the island turned out to be about 40 m wide.
Further, straight walls were erected on the southern and eastern sides of the island, they intersected at right angles, forming a pier. As a result, the length and width of the island were 60 m and 40 m, respectively.
Even on the island, old shells of pearl mollusks and ceramics of the 7th-8th centuries of our era were found. Also near the source of fresh water there was a special structure that helped to collect liquid. Perhaps the island was built in order to supply fresh water to divers.
The researchers noted that now Bahrain includes 51 natural and 33 artificial islands, which means that the status of Al-Sayah will have to be changed.
Photo: An ancient well on the first man-made island in Bahrain / ©newsofbahrain.com
