Barbar Temple

Barbar holds three temples built one on top of another between roughly 3000 and 2000 BC, excavated by a Danish team in the 1950s, and the point of the site is the spring at its centre: a stone-lined basin reached by steps, which is very likely the water associated with Enki, the Sumerian god of fresh water beneath the earth, and the Dilmun idea of the island as a place of sweet water in a salt sea.

History

Three temples stand one on top of another here, the oldest from about 3000 BC, the second some 500 years later and the third added between 2100 and 2000 BC, built of limestone probably quarried on Jidda island, and they are thought to have honoured Enki, god of wisdom and fresh water, and his wife Ninhursag, with two altars and a sacred spring. P. V. Glob found the site in 1954 and a Danish team led by Hellmuth Andersen and Peder Mortensen dug it until 1962, finding tools, weapons, pottery, gold and a famous copper bull's head, now in the Bahrain National Museum; work resumed in 2004 (Wikipedia, Barbar Temple).

What to look for

• The spring basin - the stone-lined water chamber reached by steps.
• The three temples - structures built one above another over a thousand years.
• The Dilmun context - the civilisation the island's ancient identity rests on.
• The Danish excavation - the 1950s work that uncovered the site.

When to go

November to March is the comfortable season. Late afternoon light is best on the stonework. Summer heat on the open site is severe.

Before you go

What survives is low walls and foundations and it takes imagination. Interpretation on site is minimal. There is no shade and no facilities.

Nearby

Diraz Temple is west, and Qal'at al-Bahrain is northeast.

Key facts