2261 BAHRAIN - A wedding procession of men

2261 A wedding procession of men in Bahrain

In Bahrain, the population is mostly Muslim (both Sunni and Shia), so country's culture is similar to that of its Arab neighbours in the Persian Gulf region, and the traditions related to the wedding aren't an exception. While it was traditional for girls to be married at twelve or thirteen years of age, they now tend to wait until they have finished their education and have a job. The forced marriages are against Islamic teachings, but however the arranged marriages are common, even today.

1006 BAHRAIN - Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy (UNESCO WHS)

1006 Isa bin Ali House

Located on the island with the same name, Muharraq (literary "burned down" in Arabic) has long been a centre of religiosity, and even the capital of Bahrain until 1923, when it was replaced by Manama. Its origins goes back to the time of Dilmun (Telmun) 5,000 years ago, but the city became important during the era of Tylos, when Bahrain came under domination of the Seleucid Empire. By the 5th century AD, it had become a major centre of Nestorian Christianity.

0563 BAHRAIN - Coffee pot maker

0563 Coffee pot maker in Bahrain

It is believed that the coffee comes from Ethiopia, from where he arrived in the Arab world and then, through Ottoman Empire, in Europe. The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century, in Yemen. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa, then in Italy and in the rest of Europe, in Indonesia, and in Americas. In fact in English and other European languages the word coffee derives from the Ottoman Turkish kahve (via the Italian caffè), borrowed from the Arabic qahwah.

0531 BAHRAIN - Qal'at al-Bahrain (UNESCO WHS)

Even if Dilmun (or Telmun), the "land of immortality", is mentioned since the time of Mesopotamian civilization, its location is uncertain, but the archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 in the site of Qal'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain Fort), near Manama, the capital of Bahrain, seem to demonstrate that there was the capital of this legendary kingdom. Anyway, at Qal'at al-Bahrain were found seven stratified layers, created by various occupants from 2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Kassites, Portuguese and Persians.

0471 BAHRAIN - North Gate of Hamad Town

0471 North Gate of Hamad Town

This postcard don't depicts a landscape on Mars after the colonization of the planet, as it seems at first glance, but two of the 22 roundabouts for which is famous Hamad Town (Madinat Hamad), a city in northern Bahrain, located at 18 km South of Manama, the capital of the kingdom, which name refers to the current king, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah.

0023 BAHRAIN - The Arad Fort

0023 The Arad Fort

The archipelago of 33 islands that are called by several centuries Bahrain (the Two Seas) has always a particular significance in the Persian Gulf, mainly due to the strategic position (not coincidentally hosts now the Fifth Fleet of the United States) but also for the resources (copper in ancient times, pearls later, and now oil). As a result the islands were permanently disputed by the locked Persian Gulf states, to which was added the Portuguese (XVI century) and English (from the XIX century).