List of World Heritage Sites in Bahrain

Qal'at al-Bahrain

Bahrain Pearling Trail

Dilmun Burial Mounds

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Location of World Heritage Sites in Bahrain

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by signatories to the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage. Bahrain accepted the convention on May 28, 1991, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list. It has three World Heritage Sites and a further six sites on the tentative list. The first site listed was the Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun, in 2005, while the most recent one was the Dilmun Burial Mounds, in 2019. All three sites are listed for their cultural significance. Bahrain has served on the World Heritage Committee twice.

World Heritage Sites

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.

World Heritage Sites

Site	Image	Location (governorate)	Year listed	UNESCO data	Description
Qal'at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun		Capital	2005	1192ter; ii, iii, iv (cultural)	The site of Qal’at al-Bahrain has been occupied since at least 2300 BCE, with successive settlements forming an artificial mound, a tell. The oldest strata are attributed to the Dilmun civilization, known from the Sumerian sources. Located at the strategic location in the Persian Gulf, they traded with the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia. It continued to be an important trade port during the Tylos and Islamic periods. Fortifications from different periods have been preserved, the most prominent being the Portuguese fort from the 16th century (pictured). Excavations have uncovered remains of residential, commercial, military, and religious buildings. Minor modifications of the site boundaries took place in 2008 and 2014.
Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy		Muharraq	2012	1364rev; iii (cultural)	Pearl harvesting was an important economy in the Persian Gulf from the 2nd to the 20th century, with its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pearls were collected from oyster beds offshore. The pearling industry rapidly declined in the 1930s with the development of freshwater pearl cultivation from mussels in Japan. The site comprises three oyster beds, 17 buildings in Muharraq city that were related to the industry (Isa Bin Ali House pictured), parts of the seashore, and the Bu Maher Fort.
Dilmun Burial Mounds		Capital, Northern, Southern	2019	1542; iii, iv (cultural)	The Dilmun Burial Mounds, built between 2200 and 1750 BCE, span over 21 archaeological sites in the western part of the island. Six of these sites are burial mound fields consisting of a few dozen to several thousand tumuli. In all there are about 11,774 burial mounds, originally in the form of cylindrical low towers. The other 15 sites include 17 royal mounds, constructed as two-storey sepulchral towers. The burial mounds are evidence of the Early Dilmun civilization, around the 2nd millennium BCE, during which Bahrain became a trade hub whose prosperity enabled the inhabitants to develop an elaborate burial tradition applicable to the entire population. These tombs illustrate globally unique characteristics, not only in terms of their number, density and scale, but also in terms of details such as burial chambers equipped with alcoves.

Tentative list

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list. Bahrain lists six properties on its tentative list.

Tentative sites

Site	Image	Location (governorate)	Year listed	UNESCO criteria	Description
Khor Hamad Town Tumuli Moundfield		Northern Governorate	Cultural		2001
Barbar Temple		Northern Governorate	Cultural		2001
Saar Heritage Park		Northern Governorate	Cultural		2001
Hawar Islands Reserve		Southern Governorate	Natural (vii) (ix)		2001
Manama, City of Trade, Multiculturalism and Religious Coexistence		Capital Governorate	Cultural (ii) (iii)		2018
Awali oil settlement		Southern Governorate	Cultural (ii) (iv)		2019