UNESCO World Heritage Committee nominates Dilmun Burial Mounds

Manama, July 18 (BNA): Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) announced the nomination of Dalmun Burial Mounds site on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. "Today, we celebrate the third Bahraini site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which dedicates all its details, history and geographical reach to restore the memory of a civilization that has influenced the historical landscape during an important humanitarian era," BACA President Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa said. "We commend this new Bahraini achievement to our leadership represented by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, who believe in culture and are proud of their ability to create a better future for Bahrain." Shaikha Mai stressed the importance of registering an additional site for Bahrain on the World Heritage List, affirming that the cultural tourism provides a pioneering cultural experience for visitors by investing in cultural and historical elements. "Bahrain has historical sites and cultural capabilities to offer a successful and authentic model reflects the richness and uniqueness of culture and civilization for our Arab region." She added. BACA President noted that the site of the Dalmun Burial Mounds will contribute to promote the infrastructure of cultural tourism in the Kingdom. The World Heritage Committee (WHC) has declared the Dalmun Burial Mounds on the list, making it the third Bahraini site after Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun, which was listed in 2005 and the Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy in Muharraq, which was listed in 2012. Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Director of Museums Directorate at BACA, reviewed the location and historical information about the burial mounds, pointing out that the site extends from northern Bahrain to the south. He said that the stages of registering the site on the World Heritage List extended for about ten years, explaining that the Government of Bahrain supported this work. " The WHC takes place every year and it looks into a number of items for the world heritage conventions mostly the state of conservations of properties are already listed on the world heritage list, so this year there were more than 20 state of conservations reports open for discussion from different parts of the world, the committee decided based on the recommendations decisions to insure that the outstanding universal values of these properties are maintained," he explained. "The committee also discussed a number of nominations which reached 29 property this year from different part of the world which one of it is the Burial Mounds and we are very happy with this nomination , it came through the positive evaluation of The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the advisor body of WHC." Shaikh Khalifa discussed the component parts of the site, which is the largest and most intensive fields of the world's burial land, explaining that the site consists of 21 parts spanning more than 20 km. " The nomination file needs to demonstrate the number of elements most importantly needs to get at least one criteria out of the 10 criterias set out in the operational guideline of WHC, this year the criteria is the testimony to previous civilizations, in addition there is a need to insure that the integrity and the authenticity of the property is still maintained and we had proven that , in addition to insure a proper management to protect the place , so the evaluation was extremely positive and it’s a result of a number of years of intensive work done by the team here in BACA and we are very happy with the results," he said. "I think the burial mounds are integral part of the landscape of Bahrain I would say at least 70% of the population drive by the burial mounds daily and its an important part of the heritage. We all know that due to urban encroachment their numbers have decreased, and I think what left is worth protecting, it should be the responsibility for each individual in Bahrain to take pride on the site. Here in BACA we're doing our best to promote it and insure that the proper visibility is given to locals as well as to visitors equally." When asked about Bahrain's future nominations, he said: " As part of the WHC state parties needs to outline what is called tentative list, meaning these are the sites which considered to be on WHC in the future. Currently we have three sites on the tentative list that we're evaluating: Awali Settlement, Hawar Island as a natural property, and Manama, as historic center. Nomination file requires a lot of efforts in terms of research and documentation and we're doing that to all of these three possible nominations."