State Hermitage Museum -  Saint Petersburg, Russia
until 14 October 2012

On 2 July 2012 at the State Hermitage Museum a new exhibition from Bahrain National Museum was opened by HRH Princess Sabika bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa. The exhibition is entitled Tylos. The Journey beyond Life. Rituals and funerary traditions in Bahrain The exhibition, prepared by the State Hermitage Museum together with the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, is the continuation of a series of exhibitions from Arab countries that are being held at the State Hermitage Museum in recent years.

The exhibition includes more than 250 items found during archaeological digs which have been carried out in Bahrain since the mid 20th century by Danish and then French expeditions. One of the curators of the exhibition is French archaeologist Pierre Lombard who is now heading the archaeological digs in Bahrain.

The history of Bahrain goes back 3000 years before the birth of Christ. To all appearances, the territory of the current day Kingdom of Bahrain is the bountiful island of Dilmun, mentioned in cuneiform texts by the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia – the Sumerians and Babylonians. The Sumerians thought that Dilmun was the location of heaven. Dilmun was located in the centre of sea routes and was a flourishing trading centre, and thanks to the geographic location of the island state the culture of its inhabitants was rich with influences from near and distant cultures.

In its turn the exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum is dedicated to a different period in Bahrain’s history – the Hellenistic period that followed the campaigns of Alexander the Great. During this time Bahrain received the name Tylos (it is possible that this is a Greek corruption of the previous name Dilmun). Not long before his death, Alexander the Great was in Babylon, which he intended to make the capital of his new state. He undertook a few expeditions to reconnoitre the region, during which the Greeks reached Tylos and left a description of its mythical gardens and wonderful climate. It is unknown whether Greeks settled on Tylos, but it is clear that the influence of Greek culture was very strong. It is possible that the location of the island as the centre of the trade routes led to the adoption of elements of Greek culture not from the Greeks themselves but from Hellenised nations of the ancient east. The exhibitionTylos. The Journey beyond Life follows the superb exhibition held by the State Hermitage Museum in 2007 Alexander the Great: the Road to the East, whose aim was to show the mutual influence of Greek culture those of different areas in the Ancient East.

Items displayed at the exhibition were largely found in burials, as the archaeological excavations in Bahrain found ancient necropolises, rather than temples and palaces. The origins of the items determined the exhibition’s name.

According to the conception by French designer Didier Blin the visitors, on entering the exhibition hall should have a sensation that they have entered a tomb. This impression will be achieved using video technology and enhanced by a large wooden sarcophagus, and also by ceramic vessels used in children’s burials.

Sections of the exhibition will be dedicated to the funerary traditions of the people of Tylos, their food and drink which relatives left in the tombs, cosmetics and perfumes and other accessories necessary for life after death. Among the items are gold, silver and ivory ornaments, ceramic utensils and coins to pay for the crossing into the afterlife.

The dead took with them those things to the afterlife which they used on earth, so these items from the dead give us an impression of their tastes, lifestyle, craftsmanship, daily life and traditions on Tylos. The world after Alexander the Great’s campaigns was to great extent united – many of the items found in the burials in Tylos are identical to those found in other regions during this period.

The exhibition’s concluding section is dedicated to the depiction of the dead. The Hellenic reliefs and statuettes make a sharp contrast with the stelai executed in a characteristically local style. They engraved the features of the mysterious inhabitants of ancient Tylos, who created a flourishing state, about which we will learn substantially more over the next decades thanks to the continuing excavations on the island.

Exhibition curator and scientific secretary from the State Hermitage Museum Mariyam Magomedovna Dandamaeva.