A historic island has been cordoned off as a massive roadwork project, at first feared likely to lead to its destruction, will now provide a vital path to ensuring its natural beauty and historic relevance captures the imagination of users of a new road linking Muharraq to Manama.
The Muharraq Municipal Council has been informed by the government that studies are ongoing to light up and showcase Al Sayah Island in all its glory.
Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa has informed the council that its proposal to preserve and promote the area matches its plans.
He told councillors thorough excavations has been carried out to clearly identify the features of the historic island. It came as Baca managed to rescue Al Sayah from originally undergoing extensive reclamation for urban development.
In April 2022, former Baca president Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa pushed for the island to be designated as a national heritage and had asked the Survey and Land Registration Bureau to identify it as such on maps.
The island featuring a six-metre diameter circular opening in the middle, includes a natural water spring and contains the remains of what could be a fort or a defence tower with parts of walls still standing, Shaikha Mai noted in her decision, published in the Official Gazette.
The place is rich in history and folklore, including tales of Prophet Mohammed having once passed through.
A hungry genie was also rumoured to have once inhabited the island. Named Bu Gedo, it supposedly demanded that picnickers leave food for it.
A number of scientific studies conducted by researchers from Bahrain University concluded that the sounds attributed to Bu Gedo over hundreds of years were the natural ecological release of air during low and high tides.
“The best way to preserve Al Sayah is by having it become a worthwhile attraction,” said the council’s technical committee chairman and area councillor Mohammed Al Mahmood, who would like to see even more investment in the project.
“I am relieved that the place has been cordoned off from the massive road development that would have swallowed it – but leaving it idle wouldn’t achieve anything,” he added.
“It is good that there would be special lighting or view enhancers, but it is not enough.
“The whole closed area should have floating cafés, activities and events, something that is of real interest to the people.”
Council chairman Abdulaziz Al Naar said that the council was open to the idea of converting the place into a tourist destination provided its heritage is protected.
“Wooden shacks and kiosks could be built to be used as a museum, cafés and restaurants and for other purposes such as selling souvenirs, memorabilia and traditional merchandise,” he said. “This should come while protecting the island’s features, particularly the nature spring which could be developed like a fountain.”
The island was under threat from a planned BD94 million bridge linking Muharraq and Manama, reclamation work for which started in January 2020, but it has since been rerouted.
The 550-metre bridge is an extension of the 7.8-km-long North Muharraq Highway project which also includes a 4.2-km-long Muharraq ring road.
Once completed, the project will connect north Busaiteen and Bahrain Bay.
According to details unveiled following an archaeological survey carried out by a team of Bahraini and British experts in February 2022, Al Sayah Island could have been a freshwater supplying depot built on reclaimed land more than 1,200 years ago – a rare example of an ‘extraordinary feat of engineering’.
The island west of Busaiteen was once thought to be part of a natural formation of fossilised coral reefs, but the latest discovery suggests otherwise. Professor Robert Carter, leader of the team of archaeologists from Exeter University and Southampton University, said a cylindrical brick structure, or a cistern, was built around the submerged spring. This was followed by a thick circular wall with a diameter of about 20m and was filled to become a small island.
Prof Carter added that a second sloping wall of about 40m in diameter was constructed at a later stage to expand the location and more tall structures and expansions brought it to its current length of 60m.
He said most of the island is covered in pearl oyster shells mixed with shards of 7th and 8th century pottery, which leads to the belief it might have been significant for the pearl trade.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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