Students are learning about the ancient Dilmun civilisation through a series of ‘keepsake’ hands-on literary adventures captured on clay, conducted by Bahraini artist and historian Mahmood Al Baqlawa.
Workshop participants share symbols, writings and discuss beliefs that have shaped the kingdom’s illustrious past.
His recent activities have included theoretical lectures and practical activities about the people of Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilisations, dating back to the third millennium BC, with Bahrain as its central site. “I believe that ancient practices should be preserved so that our cultural identity isn’t lost forever,” the 58-year-old told the GDN.
Cuneiform is the earliest known writing system and developed alongside the Sumerian language of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).
In Cuneiform, a carefully cut writing implement known as a stylus was pressed into soft clay to produce wedge-like imprints that represented word-signs (pictographs) and later, phonograms or word-concepts (closer to a modern-day understanding of a word).
Mr Al Baqlawa, who specialises in the archaeology and culture of the Dilmun civilisation, stressed the importance of teaching youngsters about ancient history.
“Children are very curious and it’s easy for them to digest things from a young age,” he said, adding that exposure to both theoretical lectures and practical activities helps them stay engaged.
The historian’s latest cuneiform writing workshop attracted 50 students. “By the end of the session, children were able to write Sumerian cuneiform writing on soft clay,” he added. “Participants were able to take the clay home too. It will serve as a keepsake but also, hopefully, encourage them to carry out more research on this ancient practice.”
He also believes that by conducting free lectures and workshops he is able to promote archaeology. He has also exhibitions highlighting ancient cuneiform calligraphy in Akkadian too.
Sumerian was the language of ancient Sumer, the earliest known civilisation, located in the historical region of Southern Mesopotamia, which is now Southern-central Iraq. Akkadian, a Semitic language, gradually replaced Sumerian as the primary spoken language in the area circa 2000BC (the exact date is debated), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language.
The GDN reported earlier this year that Mr Al Baqlawa staged his first solo exhibition in July displaying his artistic interpretations of ancient Dilmun symbols and artefacts and published a book on the subject.
- For more details, follow @mahmoodbaqlawa on Instagram.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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