Dilmun
Gerrha was preceded by the legendary Sumerian-era civilization of Dilmun (4000 - 2000 BC), which has been archeologically linked to the northern tip of Bahrain. During its zenith, the culture controlled the oceanic trading routes to the Indies and was the trading link to the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia (Area Handbook for the Persian Gulf States, 1st Edition, p. 11). To the Sumerians, Dilmun was the land of immortality and the god of Abzu. The second sea of fresh water that lay beneath the gulf and was believed to flow from the Tigris and Euphrates under the ground to present Bahrain - in the land called Enki. "Dilmun founded a maritime network unrivaled for its breadth by any other in the early days of man's world ... it was home of the Utunapishtim, who survived the flood, it was soapstone for figurines, alabaster for bowls, carnelian heads beads, cowries and pearls ... it was copper and lapis lazuli." ("The Sumerian Connection", Jon Mandaville and Michael Grimsdale, ARAMCO World March/April 1980). Dilmun is the "Paradise Land, the original home of the gods, the archetypical Holy Land" to which the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh travels to in his epic journey. (Dilmun Discovered, Michael Rice, p. 7).
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