Survey on the Status of Tylos Island in the Partho-Sasanian Periods

Authors

PhD. Student in Archeology, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Tylos Island, which is known as Bahrain, has located on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It plays a special role in preserving the economic life of the Persian Gulf. The first identified settlement of T‌ylos Island dates back to the 5th and 6th millennium BC. Arriving of Alexander’s successors to the region in 4th century BC, the island was strongly influenced by the Hellenistic culture and was mentioned as Tylos in written sources. With the rise of the Parthian and Sasanian powers, the expansion of commerce in this region along with other northern and southern islands of the Persian Gulf was supported by the kings. Today, in the archaeological literature of southern parts of the Persian Gulf, following the Greek word for Tylos, the use of the term Tylos period has become in common. According to some scholars, this period historically includes Alexander’s dominance of the Persian Empire in the late 4th century BC until the emergence of Islam in the 7th century AD. According to historical reports and archaeological evidence, the use of term Tylos culture for this one-thousand-year period needs more consideration. The purpose of present study is to identify status of Tylos Island during the Partho-Sasanian period and to recognize its position regarding to the effective presence of Iranian cultures in the region. Based on the archaeological evidence & comparative studies, it is suggested not to use the term of Tylos period when the Parthian and Sasanian powers emerged in the Persian Gulf.
Keywords: Tylos, Bahrain, Southern Persian Gulf, Seleucid, Parthian, Sasanian.
Introduction
Bahrain, along with its surrounding islands, is located in the form of an archipelago between the Qatar Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula. It was the center of international sea trade that connected the Sumerians and other peoples of the ancient Mesopotamia with the Indus Valley, and it has always been important in terms of military and commercial aspects through times. From the middle of the 3rd century BC, Bahrain witnessed an exceptional era of prosperity during the Hellenistic and Parthian periods, and was known in the Greco-Roman world under the name Tylos. In 129 AD, Bahrain came under the control of the Parthians and then the Sasanian. Mostly, the period from the end of the 4th century BC until the advent of Islam is known as the Tylos period in the studies related to the southern Persian Gulf. This attribution often represents the influence of Hellenistic culture and tradition on the island of Tylos. The purpose of this article is to take a critical look at the chronology of Bahrain Island during the Tylos period, and to better understanding the position of this region in the Iranian archeology studies. Recognizing the position of Tylos Island in the Partho-Sasanian periods and the influence of Iranian governments on the region is the other goals of the present research. According to the objectives of the research, some questions are also raised in this part, such as: Was the culture of Tylos Island distinct from the Iranian culture in the Partho-Sasanian periods? Is the use of “Tylos period” an appropriate and correct interpretation in the archaeological literature of the southern Persian Gulf, in order to refer to almost a thousand years from the decline of the Achaemenids to the rise of Islam in this region? Or should it be used with more caution? In the following, we try to give appropriate answers to the above questions.
 
Discussion
During the years 1950-1960, many researches were carried out in different areas of Bahrain by Danish archaeologists. Apart from the limited evidence of settlements in the sites of Barbar and Saar, dated to the late Tylos period, the only known settlement from this period is Qala’at al-Bahrain. It is the most famous site which provides a precise framework for the chronology of cultural periods before Islam and the Islamic era of Bahrain. The cultural findings related to this period include glass and pottery from cemeteries as well as Greek inscriptions that were obtained from Qala’at al-Bahrain and other areas, which shows the attention of Alexander’s successors and Characene kingdom to Bahrain. With the gradual decline of the Seleucids, this region continued to exist as a semi-independent government during the Parthian period. According to the Palmyrian inscription dated to 131 AD, during the reign of Mehrdad, King of Charax Spasinu is introduced as the satrap of Tylos people. Therefore, Mehrdad took control of this region at the beginning of the second century AD. According to the reports of Islamic historians, the first awareness of Bahrain goes back to the time of Ardašir Bābakān during the Sasanian period. Among his first conquests in Iran, Bahrain is also mentioned as an Iranian region, and it is said that he defeated its ruler named Sanatruq, and captured Bahrain. In historical writings, it has been repeatedly mentioned that the agents and emirs of Bahrain were Iranian throughout the Sasanian period until the rise of Islam. Some Iranian emirs of Bahrain gained special importance in the history of this region. The prosperity of trade routes and economic activities played a major role in settling and paying attention to this area in the Sasanian period.
There are comparable archaeological evidences with Parthian and Sasanian samples from other regions including glass, pottery, sculpture, and architecture. These cultural findings, which range from the late Parthian to the late Sasanian period, are often obtained from reliable cultural contexts such as cemeteries, Qala’at al-Bahrain and other ancient sites. All these findings have been introduced under the title of Tylos culture, despite their similarity with Partho-Sasanian art. Written sources and archeological evidences clearly show that this region was part of the Partho-Sasanian territory in terms of culture and politics and the kings were interested in maintaining and controlling this water basin due to its commercial position in this period of time.
 
Conclusion
According to the historical-archaeological evidence of the continuous presence of Iranians in the region, it does not seem appropriate to use the term “Tylos culture” to refer to the period from the end of the 4th century BC to the 7th century AD. In this article, the authors tried to review this issue by evaluating and clarifying the position of Tylos Island in the Partho-Sasanian periods according to the available data. Incomplete and sometimes inaccurate information that is mistakenly or intentionally repeated by the Western and Arab researchers, in connection with the southern Persian Gulf area, in some cases will provide incorrect conclusions and misleading results in historical and archaeological studies. It seems that the attribution of the island’s name as a culture was formed by western researchers according to the Greek domination times and spread of Hellenistic culture, and it became popular in the archaeological literature of the south of the Persian Gulf, but its continuation as a dominant culture is not appropriate until the Islamic era. The use of the term “Tylos culture” can contain a volume of concepts related to Hellenistic traditions, while with the end of Seleucid, although Hellenistic traditions continued in different forms, but with the rise of new powers, the previous traditions faded. Therefore, it is appropriate to be more careful in using the term Tylos period popularized by the western researchers.

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References

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pazhoheshha-ye Bastan shenasi Iran
Volume 12, Issue 33 - Serial Number 33
October 2022
Pages 207-232

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