As a lover of history and archaeology this was an amazing trip for me and having Dr. Ahskanani was an added bonus as he knows all about the sites, he is an amazing guy, I could listen to him speak about the history of Kuwait all day.
We approached the closed off area leading to the historical sites, after a few minutes of making sure we had access the buses rumbled down the path to our destination.
"In 2000 B.C., Mesopotamians settled in Failaka at least a century before the Dilmun civilization. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur occupied Failaka and ran a mercantile business. Failaka had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B.C."link link2
"At some point following Alexander the Great's initial advance through the region in 331 BC or in the period 324/3 BC when he returned to Mesopotamia, the ancient Greeks colonized the island, which they named Ikaros after the Greek island in the Aegean Sea and the mythical hero Icarus, apparently in the belief that the island had a similar shape of its Aegean counterpart. Some elements of Greek mythology were mixed with the local cults."Ikaros" was also the name of a prominent city situated in Failaka. Remains of the settlement include a large Hellenistic fort and two Greek temples.
Take a look at the 1 dinar note and you will see where the inspiration came from
Where are the coins kept?
ReplyDeleteDid you see the houses that people lived in just before the Iraqi invasion?
The coins are kept by Dr. Ashkanani, you can visit his musuem located in his house for more hands on learning. We were supposed to visit the old houses but we ran out of time, we had to get off the island before dark as there is not electricity.
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