Bahrain

Bahrain: The Tree of Life and the A'ali Burial Mounds

A centuries-old solitary tree in the middle of the desert, then one of the largest prehistoric cemeteries in the world

Bahrain

Bahrain: The Tree of Life and the A'ali Burial Mounds

A journey through rural Bahrain, far from Manama and its waterfront: the Tree of Life, a solitary acacia that has thrived for centuries in the middle of a desert with no visible water source, its survival still an unsolved mystery, then the A'ali burial mounds, one of the largest prehistoric necropolises in the world with tens of thousands of graves dating from the Dilmun civilisation.

When

Nov to March

Price

From 1 900€ excl. flights

(based on 2 people sharing)

How long

4 nights

Ideal length

The Tree of Life

Days 1-2

The first chapter is spent by the Tree of Life, a solitary acacia that has thrived for over four centuries amid a desert expanse with no visible water source for kilometres around, a mystery neither botanists nor local legend have ever fully solved. Some see it as the biblical location of the Garden of Eden, others attribute it to deep roots tapping an invisible aquifer, but the tree remains, against all odds, one of the kingdom's most photographed symbols.

Day 1

The Tree of Life at sunset

An excursion into southern Bahrain's desert to the Tree of Life, with quiet time at sunset to observe this solitary mesquite thriving with no apparent water source.

Day 2

The oil field and historic wells

A visit to the site of the Gulf's first oil well, drilled in 1932 nearby, and the small oil museum tracing the discovery that transformed the kingdom's economy.

1 / 3

The A'ali Burial Mounds

Days 1-2

The road to A'ali, home to one of the largest concentrations of prehistoric burial mounds in the world, with tens of thousands of dome-shaped graves dating from the Dilmun civilisation, a flourishing Gulf trading power over four thousand years ago. Some royal mounds, reserved for the era's elite, reach fifteen metres in height and are visible from the road, while potters' workshops set up at their base carry on a local craft several generations old.

Day 1

The royal mounds of the Dilmun civilisation

A visit to the royal mounds of A'ali, among the tallest in the necropolis, and the interpretation centre tracing the Dilmun civilisation, a Gulf trading power over four thousand years ago.

Day 2

The potters' workshops of A'ali

A visit to the potters' workshops set up at the foot of the mounds, where a family craft passed down through several generations continues, with a wheel-throwing demonstration.