Inscriptions from the Royal Mounds of A'ali (Bahrain) and Related Texts

Materials inscribed with cuneiform writing were found in two of the royal mounds of the A’ali cemetery. However, whereas ‘Mound P’ only produced a single pottery shard noting the capacity of the vessel it was part of, much more significant is the epigraphic yield of ‘Royal Mound 8’, which consists of five inscribed fragments of four finely wrought stone vessels. Three of these fragmentary texts are especially noteworthy because they inform us of the identity of the high-ranking personage for whom the above-mentioned tomb was built, and provide confirming evidence that the monumental graves of A’ali are royal tombs. In addition, the information supplied by one of these inscriptions allows us to link the main occupant of ‘Royal Mound 8’, one Yaglī-’el, to a previously known ruler by the name of Ri’mum. This and other evidence suggest that an Amorite dynasty ruled over Dilmun in the first half of the second millennium BCE.